As warmer weather approaches, you may want to head outside and enjoy the fresh air. Better yet, if you live in a major U.S. city, you might find yourself hungry and standing in line at one of Americas many food trucks. If you don't live near any food trucks, however, you don't have to look far to find the delicious flavors that they deliver. Cookbook author John T. Edge has travel the country and shared his favorite recipes from the best food trucks in America in his book, The Food Truck Cookbook.
This book is divided up into 8 chapters, plus and introduction and an afterword. The chapters include Fries and Pies, Waffles and Their Kin, Brunch on Wheels, Unexpected Pleasures, Sandwich Up!, Hot Dogs (with a Bow to Burgers), Tacopalooza, and Rolling in Sweets. While I would love to break the book down by food truck, I will instead present the best recipe from each chapter and leave you all to purchase the book and discover the amazingness that is this book!
Chapter 1, Fries and Pies, is all about sides and a variety of sweet and savory pies. The best dish here is LMN O'Pies from Madison, Wisconsin. Their dish is Chicken Cheddar Bacon Pasties. Essentially it is a cheesy, bacon and chicken-filled calzone "pie." The book supplies the recipes for both the meal and the dough, and it seems like the perfect game day snack to me!
Chapter 2, Waffles and Their Kin, is amazing! As I have already posted my own waffle recipe, this chapter is near and dear to me! Having grown up in the country, I have to give this chapter to Parker's Waffles and Coffee from Portland, Oregon. Their Sausage Gravy and Waffles is a down-home classic! The recipe is simple and an obvious classic that you would expect to find at any true diner or Cracker Barrel (although a homemade version is almost always better than a mass produced product...).
Chapter 3, Brunch on Wheels, is great for those of you like me who aren't usually hungry until the late morning to the early afternoon. I had to pick John's Lunch Truck from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Scrapple, Egg, and Provolone Hoagies for one simple reason: SCRAPPLE! This pork scrap product is highly popular here in NJ, and I couldn't let it go unnoticed in a cookbook. This sandwich is a hot breakfast/lunch sandwich which will have an amazing creamy/cheesy texture and be very filling!
Chapter 4, Unexpected Pleasures, was a great surprise. It was this chapter that provided Los Angeles, California's Kogi truck's Korean Short Ribs. I am a huge fan of ribs, and this recipe has a 14 ingredient marinade for the beef short ribs. The idea of mixing Asian flavors with American-style BBQ is very interesting to me, and this dish seems like it will deliver!
Chapter 5, Sandwich Up!, is filled with the best combinations between bread that you could ever imagine being prepared from within a truck. While there is a plethora of ethnic dishes, I have to go with MikeyD's Grill's Cheesesteak Sandwich. This Philadelphia, Pennsylvania food truck's sandwich is the classic, must-have cheesesteak. With a simple ingredient list of meat, veggies, and cheese, this sandwich is elevated by broccoli rabe. I cannot stress enough that you use the Italian Sandwich Rolls! You need a durable roll for such an amazing sandwich!
Chapter 6, Hot Dogs (with a Bow to Burgers), is sure to please any American family! However, El Guero Canelo's Sonoran Hot Dog is the winner here! Take a hot dog, wrap it in bacon, and top it with beans and onions and you will have an amazing hot dog! Plus, they recommend adding tomato, mayo, and jalapeño salsa! Sounds delicious (plus, everything's better when it's wrapped in bacon!).
Chapter 7 is Tacopalooza, which is appropriate with Cinco de Mayo quickly approaching. My marching band students are huge fans of this dish at band camp, so I had to pick Refresqueria Rio Verde's Frito Pie. This Houston, Texas food truck takes a classic dish, the taco, and builds it within a individual Frito bag with chile, cheese, onion, and jalapeño. It's a great portable dish, and it is also extremely delicious!
Lastly, Chapter 8 is Rolling in Sweets. While desserts aren't always my thing, it am intrigued by Austin, Texas' Holy Cacao food truck S'mores! This recipe will help you make a marshmallow filling and asks for high quality chocolate. This is a simple dessert that is sure to please almost anyone!
