I just posted some more restaurant reviews. In addition to reviews for Pasta Pelican, Stacey's and the Montclair Egg Shop that I'd mentioned earlier, I put reviews for The Ice Creamery in Castro Valley and Ploughman's in San Leandro.

Pastel de Carne, or Meat Pie, has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a little girl. It's rich and hearty, perfect for a cold winter day - and to satisfy those pregnancy cravings.

A pastel de carne is very simple and quite reminiscent of an Irish Sheperd's pie. It's consists of a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of cooked ground beef and another layer of mashed potatoes baked in an oven-safe pan. I use the same filling I use for the empanadas (a modify version of which I also use for spaghetti sauce). It contains many more spices than my mom's simple Argentinian basis, but I like it more.

To make it you need

-6 cups mashed potatoes (I often use boxed ones, but if you want to make them yourself this recipe is great

-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 lb ground beef
-salt & pepper to taste
-2 tsp. garlic powder
-2 tsp. oregano
-2 tsp. paprika
-1/2 tsp. curry powder
-1/2 tsp. coriander
-1/2 tsp. cumin
-1/2 tsp. chili powder
-1/4 tsp. allspice
-1/2 cup pasta sauce (optional)
-1/8 cup red wine
-1/2 cup raisins

-Shredded and/or parmessan cheese to taste

Sautee the chopped onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat in a deep skillet. When soft, add the garlic and sautee for a couple of minutes. Add the ground meat and brown. Add the spices and stir. Add the pasta sauce and the red wine, stir and cook until the meat is well cooked. Remove from heat and stir in the raisins.

In a oven-safe deep pot, layer half the mashed potatoes, cover with the ground beef and top with another layer of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake until the cheese on top melts or browns.

I'm ashamed to say it but I love Stouffers lasagna. The small ones are OK, but they can't compete with the large party-tray size. For some reason, maybe the long, slow baking, it tastes much better.

I don't even want to look at the list of ingredients as I'm sure I'd be apalled. But it tastes sooo good, it's such the perfect comfort food. Plus, if you bake a tray you'll have dinner/lunch for at least a couple of days.

We just made another trip to Trader Joe's so I figure I'll write a few words about new products we'd bought. I'll keep adding more items to this posting as we try them.

-Corinthians Chocolate Cream Wafers. These are very long cylinders filled with dark chocolate cream. They are very brittle and most of them seemed to have broken at least in two even before we open the can. They are good and addictive but not as good as others I've had. I probably shouldn't buy them again.

-Think Thin Sugar Free Sour Citrus Slices. These are little soft candies in sour flavors. Mike bought then and didn't like them as they weren't very sweet, though he says they are growing on him.

-Piccolo Limone Italiano. This pre-squeezed lemon juice comes in a little plastic bottle in the shape of a lemon. Unlike other commercial lemon juice, it's neither lemon juice from concentrate, or pure-lemon juice. Instead it's a mixture of water, lemon juice, citric acid and lemon oil. It does need to be refrigerated after opening it. It was quite good, it had a distinctive lemon-oil flavor that I actually found quite pleasant on top of last nights milanesas. Of course, fresh lemon is better - but if you don't have your own lemon tree it can be quite expensive.

-Kettle Corn. Though obviously not as freshly made as the kettle corn from the farmers market, it tasted quite fresh. It was very good, but much sweeter than the farmer's market stuff. That's not bad in itself, though a concern if you're watching your sugar intake.

-Orange Chicken. This is a frozen product that has to be heated by baking or sauteeing (in 1/2 cup vegetable oil!). I was VERY dissapointed. The chicken was pretty tasteless without the sauce, and the sauce was too runny and not very good. It didn't really taste much like orange and not at all like the sauces you get at Chinese restaurants. Given how much time it takes to make this dish, and how it's not microwabable, it's certainly not worth it. It probably wouldn't be worth it either if it was microwabable.

-Chicken Curry. This is a frozen entree under TJ's label. It was very disappointing, much worse than the other frozen Indian entrees that TJ sells under a different label. The "basmati rice" was long-grain and may have been basmati, but it was completely tasteless. The curry had very few pieces of chicken and the spicy sauce tasted mostly of cinnamon. It was edible but not enjoyable.

I love milanesas. They're not very healthy and they're a bit of a pain to make (or rather, to clean up after), but they are soooo good.

Last night I made them with some very thin meat from Safeway I didn't even need to beat up. The empanadas were extremely tender and wonderful in thin slices of sourdough bread with lemon juice, tomato slices and baby spinach. Yummmm.

