The Little Things

Vietnamese Pork Chops, Fried Eggs and Rice

2011-04-28T12:49:00.006-05:00

We're sure all you recently engaged or married folks out there know what it's like to be drowning in a sea of wedding invitations. Enter our world: dozens of bows to tie, labels to print, wax seals to impress. It's maddening. We've licked so much envelope glue, that it wouldn't surprise us if we turned up dead tomorrow like George Costanza's fiancee.

The good news is that all the big wedding stuff has been taken care of--the caterer, the dresses, the flowers, the engagement photos. You name it. Now all Val has to focus on is her last round of law school finals, graduation on May 21, and the Texas State Bar Exam. And Mani of course gets bar results next week. *gulp*

The end is in sight at least? Let's think positively!

Here's one of our favorite pictures from our engagement photo shoot with the ever-talented Sadia Zubair:

Now on to Vietnamese pork chops.

We thank the food gods daily that we are fortunate enough to live in a place like Houston, a city whose culinary scene is, in our estimation, the nation's best-kept secret. We have it all: from Tex-Mex to Cajun/Creole, southern cooking to Gulf Coast seafood. And we have numerous ethnic dining options to boot: Latin American, Korean, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and South East Asian.

Our recent obsession has been everything Vietnamese. We live smack-dab in Midtown, which is literally a stone's throw away from some of the city's best pho/bahn mi sandwich joints, as well as a few of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants.

Indeed it was a sad day to witness billowing smoke and dozens of firetrucks surrounding Mai's from our apartment building just over a year ago. Mai's officially reopened its doors in early April, and we have yet to go back for a try. But when one dining door closes (or burns down), others open. Since that fateful day, we have ventured out from our Midtown confines to satiate our craving for Vietnamese food. Best yet, we began learning to cook our favorite Vietnamese dishes at home.

Our first attempt, we are proud to say, was a smashing success. We made Vietnames pork chops with fried eggs and rice. It's an inexpensive dish; we spent roughly $4 per serving.

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 large Ziplock bag

1 lb (4 thin slices) center-cut loin pork chops, bone-in

4 tbsp of Asian fish sauce to taste

4 tbsp oyster sauce

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 shallots, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 1 lemon

1 jalapeño, sliced (optional)

1 cup of cucumber, large dice

4 tbsp green onion, chopped

Sriracha sauce (optional)

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

You can find all the ingredients for this dish in your neighborhood grocery store. Check the international or Asian sections for the fish and oyster sauces.

Salt and pepper the chops on both sides and place them in a large Ziplock bag. Marinate the chops in the fish/oyster sauces, jalapeño, shallot, garlic, lemon juice and sugar for at least two hours. We threw our chops in the refrigerator in the morning before work and cooked them up for dinner.

Begin by cooking a pot of white rice (one cup per person should suffice). Dump the contents of the Ziplock bag onto a stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat, along with a couple of tablespoons of oil, and cook until golden brown. Next, fry up a sunny side egg to put atop a steaming mound of white rice.

Serve with cucumber, green onions and Sriracha. Enjoy!

Spring Break 2011, Part 1: Dublin

2011-03-22T20:28:00.001-05:00

Phew! It's a been a few months since we last updated, but it's great to be back. How are y'all?

A few updates on us: Mani finally has the Texas State Bar Exam behind him. Results aren't posted until May, so we've have quite a while of anxious thumb-twiddling ahead of us. Val got measurements done for her cap and gown, and can't wait to get through her last few weeks of school. Other than that, we've been busy wedding planning and recovering from our trip to Europe.

We celebrated Val's last Spring Break ever in Ireland and Liverpool, England. Coincidentally, St. Patrick's Day happened to fall within the break, so there was extra merriment to be had on the Emerald Isle. We both have always wanted to travel to Ireland for a few reasons: its inspiring revolutionary history, famously friendly natives, lively beer-drinking culture, breathtaking natural beauty, and because it's home to one of Mani's favorite bands--U2. ($800 for roundtrip tickets and hotel for a one-week stay didn't hurt either! Thank you, Expedia.)