I hope that you all enjoy this book as much as I do! It has a great variety of food trucks and recipes, and I'm really excited to start making a few of them. Enjoy the review, and I'll have another up soon for May (Cinco de Mayo).
This book is divided up into 8 chapters, plus and introduction and an afterword. The chapters include Fries and Pies, Waffles and Their Kin, Brunch on Wheels, Unexpected Pleasures, Sandwich Up!, Hot Dogs (with a Bow to Burgers), Tacopalooza, and Rolling in Sweets. While I would love to break the book down by food truck, I will instead present the best recipe from each chapter and leave you all to purchase the book and discover the amazingness that is this book!
Chapter 1, Fries and Pies, is all about sides and a variety of sweet and savory pies. The best dish here is LMN O'Pies from Madison, Wisconsin. Their dish is Chicken Cheddar Bacon Pasties. Essentially it is a cheesy, bacon and chicken-filled calzone "pie." The book supplies the recipes for both the meal and the dough, and it seems like the perfect game day snack to me!
Chapter 2, Waffles and Their Kin, is amazing! As I have already posted my own waffle recipe, this chapter is near and dear to me! Having grown up in the country, I have to give this chapter to Parker's Waffles and Coffee from Portland, Oregon. Their Sausage Gravy and Waffles is a down-home classic! The recipe is simple and an obvious classic that you would expect to find at any true diner or Cracker Barrel (although a homemade version is almost always better than a mass produced product...).
Chapter 3, Brunch on Wheels, is great for those of you like me who aren't usually hungry until the late morning to the early afternoon. I had to pick John's Lunch Truck from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Scrapple, Egg, and Provolone Hoagies for one simple reason: SCRAPPLE! This pork scrap product is highly popular here in NJ, and I couldn't let it go unnoticed in a cookbook. This sandwich is a hot breakfast/lunch sandwich which will have an amazing creamy/cheesy texture and be very filling!
Chapter 4, Unexpected Pleasures, was a great surprise. It was this chapter that provided Los Angeles, California's Kogi truck's Korean Short Ribs. I am a huge fan of ribs, and this recipe has a 14 ingredient marinade for the beef short ribs. The idea of mixing Asian flavors with American-style BBQ is very interesting to me, and this dish seems like it will deliver!
Chapter 5, Sandwich Up!, is filled with the best combinations between bread that you could ever imagine being prepared from within a truck. While there is a plethora of ethnic dishes, I have to go with MikeyD's Grill's Cheesesteak Sandwich. This Philadelphia, Pennsylvania food truck's sandwich is the classic, must-have cheesesteak. With a simple ingredient list of meat, veggies, and cheese, this sandwich is elevated by broccoli rabe. I cannot stress enough that you use the Italian Sandwich Rolls! You need a durable roll for such an amazing sandwich!
Chapter 6, Hot Dogs (with a Bow to Burgers), is sure to please any American family! However, El Guero Canelo's Sonoran Hot Dog is the winner here! Take a hot dog, wrap it in bacon, and top it with beans and onions and you will have an amazing hot dog! Plus, they recommend adding tomato, mayo, and jalapeño salsa! Sounds delicious (plus, everything's better when it's wrapped in bacon!).
Chapter 7 is Tacopalooza, which is appropriate with Cinco de Mayo quickly approaching. My marching band students are huge fans of this dish at band camp, so I had to pick Refresqueria Rio Verde's Frito Pie. This Houston, Texas food truck takes a classic dish, the taco, and builds it within a individual Frito bag with chile, cheese, onion, and jalapeño. It's a great portable dish, and it is also extremely delicious!
Lastly, Chapter 8 is Rolling in Sweets. While desserts aren't always my thing, it am intrigued by Austin, Texas' Holy Cacao food truck S'mores! This recipe will help you make a marshmallow filling and asks for high quality chocolate. This is a simple dessert that is sure to please almost anyone!
I hope that you all enjoy this book as much as I do! It has a great variety of food trucks and recipes, and I'm really excited to start making a few of them. Enjoy the review, and I'll have another up soon for May (Cinco de Mayo).