Recipe

Ropa Vieja (literally, "old clothing") is an old Cuban recipe used to spruce up leftover meat. I got the recipe from the Frugal Gourmet on our Immigrant Ancestors many years ago, and it has always been one of our favorites. The recipe itself is pretty simple, requiring the cooked meat to simmer with chopped onions, garlic and green peppers in tomato sauce and wine. The only spices are salt and bay leaves. But it's unbelievably delicious.

The dish is quite laborious, however, as you first have cook the meat (unless you have tons of leftover roast around) and then shred it. It shreds easily but it takes quite a long time to do it. Stopping yourself from eating the meat while you shred it is also quite a task.

I usually serve Ropa Vieja with rice, but this time I served it with quinoa. I wanted to try it. We weren't too impressed. The package instructions - cook it in a rice cooker with twice as much water as quinoa - made for a soupy mess. next time I wouldn't use more than 1 1/2 xs water. I don't think we liked the slightly nutty/bitter taste of the quinoa, though it did grow on us. Perhaps it will be better with other types of sauces. I still have some more, so I'll probably make it again.

I got one of the gold pinapples at Safeway. I don't know if they had other kinds, I just picked up what I saw. It's a special variety (genetically modified, no doubt) twice as sweet as regular pineapple. It's delicious, without a doubt, but perhaps too sweet. Even Mike, who doesn't always like pineapple because he finds it too sour, thought it wasn't sour enough. After all, the combination of sweet and sour is what makes pineapple so great.

Still, this was really, really good. We'll see how it works out on the pizza tonight.

I had heard about Trader Joe's pizza dough for a while, so during my last TJ trip I bought some of the herbs & garlic one. It's in the refrigerated section, right next to the pizza sauce (which I also bought). Add some pre-shredded quatro formaggio, some pepperoni and fresh pineapple and alas, we have pizza.

Of course, I first needed a pizza stone and I secured one at the new "dd's discount" store that opened in San Leandro. This is basically a Ross store selling cheaper crap - kind of like a McFrugals that concentrates on clothing. But they do have the same type of stuff that Ross has, including some cooking items. I got a Farberware pizza stone for $10. It was not a bargain.

I had washed and let dry the stone as the instructions said, but I found myself without the necessary cornmeal to put under the pizza. The instructions said to not use flour as it would burn, so I decided to just put the pizza on the stone. It wasn't a good idea. As the pizza cooked it merged with the stone and it became impossible to separate it. We basically had to cut through the crust to eat it. It was really good, though now I think I have a useless stone. I don't know if it'll be possible to clean it though I'll try. If I get it clean, I'll certainly will make pizza again and next time I won't skip the cornmeal :)

I was set on going for Italian last night, but then Mika and her gnocchi obsession hit me. After clearing her plates all day, I couldn't stomach the thought of another tomato sauce or pasta. Mike suggested Thai (of course) so I went on to search for a Thai restaurant somewhat nearby.

Here the East Bay Express dining pages came to my aid. It's really a great resource for finding restaurants in this part of the Bay, specially given how little notice the Chronicle and even Citysearch give to us here. It's particularly useful for finding small, out of the way restaurants and that's exactly what Old Weang Ping Village was.

I will write a full review later (of course), but in a few words this is an old, quirky restaurant in a part of Oakland we had never visited before (near Mills College). Regina felt we were in another city altogether (as Mike told her, we were). The food is very cheap ($5-6 por appetizers, $6-7 for main dishes) and very, very good. They call it Thai country cooking and the flavors are somewhat different from everyday Thai restaurants. The curries are less blended and much more abundant in vegetables. But all we had was delicious.

You can check out the review at the Express

Vatran's, our favorite Eastern European deli, is changing ownerships. It's not closing per se, but the store has been bought by two Asians so I cannot imagine it will remain the same. The former owner will stay there for a couple of months to handle the transition and train the new owners, but you can't gain decades of experience in a couple of months. I hope to be wrong, but I can't imagine the quality remaining the same.

Oh well.

We had lunch there today, the trip-tip sandwich was delicious as was the pull pork (though Mike didn't like the accompanying potato salad).

Safeway refrigerated cakes are often very good, the best cakes I can get in my little city (but if you know of a good source for cakes & desserts in San Leandro, please let me know). Unfortunatelly, their non-refrigerated cakes are not as successful.

