The Food Episode
This was a very special episode of the Rabble Rabble Cheeseburger Baseball Podcast where we went to Chef Andrew Garrett’s house to do a food episode. We leaned where Andrew got his first name of Chef, and he cooked several dishes that have some connection to baseball.
His first dish he presented was the world famous Dodger Dog. While some people think they know what the Dodger Dog is and might have had one at the Dodger Stadium in L.A., but he uses his creative cooking skills to put his own spin on the revered dog.
This episode was recorded on May 7th, and Sean is already complaining about the Orioles winning record.
Andrew then presents three dishes that really encompasses baseball food: chili dogs, nachos, and garlic fries - which is based on Andrew’s beloved San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park dish.
Sean kept trying to steal the show with his meaningless stats.
We had to interrupt Sean just to have Andrew show us his bratwurst and caramelized onions based on ones he had in Philadelphia when the Phillies still played at Veterans Stadium; Andrew used this to talk about his time in the U.S. Army.
Chef Andrew talked about his upbringing in wine country, California and working with other chefs, including Guy Fieri before Guy was famous.
Sean realizes that he knows more about cooking than he thought!
Andrew talks about the nature of working in kitchens and how soccer and baseball is always playing on the radio.
Then we start naming all the fat baseball players we know, and Andrew teaches us the greatest nutrition secret of all time.
We go on about special dishes that different stadiums across the nation offer. Food is a strong part of stadium life. As kids we beg our parents to buy us snacks and sugary drinks while we sat in the bleachers. Vendors walked up and down the stairs yelling their wares and you could be a part of a community by helping the food get the buyer and the money to the vendor.
We then get excited about how fun it would be for a professional team to come to Portland, Oregon and hopefully take advantage of Portland’s culinary culture.
Sean then goes into his game routine:
Goes early
Watches batting practice
Goes gets a beverage or hotdog
Locates seat
Does a full rotation of the stadium
Fuck the Mariners
Gets a beverage - asks others if they want anything
Has quiet moments with self - smelling the grass, feels alone in a crowded room, forgets the stuff that he said he would get others.
He never finishes his routine because Dave and Andrew are assholes.
Chef Andrew goes on a tangent about Portland’s food scene. He gives us the keys to a true chef: tattoos, beard, hip.
Andrew then gives us the lowdown on his line of cooking sauces: NW Elixirs. They have a significant number of awards for their bottles, and if you want to really know how to be a chef, use these hot sauces in your recipes.
While not working in a restaurant, Andrew is busy with the NW Elixirs, working in a test kitchen, and still doing pop ups so that he can still enjoy the hell that is working in a kitchen still.
He also lets us know that while Portland may seem like it has a great culinary scene; it in fact, does not. Dave saves the negativity by asking for the greater restaurants in Portland.
Andrew will not admit who makes good tacos in Portland because you will ruin it.
We finish the episode reminiscing of our relationship with food and baseball. From our snacks in Little League, the meal after our Little League games, favorite foods at games.
Andrew is excited about playing in left field for the Portland Grays.
We did talk a little about MLB news.