Making the musical pilgrimage to Liverpool has been a lifelong dream for the both of us. The one band that has remained a constant for us from the cradle into our adult lives is the Beatles, easily the greatest band in music history. That band has had a profound effect on us as people, and the greatest tragedy of our lives is being robbed of the opportunity to share the planet with all four Beatles when John Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980. Until we met one another, neither of us thought we'd step foot in Liverpool, which made that leg of the trip truly a dream-come-true.

And now we'd like to share some of our adventures, culinary and otherwise, with you all:

Dublin: Guinness Storehouse and The Brazen Head

On day one of our trip, we met up with two recently-engaged friends from America for a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse is laid out over seven floors and is in the shape of a pint of Guinness.

Along the tour, we learned the story of Arthur Guinness, the creator of the beer, who was inspired by the popularity of London's porter-style beers in the early 1700s. After inheriting £100, he took on a 9000-year lease on the 4 acres that is now the Guinness Brewery. The tour also introduced us to the beer's four ingredients--yeast, hops, water and barley--and to the beer's distinct brewing process.

The Irish definitely love their Guinness, as they export 2/3 of their annual product and consume the remaining 1/3!

On the top level of the storehouse, we got to sample a freshly-poured pint. We ran up several flights of stairs, only to be greeted by disco music, a packed house and a beautiful view of the city. Believe us when we say that the best pint of Guinness you'll ever have is in Dublin. It's crisper and creamier than anything you'll get in the States.

After the tour, we had dinner and drinks at the Brazen Head, which is the oldest pub in Ireland. Established in 1198, the pub was a safe haven for Irish revolutionaries including the likes of Daniel O'Connell and Robert Emmett. Prior to our trip we watched watched a PBS documentary (hosted by Angela's Ashes author, Frank McCourt) on the historic pubs of Dublin. In fact, many of Dublin's pubs served the same function as the Brazen Head in Ireland's revolutionary history. Likewise, Dublin is home to many of the world's literary greats including Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and W.B. Yeats, all of whom frequented the very same pubs.

Dublin is notoriously one of the most expensive cities in the world, so we opted for pub food the majority of our stay. It was a cheaper way to experience traditional Irish fare. However, on average, even a plate of pub grub ranged from €10-€15 (roughly $14-$21). And an average pint of beer cost €5 ($7). Having to budget our money was a definite bummer to say the least, but we still managed to sample just about every dish we set out to try.

The Brazen Head had fantastic food. Irish fare is very meat-and-potato heavy. You'll find a lot of stews, pies and protein-and-starch dishes. Ireland produces some of the world's tastiest lamb and beef after all, but interestingly enough, the Irish have a historic aversion to seafood in spite their being an island! More on that later...

Val ordered the steak and Guinness pie, which had cuts of tender Guinness-marinated steak, onions and mushrooms in a rich broth, served in a homemade bread bowl.

Mani had the fish and chips, which were crispy and juicy, but the chips were a bit limp. Honestly though, the fish and chips at Red Lion here in Houston are still tops in our book! (Apologies for these awful food photos. We need to invest in a better lens for nighttime food photography!)

Dublin: Historic Sites, Leo Burdock's and The Old Storehouse

Trinity College: the oldest, most prestigious university in Ireland. It was founded by Queen Elizabeth I as a Protestant institution intended to rival the Catholic universities on the continent and to stop Irish students from gathering "revolutionary" ideas and from being influenced by the Pope. Catholics had to get special permission from the bishop to attend the school or face excommunication. Frank McCourt, a Catholic, was allowed into a Ph.D program, but Trinity refused to award him a degree. Other notable alum include Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker and Edmund Burke, among others.

The famous River Liffey

One of the many foot bridges across the River Liffey.

The General Post Office

The GPO was one of the sites of the failed 1916 Easter Rising. Val took some Irish History courses in college, so it was very exciting for her to finally see the GPO.

Downtown Dublin

Europe's answer to McDonald's :(

Leo Burdock's

Leo Burdock's is the oldest fish-and-chips establishment in Dublin. We ordered ours with a side of curry sauce. The portion was huge enough to split between two people and was very affordable. The fish was crisp and flakey, but like at the Brazen Head, the chips seemed like they'd been sitting out for a while. During our entire trip to Ireland, we never had a fish-and-chip dish that could rival Red Lion's, but then again, we only tried two dishes. And we didn't get a chance to try them at O'Neill's pub (more on O'Neill's later). They looked amazing there. Ah well, next visit.