Yesterday we were going to Charlotte's for dinner and, as usual, I figured I'd take dessert. The dessert had to stay in the car for several hours so I didn't want something that would have to be refrigerated, thus I decided to get the non-refrigerated coconut cake. It was OK but not great. The cake itself was a little bit dry and the frosting too-sweet and artificial tasting. I wouldn't get it again.

About three years ago, Mike had an incredible watermelon sorbet at Charles Nob Hill. One of my motivators in getting an ice-cream maker was to be able to make it for him. Today I finally try but my attempt wasn't very successful. He says the taste is fine but it doesn't have the melt-in-your-mouth consistency sorbet should have. We suspect the problem is that the watermelon wasn't pureed enough (I used a food processor). Next time I think I will use the blender and then strain it (so that I end up with watermelon juice) before making it.

Here is the recipe I tried

-5 cups watermelon puree (about 1/2 a seedless watermelon)
-1 cup sugar
-1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Heat 1 cup of watermelon puree with the cup of sugar and stir until the sugar melts. Mix in the rest of the puree and the lime juice. Cool in the refrigerator or freezer. Put in the ice cream machine and freeze according to the instructions.

A Mike invention. It was surprisingly good and it made me long for Chubby Hubby ice cream.

I'm not sure if I'd call this a "great" website, but it's certainly amusing. Read the musings and rantings of bitter waitresses (and waiters!) at bitterwaitress.com

kiss my bitter ass

We've been eagerly awaiting the opening of the New Hong Kong Restaurant for several weeks. Though San Leandro does not need any more Chinese restaurants, this one is located only 3 or 4 blocks from our house. The more restaurants we have close by, the better for us.

My friend Jenny called me up last night suggesting dinner. She was left alone with her two kids while her husband worked, and Mike was still in a business trip so I was left alone with Mika. I figured that as a Chinese restaurant the place would be quite child friendly and we should give it a try.

All in all it worked quite well. The kids were loud and annoying, but the other parties eating there didn't seem to mind too much (I apologized to them, of course). The place wasn't very busy, but with only 3 people working there, service was quite slow and rushed. It took forever for us to get our bill - at a time when the kids were jumping around by the front door. And we never got the rice we ordered, but these are all things you have to expect from a restaurant that has only been opened 5 days.

The food was traditional Chinese-restaurant stuff and quite good and cheap (entrees averaged $7). We ordered a pork bun appetizer (~$1.50 for two buns), and the steamed, crustless buns were very good. They had a nice ammount of delicious pork and I'd certainly order it again.

The chow main was made with regular noodles (not the very thin type some restaurants serve) but I really liked the flavor. It was heavier on the noodles than on the bean sprouts and other veggies, which I prefer of couse.

The cashew chicken was good, but the dish was overwhelmed by the small, cubed water chestnuts. You actually had to hunt for the chicken amidst all of them. Unfortunatelly, Mika didn't like them - but she loved the cubed zucchini and scarse carrots that came with it.

The good health chicken and veggie platter seemed too oily to be good health, but it was good. The kids all loved the veggies, though some more broccoli would have been better. As it was they all had to share one last crown.

I'll write a full review of the restaurant next time I go there, but I figured this one would work for now.

New Hong Kong Restaurant
1750 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510.357.6288

I got a bunch of restaurant reviews back from Mike (who edits them, he's so horrified at my grammar that doesn't let me post them otherwise). Here they are:

-Pleasanton Hotel Mystery Dinner, we loved the mystery, didn't enjoy the food.

-Casa Madrid in Pleasanton, poor tapas, good main dishes, great desserts and exemplary service.

-Pyzano's Pizzeria in Castro Valley, good pizza, nice atmosphere.

-Village Bistro in Castro Valley, good, homey continental cuisine, just like mom used to make if she was French.

-Cafe Colucci in Oakland, good Ethiopian food

-Ethiopia Restaurant in Berkeley, different Ethiopian food in not as cool surroundings

-Jardiniere, bad service and uninspired food at this San Francisco landmark

-Shish Kebab, etc., middle eastern delivery in San Leandro

-Taqueria Guadalajara, not the best taqueria in town (San Leandro)

-The Much Box, a burger stand in Chatsworth with a long history

-Cha Cha Cha, a colorful Encino restaurant.

It's been so long since we went to Sansar, an Indian Restaurant in Pleasanton, that I don't feel I can write a proper review. Still, as so far this is the best Indian restaurant I’ve discovered in the Bay Area I can’t let it pass unacknowledged. So, and until we go again and I can write a formal review, I figured I’d write my recollections of our dining experience at Sansar here.

