Now This is What I Call A Combo Meal

There are times when I crave fried chicken and there are times when I crave tacos. Then, there are the troubling times when I want both, but know I shouldn't eat both at the same time. That's where Bair's Fried Chicken steps up their game and becomes my hero. What you see pictured here is their newly christened Loco YoCo Taco and it can really help when you want both but don't want to choose.

I've had a few of them over the last month, although I never did get around to putting in a name suggestion.  No matter what they're called they are awesome. Think about it: You get the best fried chicken in York all wrapped up in a tortilla and smothered in taco fixins. The Loco YoCo makes for an awesome lunch, dinner or even a snack.

So the next time you're downtown stop by the Market do yourself the favor of trying these little bundles of deliciousness. I know you'll thank me when you do.

Bee Eye Why See: Burritos

So many of my friends on social media seem to be beyond happy when they go out to one of the big national chains for a mission-style burrito. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat at Qdoba or Chipotle if there is no better option, but here in York City there most certainly is and that option is Roburritos. Their burrito is the Best in York City (B.I.Y.C or bee eye why see).

When Anthony was working at York College the students there told him about the West York location over by the fairgrounds and it only took one visit for us to realize why it was so popular. He and Heidi and I started going back in '09 and even found we had a few connections to the good folks that run the place. Heidi used to work with one of the managers and Anthony's long time tattoo artist is close with Rob, the owner.

But don't think these connections are why we love the place. Even if we didn't know anyone involved we would keep going back for one reason and one reason only: their burritos kick ass. Rob made a pilgrimage to San Francisco's Mission district to learn all he could about how to make a great burrito and it shows. They serve huge burritos packed with meat (or potatoes for your veggie folks), rice beans and guacamole and sour cream.

If you aren't in the mood to get all these ingredients in burrito form you could always opt for the burritodilla which is the quesadilla version that you see at the top of this post, but either way you can't go wrong. And there are more and more places you can enjoy this fantastic grub. There are three different York locations and one in both Dallastown and Lancaster. Whichever is closest to you I highly encourage you to get out there and try them out.     

Bear Market: Simply Soup

I don't know weather to eat it or swim in it!
 

It is just stupid cold here in the White Rose city these days. I don't know about you, dear blog reader, but when the cold weather gets me down I reach for soup. Since I am a really lazy stuffed panda I don't take the time to make my own and I also am not a fan of the sodium packed canned stuff. Luckily for me there is a place to get awesome scratch-made soup in Central Market.

Simply Soup has a huge variety of recipes to warm you on even the coldest day as one look at their menu will show you. When you try any of their soups you can really tell that they are made with skill and care. Everything I have tried from there has been amazing so far. Pair the soup with one of the excellent grilled cheese sandwiches they serve you get one hell of a filling and rewarding lunch.

They aren't just for lunch though, because they also offer pint and quart containers to go. If you don't know what you're making for dinner tonight and you don't feel like going out either you can get some to go like Anthony, Heidi and I do. This week we got the Chicken Noodle you see at the top of this post and paired it with a mixed greens salad. If you're having people over get a few quarts and have them simmering on the stovetop when your guests arrive. They'll think you did all the hard work and you will have the upper hand on them, and isn't that what friendship is all about?

No matter if you decide to pass it off as your own or you give the credit to Simply Soup one thing is for sure: you'll have a great meal and warm yourself up.

Bee Eye Why See: Cheesesteak

 

In doing my research for my B.I.Y.C. (Best In York City)  post about cheesesteaks I've gained almost a pound. That may not sound like a lot to you but I'm not even a foot tall so I think you get the idea that I ate a whole lot of cheesesteaks. In the end I came back to the first one I had when I started the blog back in August.

Pepper's Grille at Central Market are masters of taking tried and true favorites and putting their own unique spin on them to take them to a whole new level. Their Bacon Cheesesteak is a fine example of just how they turn it up to 11. I'll be honest: when I first heard about the bacon steak I didn't know if I would like it. I thought the bacon might make it a bit too salty. But when I had it I found that the bacon brought the perfect balance to a cheesesteak.

Just take one look at these pictures and you'll all see the care that owners Steve and Ginger put into all their creations. Everything that goes into the steak is fresh and of super high quality. The rolls come all the way from Philadelphia: aka Cheesesteak Mecca and Steve also gets his secret ingredient for flavoring the steak all the way from Virginia.