The Old Storehouse

If there's anything the Irish love as much as their beer, it's song and dance. Here in America, when we think of bar bands, we generally think bad Led Zeppelin cover band. But in Ireland, there is real talent in pub entertainment, whether it be traditional Irish music or music with a more contemporary bent.

Our favorite place for live music was the Old Storehouse. We went there a couple of times for drinks during our stay, and the musicians were phenomenal. They did their own renditions of songs spanning King Louie's (of Disney's The Jungle Book) "I Wanna Be Like You" to U2. Both nights, the entire bar sang along and patrons near the stage danced. The electric fiddle never sounded so good!

The Old Storehouse also had great food. We split the bangers and mash, which was excellent. Irish sausages are unlike anything we've had in the States. They're much creamier in texture. They're typically made with finely-ground pork, seasonings and breadcrumbs in a natural casing that has a nice snap to it.

Tyler Florence Cooking Demo at Macy's - Memorial City Mall

2010-11-29T15:38:00.002-06:00

We received an invitation to attend Tyler Florence's cooking demonstration at Macy's - Memorial City Mall on November 13. Tyler has been zipping around the country to promote his sixth cookbook, Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better, in which he shares his rendition of family-style cooking with local ingredients. He is also introducing a line of red and white wine that he collaborated on with Robert Mondavi. If you're interested in purchasing a bottle, head to Central Market. We tried the red, and it was fantastic.

Over 200 people were in attendance. Not surprisingly, the majority the seats around us were filled with salivating, starstruck women equipped with sharpies for the book-signing to follow the demo. Tyler's culinary expertise, fast-talking charm and baby face went a long way with this demographic. But we were most impressed by Tyler's genuineness--him being a veteran celebrity chef with 12 years at the Food Network under his belt.

His cooking demo was conversational and fun, and his passion for food was evident in his Q&A session with the audience. We've always appreciated Tyler's southern-fried sensibility. His southern roots, and by extension, appreciation for abundance and bold flavor, cut through his classical French training. He was entirely gracious toward audience members and seemed genuinely excited to impart his culinary knowledge and love for seasonal cooking. As we've mentioned in prior entries, our favorite city in the U.S. is San Francisco, and Tyler made us green with envy with stories about his backyard herb garden, lemon/orange trees and his home's proximity to Muir Woods.

His cooking tips were helpful, and if it weren't for his handlers' prompting to wrap it up, he would have chatted with us about brining and infused oils all afternoon. Tips we'll keep in mind for next Thanksgiving: Deconstruct your turkey before cooking. You can even ask your butcher to do it for you. Why cook the whole bird at once when white and dark meats have different cook-times? Contrary to what Alton Brown will tell you, skip the brining. (Yes, we watched the Good Eats turkey episode). What's the point, he said. Your end goal should not be salty turkey. "I'll put my turkey up against Alton's any day," he quipped.

After the demo and Q&A came the book signing. A never-ending line snaked around the kitchen section in what seemed like a matter of minutes. We thought it might take at least a couple of hours before the blogger meet-and-greet. Sadly, we decided to skip the meet-and-greet to get back to our book. We're bitter about it, but we still had a great time. To celebrate Val's last final on December 13, we're going to pick up a bottle of Duckhorn and Tyler Florence Cab to celebrate :)

Out for Lunch

2010-11-05T14:14:00.003-05:00

Greetings, blog world!

We realize that it's been quite a while since we've posted, but life has been keeping us away from our beloved food blog as of late. Mani is preparing for the Texas Bar Exam, and Val is studying for finals, along with the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). We are putting the pedal to the metal to knock these babies out of the park on the first go-around. We know you all are just green with envy......or not.

We've got a huge backlog of material just waiting to get posted, but it will have to wait for now. In the meantime, please wish us the best of luck. We're going to need it!

We'll be back soon enough. We bid you adieu for now.

P.S. If any of you are Food Network fans, drop by Macy's Memorial City Mall (Home Store Level 2900) next Saturday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. We just got word that Tyler Florence will be doing a cooking demo and book signing. RSVPs are recommended but not required. Call 877-884-3751 to reserve your seat. For more info, click here. We're going to take a quick study break to make it out, so hope to see y'all there!

