Author: marga (Page 67 of 112)

Tequila Grill Redux Redux

February 3, 2008 / marga / 1 Comment

Update: This restaurant closed and re-opened several times.

Last week our friends Arthur and Eddie suggested that we go out to dinner at Tequila Grill before the kids headed to a show at the library. I’m always in the mood for not cooking (well, that’s not really true, but I thought it sounded cute), so I thought it was a splendid idea. Well, perhaps not splendid as I haven’t been impressed with Tequila Grill in the past, but it’s nice to get out. And alas, it’s good I have that attitude because Tequila Grill failed to impress me yet again.

I had the milanesa sandwich, and the milanesa was nice and tender but not very flavorful. There was also too little meat to bread ratio. The fries it came with were perfectly fine.

I also ordered some guacamole and I did like it a lot, it was fresh and well balanced. Alas – there were no chips to eat it with (I did ask for them, they just never came). I found out that french fries with guacamole sort of work.

Mike had the flautas and he thought they were just OK.

I didn’t ask Arthur and Eddie what they thought of their dishes, but Elektra – who’d come with us along with her kids Orestes and Aegea, didn’t seem very impressed with whatever she ordered. Orestes’ actually found his burrito nauseating, though he couldn’t quite figure out why.

The younger kids seemed fine with their quesadillas (I didn’t try them).

So no, I won’t be rushing back to Tequila Grill, though I imagine I’ll end up there again some time.

Tequila Grill
1350 E. 14th St.
San Leandro
(510) 895-5351

Flan, alas

February 3, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

I was at home with the girls with no plans to go out, and I wanted to make something cool for them. I never have that many ingredients at home – no chocolate chips for cookies, nothing for a pie, no patience for ice cream – but I had just bought a bunch of eggs, so I thought I’d make this simple recipe for flan, that I’d very successfully made before. I’d double it so there would be plenty for everyone. Or that was the plan.
It wasn’t until I’d beaten the eggs that I realized that I only had one can of condensed milk. The second can had expired in 2004 – and I’m not that adventurous. Yes, I could have just divided the eggs in two, but what would the fun of that have been? Instead I decided to substitute the can of sweetened condensed milk with an equal amount of dulce de leche. The results were just plain weird.
When I took the “flans” (and I do mean the quotation marks) off the oven, they had risen as if they were souffles! They fell as they cooled down. Even weirder was the consistency. I can’t quite describe it. It was denser and nowhere as smooth as a flan – it lacked its bubbles for instance. And yet it was too smooth to be considered chalky or caky or even brownishy. Somewhere in between, I guess. The taste was sweet, not at all like flan and only a bit like dulce de leche. It wasn’t bad, but I felt it was flat.
All in all, it wasn’t an experiment worth repeating.

Honey and vinegar-braised short ribs

February 3, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

I made this recipe for honey and vinegar-braised short ribs a few days ago (sorry, no pictures). I really love short ribs and I’m hoping to find the definitive braised short ribs recipe some time soon. Unfortunately this was not it. The sauce was very good – and there was a lot of it, even though I had decreased the recipe by 1/3rd, but it wasn’t out of this world. It also didn’t really infuse the ribs with enough flavor. All in all, I liked it – but not as much as other recipes. I probably won’t make it again – and will continue my search for the best braised short rib recipe ever. If you think you have one, LET ME KNOW!.

Hoisin-Marinated Tri-Tip Roast

February 2, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

Safeway has been periodically having tri-tip roast on sale for something like $3-4 a lb. Pretty cheap, all in all. It’s not the tastiest of cuts, specially the Safeway brand which emphasizes tenderness over flavor, so I looked for a recipe that would infuse some flavor in it. This recipe for Hoisin-Marinated Tri-Tip Roast sounded pretty good and it got good reviews. Alas, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. The outside of the meat was nicely caramelized and very tasty, but the flavor didn’t make it all the way through. I don’t think I’d bother making it again.

La Note

January 12, 2008 / marga / 2 Comments

Last Friday, we took our friend Paz to dinner at La Note. I’d been there once before with my friend Regina, and while my burger hadn’t been that good – Regina’s dish had been wonderful. We’d won a $25 gift certificate at the Girls Inc.’s Women of Taste event a few months ago, and I figured I’d use it and give La Note another try. My experience, once again, was mixed. Mike had a great dish, while I had a merely OK one. Paz was too polite to complain about her chicken sandwich, but she didn’t seem to enjoy it too much.
Once again, we started the meal with the Crotin de Fromage de Chevre Cuits aux Noix, “oven baked, nut crusted goat cheese served with french country toasts, roasted garlic & provençales tomatoes.” As in my other visit, the combination was excellent and I think we all enjoyed it.
Mike had a large pastry pocket filled with a variety of seafood including scallops, shrimp, salmon fillet and crabs. He thought it was excellent. I had chicken with prunes (I think), and while the outside of the chicken was tasty, the inside was pretty insipid and the breast was terribly dry – so much that I could not eat it.
For dessert I had a flourless chocolate cake with berry coulis and vanilla ice cream. It was very rich and very good – though I don’t particularly like the coulis (I have to remember to ask them to skip it next time). I’d order it again.
I hear that La Note has a very good brunch, but I haven’t tried it yet.