It all adds up to one of the best things you'll ever eat, and I've had enough of them that I need to get myself on a diet. There are many places to get a good cheesesteak in York but Pepper's it one place to get a true masterpiece of steak, bread, bacon and cheese. It's even better than my own!

Bee Eye Why See: Fried Chicken

A bear about to be stuffed with Bair's!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to writing this blog post. Nearly 20 years ago when Anthony brought me to York for college we got some fried chicken at Central Market. And that same stand is still there selling some of the best fried chicken you can find in the area. Bair's has been selling fried chicken at the market for almost as long as Anthony and I have been alive. And it's not just the name that keeps this bear heading to Bair's; their chicken is the drawing card.

Over the years I've had just about everything on the Bair's simple yet comprehensive menu. It ranges from wings and sandwiches to nuggets & strips but my go to is the Number 5 consisting of a breast, wing, leg & thigh nestled next to a huge pile of Dutch potatoes. It's totally worth the hour and a half I have to spend licking my oily paws.

The chicken is always crisp on the outside and moist and tender inside which, let's be honest, is what you're looking for in fried chicken. It is quite simply the perfect late night/post bar food, which makes the fact that they're only open till 6 kind of a bummer, but that's par for the course with the market. I'm hoping the revitalization of the Market District leads to more of these great businesses saying open longer. In the meantime you just have to get yourself to the Market by 6 PM Tuesday through Friday and by 3 PM on Saturday to get some of this awesome "Four Paw Rated" fried chicken. It is, by far, the Best In York City!

Market Watch: D.I.Y. Cheesesteak

As much as I love eating out in York City there's only so much time a stuffed bear can spend away from the apartment. But living in the Market District can even help when it comes time to whip up some home-cooked deliciousness. With Anthony out of town and Heidi off partying with the Holy Hound crew I was left to fend for myself this past Saturday. I had a visitor who I was trying to impress so I bounded over to the Market and picked the fixins for a hell of a meal. Here is a step by step of what I made:

 

I picked up a pound of these thinly sliced steaks from J.L. Miller & Sons which put Steak 'Ums to shame.

 

Then I also got a pepper from Charles Family Market and headed home to make magic happen. First I cut the pepper and cooked it till they got a bit soft.

 

 

Next I tossed the steak on top of the peppers and cooked it until the steak was browned, but still juicy.

 

Once the peppers and steak were all ready to go I nestled them in a roll and covered the mixture with a few slices of extra sharp provolone. After about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven they came out looking like this.

 

 

I know, right? I'm sure you're dying for one and the best part is all you have to do is go to the market and pick these items up and make one for yourself. Or are you more lazy than a stuffed panda? I thought so. You eat your crappy delivery cheesesteak, I'll stick with my market sourced masterwork

Bear Market: LettUsKnow

Anyone who reads this blog knows by now that I love eating at York's central market; so much so that I've put on a few pounds since we moved to the Market District. It's a classic conundrum: you want to eat at the Market, but you don't want to have a big sloppy burger or giant piece of pastry for the fourth day in a row. So what does an adorable little (but not quite as little as I was a few months ago) teddy bear do for lunch on a Saturday?

Salad.

I know, I know: total cliché. The vegetable eating panda, but I was badly in need of some guilt-free sustenance and thanks to one of the market's newest stands I can have it. LettUsKnow just opened in the last few weeks but the concept is so perfect that I can't believe it hasn't been done there before now.

When you step up to the salad stand you have an infinite number of salad outcomes available to you. You start with a choice of greens such as spring mix, romaine, iceberg, spinach and baby arugula before moving on to your accoutrements. Step two entails picking 4 toppings from a list like apples, cilantro, cheese, broccoli or peppers. In step three you add the "crunch factor" with croutons, nuts, seeds or tortilla strips. Now you pick from one of almost two dozen dressings before moving on to optional add-ons.

The add-ons are proteins and cheeses like ham, different styles of chicken, shrimp and turkey or blue cheese, goat cheese and feta. When it's all put together you have a custom salad for right around $7 and when you're done you don't have to feel bloated and/or guilty. I highly recommend LettUsKnow and couldn't be happier that they have joined the market family.