Home-cooked Hatch Green Chile Fest

2010-09-28T20:50:00.004-05:00

Get your flu shots, people! The sickness is upon us. Val brought home a few bugs last week and infected our entire household. Why does the plague always happen to strike you when you have a million and one things on your agenda? Thank God for homemade chicken soup, antibiotics and H-E-B's Redi Clinic. Four days of delirium and five Beatles Anthology episodes later, we are back on the road to health, world!

And don't forget about Yello Echo's first official coming-out party at Walter's tomorrow night! Mani and the band have been rehearsing almost every day in preparation, so we guarantee that you won't be disappointed!

Here's a shot from their show at Bohemeo's on Saturday. They brought the mother-*bleeping* house down. People were gathered around the stage screaming and waving their arms from side-to-side. We were surprised too, it being a smaller show with a lot of bands and people we'd never met before. I guess you can say that Yello Echo passed its first true test before an audience of unbiased spectators. We have our fingers crossed that Wednesday's gonna rock. Also check out Val's Houston Press interview with local diva Karina Nistal on her upcoming album. It'll be both in the print edition and online tomorrow.

Putting music aside now, this entry is a long time coming, but it's better late than never. We went a little Hatch-crazy at the Central Market Hatch Chile Festival this year. It's a pity that these green little New Mexico treasures have such a short season because we do look forward to the mind-boggling variety of chile products that both Central Market and H-E-B have to offer each year. Among the more interesting items we picked up was a Hatch chocolate granola that's pretty tasty on vanilla ice cream. The hot and cold element is really nice.

On the menu for our home-cooked Hatch party that night was chicken tacos with a Hatch green chile sauce on Hatch tortillas with Hatch tortilla chips and guacamole. We know that was a mouthful of a menu, but it truly was a Hatch-tastic meal!

We grilled up two chicken breasts for our tacos, shredded some Oaxaca cheese, added in some corn and then ladled our Hatch green chile sauce over the top:

Chile Verde Sauce

(makes two cups)

2 Tbs vegetable oil or olive oil

1/4 to 1/2 small onion, diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 Tbs flour

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups chicken or pork broth

1 cup roasted, peeled Hatch green chiles or (if you don't have fresh chiles) 8 oz canned green chiles

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt (optional: 2 tsp or more chopped, canned or fresh jalapenos if you want it hotter)

1. Heat the oil in a 1-2 qt saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add onion and garlic, cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes to wilt the onions. Don't let them brown.

3. Raise heat to medium, stir in flour, cumin and black pepper. Cook, stirring about 2 min.

4. When the onion/flour mix just begins to color, remove from heat and add broth, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

5. Add rest of ingredients. Return pan to heat, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat another 30 min.

6. The finished sauce should not be too thick; dilute with more broth or water if needed. You can puree it if it's not smooth enough. Will keep in fridge for a week; heat before using.

Guacamole

2 avacados

1/4 yellow onion

2-3 garlic cloves (we love lots of garlic)

Juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime

Salt, pepper, cayenne and chopped cilantro to taste

Val's Birthday Weekend

2010-09-20T13:30:00.006-05:00

As per usual, we have been busy. But new jobs and music gigs are never a bad thing, even when it pains us that our food blog has gotten a bit dusty. (Sorry, food blog).

I am officially 28 years of age. Yup, I'm getting up there. Interestingly enough, I was born on Labor Day, so I got to spend the long weekend swept up in a whirlwind of one celebratory event after another.

Best yet, I started the weekend off with terrific news: the federal agency I've been working at since the summer hired me permanently! That of course means that I'll be employed there as an attorney as soon as I graduate in May and pass the Bar *knock on wood*

Considering the state of our economy and the legal market, I am certainly counting my blessings. I enrolled in law school in order to help those in need, and this is nothing short of a dream job for me. A 40-hour work week, public service, great benefits, a laid-back work environment and a cushy starting salary is all I've ever dreamed of and more in a career. I no longer have to worry about job-hunting during the school year, paying back the mountain of student loans I've accumulated, or financing my upcoming wedding.