Taxi’s Hamburgers

January 4, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

Last night we went to downtown Palo Alto to relax at Watercourse Way. We left our home a bit late, and it took us a while to get there, so we found ourselves with half an hour for dinner. Taxi’s Hamburgers looked like the sort of place we could get a quick bite.
Mike got a bacon cheeseburger, and he liked it well enough. He found it juicy, though not as juicy as burgers from Nation’s. He’d have it again.
I had their pulled pork platter, which included a pulled pork sandwich (in a hamburger ban), some veggies and your choice of fries or onion rings. The onion rings were a bit dry, but tasty enough. They’d been better with some ranch dressing, of course. I wasn’t thrilled with the pulled pork. It came with a side of a very generic bbq sauce. The pork itself was dry and tasteless.
The food came reasonably quickly.
The place itself tries to look like an old fashioned diner, with a lot of white tiles. You order at the counter, and a waiter brings your food and takes away your plates. They have self-serving soda machines and a potato bar. The food is a bit on the expensive side, it was a bit over $20 for what we had (including two sodas).
I’d probably go again if I was in a hurry, but I’d order a burger.
403 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 322-8294
More restaurant reviews at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/

Belizean Rice and Beans

December 30, 2007 / marga / 6 Comments

I got the following message today in response to my failed attempt at cooking Belizean rice and beans. I thought I’d share it with all of you who want to know how to do it right. Thanks Dorla!
—————————————————————————————————————————————-

I saw your recipe for the above dish from Belize. I wanted to share my
mother’s recipe with you, and see if you like this one better. The idea is
to make the rice somewhat fluffy, but not sticky, so after you add the rice
to the beans, as shown in step 5, stir (only once), after 30 mins the rice
will need to fluffed with a fork, and at that time, you will know the
consistency, and if a little water is needed, you sprinkle a little around
the edge of the pot and in the center, but I have made this recipe a
thousand times, and did not need any water. I also use long grain rice, and
it comes out perfect every time.

Ingredients

1 lb. Red Kidney Beans 2 plugs Garlic (crushed)
1 tsp. Salt 1 cup coconut Milk (either squeezed from grated coconut or bought prepared, canned, or made from powered variety)
½ tsp. Black pepper
½ tsp. Thyme 2 lbs. cleaned Rice
1 medium Onion (sliced) 6-8 cups of water
(optional) 1 small pigtail or salt beef or pieces of bacon

Method

1. Wash the beans, then soak beans for 4 hours, using the 6-8 cups of water.
If you are using distilled water, then soaked beans only needs 2 hours to
soften.

2. Boil beans until tender, with the garlic, onion and pig’s tail/or salted
beef or bacon pieces. Note: pre-wash the pigtail or salt beef and cut off
excess fat. You can use a pressure cooker to cut down on the time.

3. Season beans with black pepper, thyme and salt. Note: You may opt not to
add the salt if you used salt beef or pigtail above.

4. Add coconut milk. Stir and then let boil.

5. Add rice to seasoned beans. Stir, then cover. Cook on low heat until the
water is absorbed and rice is tender. If necessary, add more water gradually
until rice is tender. Note: Usually, one cup of rice absorbs two cups of
water, although rice grains can vary in the amount of water they absorb. To
warm up leftover rice-and-beans, you can sprinkle with water to re-moisten.

Belizean Recipes

Mae’s Soul Food

December 28, 2007 / marga / 0 Comments

2013 Update

Mae’s closed down. A Chinese fast food place has opened at the Dutton & Bancroft space.

May 2011 Update

Mae’s has now moved to the corner of Dutton & Bancroft. I hadn’t gone back to eat there because it’s open between 1 – 8 PM, too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But I’ll try it sometime.

—

Dec. 2007 Review

Mae’s Soul Food is the newest venture to open on Victoria Court in San Leandro – at the space occupied until a couple of months ago by Joplin’s. Indeed, it was to Joplin’s where we were headed today, for a burger, when we noticed that the sign with that name was no longer in front of the business. A new owner and a new menu greeted us inside, and always the adventurers we decided to give it a try. But for the fact that we got stuffed, it was not a bad call.