We went there in June 2004, when Kathy was visiting us. Our actual intention had been to go to the Pleasanton Hotel for music and outdoor food, but we had gotten there late and there was no place to sit anywhere. That may have been for the best, as the crowd mostly consisted of middle-aged, high-heal bearing, suburban looking folks - not exactly our types of people.

We noticed Sansar right across the street and we figured we’d have dinner there - we all love Indian food and are always in the look for a new place. Kathy - who until then was convinced she disliked Indian food - wasn’t thrilled with the idea but went along with it.

The restaurant was quite empty that Thursday night, which may have accounted for the very friendly host. It’s an OK-looking place, perhaps a tad nicer than most Indian restaurant, though still retaining much of the look of whatever restaurant was there before it. The menu is quite expensive, with vegetarian dishes averaging $9 and non-vegetarian dishes ranging from $12 to $21. The food, however, was worth it.

I don’t remember if we ordered an appetizer, but I do know that both the chicken tika masala and the lamb korma we ordered were excellent, probably the best we’ve ever had. They were quite spicy, however - even though these are dishes that are not usually spicy. They were so good that they made Kathy into an Indian-food convert. Her lamb byriani was also excellent, the rice was very flavorful and the lamb was tender. Like the curries, it was quite spicy.

I don’t remember what Regina and Boris ordered, I think Boris was quite happy with his dish though Regina felt hers was too spicy and didn’t eat as much. Still, everyone agreed that this was very high quality Indian food.

We’ll certainly go again, next time I’ll ask for my dish “mild” and I’ll write a proper review.

Sansar
824 Main St.
Pleasanton, Ca.
925-600-0202
M-Sa 11 am-3 pm, 5-10 pm
Su, 5-10 pm

Regina had driven by Bacheeso's (located on San Pablo and Dwight in Berkeley) many times and had always seen lots of people there, so when the question of where we'd go for brunch yesterday came out, she suggested we give it a try. It was a good choice.

We had to wait outside for about ten minutes before we got a table - though someone needs to stay inside to assert themselves when their turn is, they don't seem to keep a wait list - but that wasn't too big a deal. The restaurant is pretty small and crowded but convivial and quite child friendly. There were lots of parents with babies and toddlers around, though don't count on a high-chair. I saw a very old one in the back, but I don't think it'd have been practical to bring it to the table.

Bacheeso's has a breakfast menu offering many staples (omelettes, french toast) and a lunch one with pastas and sandwiches. What draws many people to the place, however, is its brunch buffet which includes both breakfast and lunch items for about $9 ($5 for children). We all decided on the buffet which is why I'm not writing a formal review of the restaurant - we didn't actually get to experience any of their "regular" food.

The buffet was actually quite good, not all items were great, but most of the food was at least a couple of notches above typical buffet faire. Apparently once upon a time they served a Middle Eastern buffet, but it has now become quite Americanized. One of the best dishes was chicken with BBQ sauce and their homemade mashed potatoes were a little bit lumpy but they rocked flavor-wise. Mike also liked the eggs and the pasta salad.

Their kebabs looked like long slices of meatloaf, but their was no mistaken their origen once you bit into them. They were moist and flavorful with a clear Middle Eastern spicing. The basmati rice didn't hold up well under the juice from the roasted tomatoes, however.

A slice of what was either pizza or focaccia (the toppings had been fused together and were unrecognizable) tasted quite good, though it was a little tough. Indeed, all the baked goods suffered from a distinct lack of baking powder - they were flat and dense when they should have been fluffy. We encountered this problem on a chocolate cake (which otherwise tasted out of a box - not bad) and on the pancakes.

Other items were also lackluster, a roasted turkey was dry and Regina was underwhelmed by some of the other veggetarian options (there were several).

Desserts could have been better, but fresh strawberries with a chocolate swizzle were great.

The one thing that didn't work well was the service, but the waitresses were clearly swamped. They were constantly going from one place to the other, so it was probably not their fault that we had to remind them about our drinks well after we were eating.

In all we had a good experience and felt that the food was a very good value. It's probably not worth it for us to make the trek to go there for brunch again, but if we were in the neighborhood we might very well stop by again.

Bacheeso's Garden Bistro
2501 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, Ca.
(510) 644-2035
Daily 8 a.m.-5 p.m.