Bear Market: Copper Crust Company

Sometimes a teddy bear just needs pastry; know what I'm saying? Where we used to live the only place within walking distance to get (what passed for) a pastry was a gas station/convenience store and that wasn't happening. Now that we live downtown I'm blessed with more than one place to get great pastry and one of them is The Copper Crust in Central Market.

Copper Crust ticks all the boxes when it comes to their pastry case from cakes, muffins and cookies to scones, croissants and quiche. No word on if they are working on a cronut yet but if they tried to make one I'm sure it would be awesome. My usual order is a quick everything bagel but when I want a little more I go with a bacon egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel or croissant.

Today I tagged along to the market with Anthony as he did his weekly shopping and we decided to get a few things and share them. We got the beautiful cherry danish you see above (which fittingly has a beautiful copper crust) and a paris roll, which is the stunning cinnamon roll you see to the left. Other than the fact that I had to have Anthony feed me bites of each (they are delightfully sticky and I didn't want to spend the next 4 hours cleaning the fur on my paws) it was a perfect breakfast.

Copper Crust is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7 AM to 2 PM and also make a great destination for lunch with salads and lunch versions of their bagel sandwiches. Be sure to check them out!

Bear Market: M&M Farm

Cooking us some ground beef from M&M Farm

It may be hard for you to understand but every now and again I am just swamped with teddy bear related responsibilities. And for the last few days I have been up to my ears in teddy bear business. So I haven't been able to hang out at the Market in my usual meandering fashion over the last few days. But Tuesday was market day so I asked Heidi to pop over to the market and pick me up a few things so I could keep my Bear Market posts going.

So she stopped by the M&M Farms Stand and picked me up some hot Italian sausages and a pound of ground beef. Tuesday night Anthony and I had  the sausage with some pasta and it was pretty damn good. You could definitely tell that it was locally made as it lacked the blandness that a lot of the national brands that they sell at the supermarket sell. The main drawback was that it was frozen and it that it was not a product of M&M.

The ground beef does come from M&M's York County farm which is located down in Glen Rock. Here is where I can really rave. Once again the main difference is how much more flavorful the local grass fed beef is. We made chili with it tonight, but after we browned it we tried it before mixing it in with all the other chili ingredients. It tasted amazing just browned and drained of what little excess fat there was. No seasoning was needed to let the flavor of the meat shine through. Once it was incorporated into Anthony's chili recipe it really proved how much better local and grass fed really is.

If you're not into all this delicious meat maybe you can check out their website to buy hides and skulls, you now, for kicks. In the end getting your meat from M&M is always better tan going to a supermarket. I give them 3 paws out of 4.

Bear Market: Peppers Grille

The next stop on my blog tour of  York's Central Market is Peppers Grille. In the month that we've lived downtown I've had occasion to visit Peppers a pawful of times for both breakfast and lunch.

The natural order of things is to start with breakfast and I've had a few breakfast items from Peppers. The first thing I tried was the beauty you see above. It is a maple bacon wrapped cinnamon bun topped with cream cheese icing. Yeah, that just happened. It goes without saying, but the combination of bacon, icing and a cinnamon bun is epic but this one really rocks.

Bacon is a real theme at Peppers. The other breakfast item I had was a breakfast BLT and like the menu says, it's just what you think. The breakfast part is a fried egg added to a regular BLT and it was a fantastic sandwich. They also have egg sandwiches breakfast favorites like pancakes and french toast. The item I haven't tried yet that I'm dying to is the brisket omelet and I think that says all you need to know.



Peppers Grille on the North side of the Market

As for lunches I've had a few of them as well and you won't be surprised to find out bacon featured in them as well. First up was a Bacon! Bacon! Burger which is chock-a-block full of bacon. It's in the ground of the patty and on top as well. I got mine sans cheese and I think that's the way to go. The bacon is really the star and it shines extra bright.

My second lunch there was the Big Bacon Steak with sautéed onions. Again, the name says it all for this cheesesteak with onions and small pieces of bacon mixed throughout. The flavors were great and the roll was perfect for the presentation and enjoyment of they whole experience.

Peppers is one of my early favorites for best of the market right along with Mezzogiorno. I give them the full 4 paws, not only for the food I've tried there but for their whole approach. You simply must try them out!