Mae’s Soul Food specializes in fried food, their menu, indeed, is pretty short and basically includes fried fish, fried shrimp, fried chicken and fried pork, available in various combinations with or without gravy. There are also a plethora of side dishes, from candied yams to red beans and rice. There are also po boy sandwiches, made with, you guessed it, fried meats. Don’t come here if you are watching your weight. Prices go from $7 for a 3 pieces of fried chicken to $17.50 for a seafood combo platter with shrimp.
I had the 3-pieces of chicken platter with french fries. The three chicken drumsticks were large and meaty, they were very nicely breaded and seasoned, and they tasted fresh and crisp. They also managed to not be oily. If I wanted fried chicken, I’d definitely come here. The fries were less successful, they were very thick and long, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Not my favorite type.

Mike had the chicken po boy sandwich, which was also enormous, and he liked it though he’d preferred less bones on his chicken. He also liked the crispy romaine lettuce in the accompanying salad. Mae, the proprietor, is proud on not skimping in either quantity or quality, and the results show.

Service, at the hands of her son, was good – but, as we were warned, it takes quite a lot of time to get the food to the table. It’s made to order and it takes time for chicken to fry. Don’t come here if you are in a hurry.

Atmosphere wise, the place is not very different from what it was Joplin’s – there are still some Joplin posters around. They have, however, decorated with a nice array of beautiful wooden African masks.

My final warning is that they still don’t have heat in the restaurant, so if you are coming here bring your jacket.

I should mention this is not the Mae’s first venture as a restauranteur. Her restaurant was previously open in a high-crime section of Oakland, Mae decided to move to make it safer for her customers to eat at her restaurant.

Mae’s Soul Food
585 Victoria Court
San Leandro, CA
510-382-9200

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Matterhorn

December 27, 2007 / marga / 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I went back to Matterhorn with my friends Eddie, Parker and Katrina. It was our last girls’ night out, as Katrina was moving to Mexico for a stint and Eddie is moving away for good. I can’t tell you how sad I am. But that night was happy, and we had great food and conversation.

We ordered two fondues, a cheese one (the Highlander – with cheddar and gruyere) and a meat one (I think it was the fondue bacchus), and extra sides such as shrimp, sausages and apples. The fondues were great, but I wouldn’t recommend the sausages for the cheese one, their flavor was just too strong. The meats are high quality and come with a wide variety of sauces, I particularly liked a curry flavored one. There was a lot of food, and we ate an incredible amount.

They only have one choice of chocolate fondue for dessert, but it was very good as well, though perhaps a little too runny for my taste. I like the ones I make at home better.

The only sour note of the evening was the service. The waiter/waitress was MIA all evening.
Still, if I was in the mood for fondue, I’d go back.

Original Review

Xmas presents

December 26, 2007 / marga / 0 Comments

Most of what I asked for in my Christmas list was cooking stuff, so it’s no wonder that lots of my presents (from both DH and my mom) was kitchen stuff.
Mike got me a Wüstholf Classic Ikon 6′ cook’s knife. It’s small because he didn’t trust me with something bigger. I can also tell you it’s very sharp – I cut my finger just trying to get it out of the box. I’m now deadly afraid of it. And I need a sheath! I don’t know where Mike thought I’d store it!
He also got me a 250w Kitchen Aid mixer. I saw it as a deal in Amazon.com (it was $110, I think) and he said to go and buy it. I still have it unwrapped it as I know what it is, and I would prefer to clean the kitchen and figure out where I’m going to put it first. Meanwhile it looks nice as a present 🙂
My mother got me a Nonstick Aluminum 5Q Tools of the Trade “Chef’s Pan”. It sort of looks like a paella pan, but with a long handle. I’m not big in nonstick or aluminum. Well, I’m not big on cheap pans in general, but I guess I should find some use for it. Not sure for what, given that it’s not too different from a pan I already have and love – but we’ll see.
She also got me a cheapy nonstick aluminum skillet. That should be more useful, though what I really wanted was a good quality frying pan. But my mother believes one shouldn’t buy good quality pans because their bottom will turn dark anyway, so it’s better to buy cheap ones and then replace them. I don’t agree, but you can’t look at a gift horse in the mouth.
I’ve been looking for a spice mill, and she said she couldn’t find one so she bought me a salt and pepper set instead. And she got me a huge bottle of black pepper. I can’t imagine I’ll ever run out of pepper in this life time – specially considering that the children don’t like spicy food. But I think my mother may have been confused when she bought it and thought the flimsy plastic container of pepper was actually a pepper mill.
She did better with a very nice set of mixing tools from Kitchen Aid. There is a heavy plastic bowl, a whisk, measuring cups and spoons, and a spatula. I did need a spatula, and a mixing bowl is useful (though what I wanted was a set of larger mixing bowls with lids) – but I got set of whisks last year and THREE sets of measuring cups/spoons. Now I have four.
On the plus side, she did get me a tureen before Xmas, which I really wanted and was really useful for serving soup at Xmas dinner.
So that was it for this year, next I think I’m asking /Mike/ for a good quality blender 🙂