It's amazing that Mani and I both managed to land government gigs in our hometown. Most state and federal agencies are headquartered in either Dallas or Austin, so we worried about having to relocate and be separated from our families. Our parents are thrilled of course :)

BestBirthdayGift.com

-China Bear-

Okay, everyone has guilty pleasures. Some people watch Jersey Shore, others listen to Creed--we like Chinese buffets. Seriously, where else can you get a plate of french fries and frozen yogurt? So for my birthday bonanza we decided to take our families to China Bear. Growing up I remember it being one of the largest Chinese buffets in town. But upon revisiting this once magnificent restaurant, I was reminded that things aren't always as you remember them as a kid. We left the place with a bad case of food regret. I venture to say that past the age of 10, one should never eat a plate on which french fries and frozen yogurt coexist. It was great to see our families nonetheless :) We'll find a tastier buffet at which to fulfill our every artery-clogging desire soon enough. Oh, and do see Machete. We did, and you won't be disappointed.

Why?

-Making Lasagna For Jill's Potluck-

Our dear friend Jill was in town from New York during my birthday weekend. As part of the festivities, she threw a potluck/surprise birthday get-together for me. We decided to make one of our best dishes--the Awesomesauce Lasagna. Truth be told, we lifted this recipe from Mani's dad. Legend has it that he and Mani's uncle spent over a year perfecting the recipe while in Italy. We can neither confirm nor deny. All we know is that this lasagna kicks absolute ass! After mulling it over for a good while, we've decided to share this recipe with the rest of the world. So with an open heart and empty stomach, we present to you the Awesomesauce Lasagna:

Ingredients:

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 large can of petite diced tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

2 cups of heated half and half

1 tablespoons of flour

1 pound of lean ground beef

3 tablespoons of unsweetened butter

1 zucchini

1 squash

1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms

1 box of lasagna pasta

4-6 cups of grated oaxaca cheese

1 pinch of fresh oregano

7-10 basil leaves

1 pinch of thyme

Directions:

In a mid-sized pot sweat the chopped onions and garlic until lightly brown. Add ground beef and season with a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Once the meat is fully cooked add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Make sure all of the water is fully drained from the can before adding the tomatoes. Add chopped zucchini, squash, and mushrooms. Cover the top of the pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, keep covered, and let it simmer for at least one hour. Right before you are ready to take it off the heat, add finely chopped fresh herbs and a splash of red wine.

In a separate small sauce pan, start the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter, add flour and slowly stir in the half-and-half. Stir until it is thick and there aren't any clumps of flour. At that point take it off heat.

Begin layering lasagna in a baking tray in following order: (1) pasta, (2) meaty red sauce, (3) white sauce, (4) cheese. Layer all the way to the top of the tray and top with a liberal serving of cheese. Place tray in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until nice and brown on top (see below).

Notes:

Mani's dad uses oaxaca cheese instead of mozzarella. Oaxaca has a bit more flavor although it is very similar to it's Italian cousin. You can use either.

When applying the sauces in between layers make sure to have a very light hand. Otherwise it'll come out soupy at the bottom of the tray.

Make sure to add lean ground beef. You don't want oily fat rising to the top of your red sauce. Not tasty.

-Jill's Potluck-

L-R: Mani, Jill, Raven, Annie

Caprese skewers.

Dave & Crystal. Bump it.

Annie's baked mussels. A real crowd-pleaser.

Crab Salad. Yum.

Jamey's pulled pork sandwiches with Budweiser BBQ sauce. Yes, you read that right. He cooked that swine for 13 hours, and we were all in hog heaven.

Our lasagna. There wasn't a morsel left by the night's end.

A surprise cake for Val!

-Mo's BBQ with Our Nieces-
Our original plan to hit up Jasper's in the Woodlands fell through, so we opted for Mo's BBQ, another childhood favorite of mine. Unlike China Bear, Mo's did not disappoint. Of course, nothing lives up to the Salt Lick in our eyes. But that spicy sausage and tender, smokey ribs certainly hold their own. The prices are reasonable too. A half-rack plate is $11. And a two-meat plate with ribs is just under $16.

