These two recipes are from epicurious.com, my favorite recipe website. What I usually do is see what's on sale at the supermarket, and then go to epicurious and look for recipes using those ingredients. It works very well. I've made these recipes in the last couple of weeks and they've been delicious - so I'm blogging about them both to not forget them and to share them with you.

Chicken with Mustard and Tarragon Cream Sauce

Lord, was this good. And not as sinful as it looks, as the recipe produces A LOT of sauce. A bit expensive, given that it uses tarragon, but it's an encouragement to grow it. It's also quite simple to make.

Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs with Gorgonzola Polenta and Mixed-Herb Gremolata

Now, this is more sinful - but still, one of the healthiest short rib recipes I've made, in particular because I used boneless short ribs. They may not be as flavorful as the boned kind, but they were great in this recipe.

I skipped the Gorgonzola polenta, as I forgot to buy the polenta itself, but I'd have loved to make it. I will have to try again. By all means make the gremolata, it really adds a necessary element to the dish.

Note that this recipe takes THREE days to make. One to season the short ribs, another to cook them, and a third to heat them up and eat them.

Marga's Best Recipes

Update 4/10

Our first visit to Rocky's Charcoal Grill wasn't great and I'm sad to report that our second one, three years later, wasn't that wonderful either. This time we ordered some of the complete burgers (the Goldenburger, which with sauteed mushrooms in a sourdough bun - $6 - and the vanyburger with bacon, sauteed onions and BBQ sauce). Neither burger was very tasty. The mushrooms in the goldenburger were a bit bitter though mostly mild, but still gave the burger an unpleasant flavor and texture. They probably should have been sauteed longer, maybe with more salt.

The other burger was better, but still didn't have much meat flavor and just lacked an all-around oomph.

We both liked the onion rings, however.

I doubt we'll go back.

--
Original Review

I'm disappointed to say that I was not impressed by Rocky's Charcoal's Grill, the latest restaurant to take the space on West Estudillo and Haste, next to the San Leandro History Museum. The burgers we had there were OK, but pedestrian - and the chose your own condiments and toppings (sans tomatoes, which you have to ask for separately) was not a winner in my book. If I knew how to properly dress a burger, I'd make it myself :) The patties themselves were on the dry side, and they had only a slight charcoal flavor, though they are cooked on a charcoal grill.

On the plus side, Rocky's only uses fresh beef not treated with artificial hormones and given an all-vegetarian diet. I'd like to see more restaurants do that. The prices are quite affordable, with 1/3 lb burgers starting at $4.25.

I'm sad to not be able to give Rocky's a good review. The people working there were very nice, and I do hope the business to succeed. I should also note, that other people have raved about the place, so I'd recommend you go and judge for yourself.

Rocky's Charcoal's Grill
300 West Estudillo Ave.
San Leandro, CA
510-351-6228

Today I received a phone call from my friend Mauro complaining about the terrible dining experience he had at Boulevard Burger last night. He went there for dinner with his family and children and had to deal with bad service, mixed orders and food that just didn't make it to the table. Apparently, it took 45 minutes for some of the burgers and an order of fries to come to the table - his own burger and the remaining orders of fries never arrived. Other people were having the same problems and the waitresses seemed to be lost as to which order belonged to which table.

He, of course, complained both to the cook and the servers, who basically had an attitude of "deal with it". There were no apologies whatsoever.

Boulevard Burger is very much of a neighborhood joint, and it really cannot afford to antagonize its patrons like that. My experiences there have been good, but I have heard complaints about service from other people as well. I'm still willing to go back there, I do like their burgers, but I'm a bit weary bout it now.

Boulevard Burger
1027 MacArthur Boulevard
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 632-3100
Original Review

Camila and I just made some bon bons from a Betty Crocker Peanut Butter bon bon Mix that my mom got me (no idea why). I have to admit I'm quite impressed. The bon bons were very easy to make - so much so that Camila barely needed any help - and they are fun too!

Basically all you do is mix some butter with the bon bon mix and peanut butter. You roll them into balls and then dip them into melted chocolate. Well, let me tell you, 5 year-olds find rolling and dipping more fun than you would expect.

These things do not need to be baked and only require fifteen minutes in the fridge for the chocolate to harden - great, given how little patience children have.

More importantly, they are quite delicious. Mika couldn't believe how good they were and she hugged Camila thanking her for making them.

As for Camila, she decided she wants to own a candy store when she grows up, given how good she is at making candy :-)

Update - I just saw the bon bon mix at Grocery Outlet for $1.50 for the 14oz, single, package. It's supposed to make about 20 bon bons.

This is just an update on local eateries:

- I reported a couple of weeks ago that my friend Mauro had had a terrible dinner experience at Boulevard Burger. Despite that, we went for dinner there last night, and our experience was definitely the opposite. For one, there were few people there (probably because it's a neighborhood joint and word of bad service spreads quickly), which meant that the staff definitely had time to do their jobs. Our dinner was served quickly, accurately and it was very good. I have no complaints at all.

- Marita's Sweet Potato Pie, a bakery which sells cakes and pies only, has taken on the space next door to it (owned by Marita's owner), previously occupied by Cornerstone Cafe. They are still doing the same operation, but now they also have tables and chairs. I didn't go inside so I don't know if they also serve drinks to go with those cakes, but I'll check it out soon.

- The Golden Tea Garden in Hayward has new hours. It's now open Tu-F 11-4 and Sa-Su 11-5 PM. I understand that as the place gets empty later in the afternoon, but as we usually linger for hours when we go to tea, I'll sure our next tea there is no later than 2 PM.

A couple of unrelated additional comments:

- Does anyone else wonder what goes on at Mae's Soul Food on Victoria Circle in San Leandro? I go by there every day and the place is not open for dinner and only erratically opened for lunch. Indeed, I'd say it's closed more often than open. I can't imagine how the restaurant can make any money, if indeed selling food is their main business.

- I went to the Alta Mira Club's tea and fashion show last week. The fashion show - styles of dance dresses since the 1860's to the 1970's - was great, even for someone like me who has no interest on fashion. The tea goodies weren't bad, the little sandwiches (tuna salad, egg salad and shrimp) were super cute and the cookies weren't bad, but the tea was close to undrinkable, incredibly weak and tasteless. It didn't help that they only had half-and-half, entirely too heavy for the watery tea, and no milk. The tickets were $25, a bit steep, but it was an enjoyable afternoon.

- I've gone to the lunch buffet at Aroma Cuisine of India in Castro Valley three times now. The first two times I thought the small buffet was great - but yesterday all the food was lukewarm (even though we got there around 11:45 AM). I hope this is not an indication that quality is going down at Aroma.