Bear Market: My Sweet Sins Bakery

Two huge pieces of cake

Today was market day again but my funds were limited and Anthony refused to meet me at the market and Heidi was busy writing while she watched T.J. Hooker reruns. So since I had to fend for myself today I opted to eat lunch at home and just pick up some sweets during my trip to market.

After browsing all the various sweets on offer I opted for a little stand over by the Beaver Street entrance called My Sweet Sins Bakery. I'm really happy I picked them as my evening treat. I got two huge pieces of chocolate cake, one with peanut butter frosting and one with coconut. The cake on both of them was moist and flavorful but the real star of the show was the frostings. The peanut butter was exceptional and unlike most store bought cakes that are barely covered it was also plentiful.

If I could ever convince Anthony to get me a mail order bride from ToysRUs.com or take me to the Teddy Bear whorehouse (build a bear workshop) I would certainly get my wedding cake made by these folks which, according to their card, they do. I give the cake three paws out of four and I'll be back for more.

Bear Market: Mezzogiorno

The #9 Sub: Capricol, Salami & Provolone

Another market day and another Teddy "Bear Market" watch. If you live in or around York and don't go to Market on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays you are doing yourself a great disservice. It's only been a few weeks since Anthony moved us downtown but I haven't missed a market day yet.

This week I visited Mezzogiorno and I was apprehensive to say the least. While I may be a tiny stuffed panda teddy bear I was taken in by household with heavy Italian influences. Some of my earliest memories are of Anthony's dad making subs for us with excellent salami and provolone. So now whenever I go to an Italian place this sub is my touchstone to see how good they are. If the salami and provolone isn't good chances are nothing else is.

I'm happy to say that this sub was fantastic. Good quality meat and cheese on a great roll with excellent toppings. In short: everything you can ask for out of a sub. I also sampled a #11 with turkey and provolone and that was also great. I see why the Mezzogoiorno is one of the most popular places at the market. The lunch menu includes hot & cold subs, paninis, soups, salads and pasta.

Unlike some other stands that are only open on market days, Mezzogoiorno is open Tuesday  through Saturday for breakfast and lunch. It is popular with all the usual market like jurors and the work a day set. It's just a shame that they aren't open for dinner.

I give Mezzogiorno all four paws and I highly recommend that you check them out. Tell them a little adopted Italian-American teddy bear sent you.

Bear Market: Good's Mini Donuts




A bakers dozen of Goods Mini donuts with a cup of Nutella glaze

This is the first of my weekly posts that will focus on one of the vendors in York’s Central Market. The market has been open for over 125 years in the same location and features a host of vendors selling everything from crafts to food. Since the market is just down the alley from our new pad I thought I’d get over there and try out some of what they have to offer and report on it to you here on the blog.

Today I am focusing on Good’s Mini Donuts which is one of the market’s newer vendors. It sits right inside the Beaver St. entrance on the market’s west side. It’s a no frills stand with a heavy focus on the star of the show: their Mini Donuts. Part of the enjoyment of the place is the way the donuts are made right in front of you while you wait. After you order a nozzle,  kind of like that old Playdough Fun Factory, extrudes batter right into small canal of hot oil. The donuts travel down the hot oil canal where they are flipped  by an automated gate to ensure they cook on both sides. One of the friendly guys behind the counter then scoops them out of the oil and puts them in a small sleeve where they can be tossed in powdered sugar or a cinnamon & sugar mix.

I opted for the cinnamon and sugar which sounded good all on its own, but then their list of special glazes caught my eye and I added a cup of Nutella glaze to my order. A baker’s dozen of the little donuts and the glaze set me back just over three bucks, but once I tried them I realized it was well worth it. Since the donuts are hot the cinnamon and sugar really sticks to them well ensuring a good coating. The only thing better than a freshly made donut is a freshly made donut dunked in this amazing Nutella glaze. It would work as breakfast or desert and just about anywhere in between.

I’m sure the glaze selection is meant for plain donuts but I really enjoyed the cinnamon & sugar mixed with the Nutella. I don’t know how well it would go with powdered sugar but I’m willing to try some other combinations. My ratings system is a bit limited since I don’t have any thumbs, but I give Good’s Mini Donuts both 3 ½ paws out of 4. If you try them I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.


 

A mini donut floating in Nutella Glaze