Afterwards, we took our nieces shopping. Mani was a good sport through it all. Hanna and Leah were in and out of dressing rooms the entire day, and he patiently offered his best fashion advice to the tiny tweens.

Hanna and Leah probably bit off more than they could chew. *ba-dum-pish*

Yeah. We ate our weight in food that weekend. This is us deciding which detox plan to enroll in over the next few weeks.

Houston Restaurant Week: Max's Wine Dive

2010-08-31T08:44:00.012-05:00

We participated in Houston Restaurant Week this year, an annual partnership between the Houston Food Bank and local restaurants to fight hunger. For just $35 you get three courses at your pick of among Houston's finest restaurants, and $5 from each meal is donated to Houston Food Bank. It's a pretty sweet deal all around. As we mentioned in our previous entry, the powers that be extended HRW until 9/6, so book your reservations now!

We made reservations at two places this year: Max's Wine Dive and Catalan Food and Wine. First up was Max's Wine Dive.

(We'll hit up Catalan on Thursday to jump-start Val's birthday weekend. Yes, we said birthday weekend. It's going to be a weekend-long event that will also include dinner and Robert Rodriguez's"Machete" with our families; a potluck at Jill's mom's pad; and BBQ at Jasper's with our nieces, Raven and her nephew).

Tortoise Creek Pinot Noir and Terlato Pinot Grigio.

-First Course-

Max & cheese: cavatappi pasta in truffle cream with fresh mozzarella, white cheddar, gruyere and grana padano cheeses.

Creamy, smooth and sharp. Definitely not your mom's mac & cheese!

Arugula salad with watermelon croutons: arugula, roasted pistachios, cotija cheese, shaved red onion and watermelon cubes dressed in a lemon-ginger vinaigrette.

This combination doesn't sound like it would work, but the watermelon added a freshness to the salad and offset the tartness of the vinaigrette. We had never had pistachios in a salad before, and they brought a nice, crunchy texture. Their sweetness complimented the flavor of the watermelon too. We're going to have to recreate this perfect-for-summer salad at home, it was so good!

-Second Course-

Southern fried chicken: chicken marinated in buttermilk and jalapeños and served with chipotle honey, mashed potatoes, collard greens and Texas toast.

This dish was rather disappointing. The batter was limp and lacked seasoning. The chicken itself was dry and bland. The potatoes were pretty ordinary, and the collard greens were overly sour. However, the Texas toast was essentially thick-cut slices of buttered heaven!

The fried egg sandwich: three fried eggs drizzled with truffle oil and sea salt with applewood-smoked bacon, gruyere, hydroponic bibb lettuce, tomatoes and black truffle aioli between two slices of ciabatta publiese. Served with Max's chips.

This was one elevated egg sandwich. And it was enormous. You really can't go wrong with these ingredients, and is there anything better than yolk dribbling down the side of your sandwich? On the other hand, we were a little disappointed that the bacon seemed to overpower the flavor of the truffle aioli; we really couldn't taste the aoili at all in fact. And the chips were a pretty under-salted and lacking in crispness.

-Third Course-

Bread pudding with a scoop of gelato: creamy, silky perfection. (But Ruggles still makes our favorite bread pudding of all time)

Anna's nuetalla crepes with gelato and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce: a delicious and elegant dish that's almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Overall we were really happy with our experience at Max's Wine Dive. The atmosphere was cozy, relaxed and unpretentious. The portions were huge, which was a great value considering that Max's prices are more reasonable than many local restaurants doing the elevated southern comfort food thing (such as RDG Grill + Bar Annie or Ouisie's Table). Their brunch and $6 happy hour menu look promising too. Crème brûlée-battered french toast...what? We'll be back for sure.

In other news, a woman who works at corporate for Max's Wine Dive stumbled across our Max & cheese photo on Foodspotting and wants copies :). Kudos to Mani and his mad food photography skills!

Grocery Store Meals: H-E-B's Steamed Seafood and Randalls' Soups

2010-08-29T16:47:00.005-05:00

Yello Echo (L-R): Crystal, Mani, Chris.

Fun-filled weekend. We did the first photo shoot for Mani's band last Friday and landed a couple of gigs for the upcoming week. Tuesday they play Salt Bar and Friday at the Xnihilo Gallery for the "Streets Have Soul" benefit. You can check out their new drummer, pictures from the shoot and new demos on the MySpace page.

We got our Houston Restaurant Week on too, followed by a showing of "Eat Pray Love." Take it from us, folks--don't waste your money. You're better off thumbing through a Danielle Steele novel or Chicken Soup for the Soul...or both. It's more trite, self-congratulatory platitudes than it is culinary-inspired travel. We should have spent our $10.25 per ticket on "Piranhas in 3D" instead.

And today we picked up a few items from Central Market's Hatch Chile Festival to celebrate the Steelers pre-season game on TV tonight. We're making chicken-green chile tacos on green chile tortillas.

~~~~~

As much as we love cooking, we are often short on time and find ourselves having to to cut corners here and there. It isn't always easy to maintain a busy work week and stick to our pre-planned cooking schedule. Sometimes we're too tired or burned out to get down and dirty in the kitchen by the end of the day. Even so, we try to maintain our girlish figures by steering clear of fast food. Sit-down meals are great, but they too easily add up and wreak havoc on our pocketbooks.

So what are we left with? Usually the grocery store. There are many hidden treasures to be found there as we've discovered.

Behold:

Steamed seafood at H-E-B. The new H-E-B off Buffalo Speedway is a wonderland of food. At the risk of sounding mega-dorky, we sometimes stop by in our free time just to hang out amidst the glorious foodstuffs. The place is amazing--bulk spices, self-pour infused olive oil, freshly-made tortillas, the works!

And their seafood offerings are always supremely fresh. Best of all, they'll steam-and-season anything you want for free. It's a real bargain too. We had a friend over for dinner recently, and we bought three pounds of easy-peel shrimp and three clusters of Alaskan snow crab for under $20. That amount fed us handily, and we still had leftovers. We would have spent three times the cash at any seafood restaurant easily. You can choose from a handful of seasonings, but we always ask them to put in a little of everything. Steaming takes about seven minutes, so we usually get our shopping done and then pick up the seafood on our way out.

Randalls soups. This find surprised us too. We've tried a few varieties including Tuscan-Style Italian Wedding, Texas Chili and the two pictured above, and all have tasted great. And yes, they taste like real soup. We'd venture to say that they even come close to restaurant quality. Sure you wind up paying a couple of extra dollars per container more than you would on a can of say, Progresso. But it's nice to be able to read, recognize and pronounce all the ingredients on the back label of Randalls' soups. We usually have a bowl with a sandwich or salad for lunch.

Next up, we'll post about our Houston Restaurant Week experiences. We went to Max's Wine Dive this weekend and will hit up Catalan next week for Val's birthday. They extended HRW until 9/6. It's for a great cause, and you can't beat $35 for three courses at some of Houston's top restaurants, so go get you some!

Odds & Ends

2010-08-25T15:37:00.004-05:00

Phew! We finally got a moment to catch our breath. It's been busy 'round these parts since we last posted.

I started back up at school and work last week. I have an action-packed schedule that will take some getting used to. But one thing's for certain--it sure is nice to be in your last year of law school: your skin's thicker, professors cut you some slack, and you're all but ready to get the hell out of dodge. It's surreal to think that just two years ago, I was a terrified little 1L trying keep my head above water. Come May, I will have graduated, and only the Bar exam will stand between me and my law license. Insanity.

Late last week, Mani's Nissan Maxima finally kicked the bucket. It was a good car and many great memories were had in it, but alas, it was time for it to meet its maker. After weighing all of his options, Mani decided to environmental-lawyer-it-up and go with a hybrid. Not only does the new white Prius get 51 mpg and have a surprisingly roomy interior, but it also totally looks like a spaceship inside. Two words: Road Trip! Unfortunately, we had to skip out on the Houston Chowhounds dim sum cooking class last weekend due to our car troubles :(.

And drumroll please... We picked up my engagement ring finally! Mani's been saving up for it for an entire year now. It's a real beaut!

Last weekend, we hit up our friend Craig's, a.k.a. BBC's, monthly at Cellar Bar for his Open Turntables Night. On display were hip-hop inspired, handmade chocolates by Marcus Gray. We purchased a couple of boxes. It'll be a test of will not to eat them.

Later that night, I finally got that wrist tattoo I've been wanting. It's my second tattoo. Mani and I have been going to Texas Tattoo Emporium on Westheimer for our recent work, and we can vouch for their sheer awesomeness. The nice thing about a wrist tattoo is that it can easily be covered up by a watch or bracelet in a professional environment.

Wuss.

I minored in Theology in undergrad, and Sophia means wisdom in Greek. My favorite wisdom passages in the Bible come from Proverbs 8, Sirach and James 3:13-17. Interestingly enough, wisdom is personified in Proverbs as a woman. Called Sophia, she existed beside and counseled God in the creation of the world.

We'll update with a "real" food blog entry later this week.

Bananas Foster Cupcakes

2010-08-12T09:38:00.000-05:00

Val loves cupcakes, and Mani loves cinnamon. We went all Voltron with our kitchen powers yesterday to combine two of our food favorites. Bananas Foster Cupcakes was the delicious lovechild of our culinary experiment gone right.

We were pleasantly surprised by how good this recipe turned out. Neither of us have much baking experience or a real sweet tooth for that matter. Baking is such a precise science, and I guess we don't have the patience that it takes to meticulously measure out each and every ingredient. We prefer the thrill of flying by the seat of our pants in the kitchen, tossing a little more of this or that in the pot when it strikes our fancy. But these cupcakes were definitely worth the extra effort!

Over medium heat, add packed brown sugar, cinnamon and enough butter to make Paula Deen proud.

Add sliced bananas to the party and cook until tender.

Turn off the burner. Stir in dark rum and vanilla extract. Stand as far back as possible, and light the alcohol using a long match. Coat the bananas with the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and granulated sugar.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract to the banana mixture. Combine the butter and flour mixtures in your mixing bowl, add the banana mixtures and then mix thoroughly (without over-mixing). FYI, the recipe we used wasn't written very clearly for these steps, so we ad-libbed this portion.

Carefully spoon the batter into cupcake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Wait for the cupcakes to cool completely and frost them. We poured our frosting into a large ziplock bag, snipped the tip and went to town. Drizzle them with caramel sauce and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bananas Foster Cupcakes

Recipe by Food.com

(16 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

Banana Mixture

*3/4 cup unsalted butter

*1/2 cup brown sugar packed

*1/2 tsp cinnamon

*2 firm but ripe bananas, sliced

*2 tbsp dark rum (we added 4 tbsp for more flavor)

*1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cupcakes

*2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

*1 tsp baking soda

*1/4 tsp salt

*3/4 cup butter, softened

*1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

*3 eggs

*1 tsp vanilla extract

*1/2 tsp dark rum

*3/4 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

For the Bananas:
1. In a saute pan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Cook until butter melts and sugar is dissolved (4 to 5 minutes).

3. Add the banana slices and cook until tender, turning once for 1 to 2 minutes per side.
4. Stir together rum and vanilla.
5. Turn off the burner and add the rum mixture to the pan.
6. Using a long match, light the alcohol by placing the flame just in the outer edge of the pan.
7. Stand as far back as possible. The flame should extingish in a few seconds.
8. Gently shake the pan from side to side to coat the bananas with the sauce.
9. Spoon the bananas into a bowl and set aside.

For the Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add eggs, vanilla, rum and banana mixture. Mix well.
5. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream; blend thoroughly but do not overmix.
6. Pour into prepared cupcake pans.
7. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Cool for 1- minutes in pan on rack. Remove and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Recipe by Joelen's Culinary Adventures

(We preferred this recipe to food.com's)

*1/4 cup unsalted butter

*4 oz. cream cheese, softened
*2-3 tablespoons homemade or store bought caramel sauce
*4-6 cups confectioners or powdered sugar (we used 3 1/2 cups because we hate overly sweet frosting)

*1-2 tablespoons half & half

*Optional: We added 1-2 tsp of cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until fluffy; add the caramel sauce and beat until fully incorporated.

2. Slowly add confectioners or powdered sugar into the bowl, 1/2 cup at a time and beating after each addition. Continue adding the sugar until you have a thick frosting of your preferred consistency.

3. If the frosting becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or more of half & half to thin out.

For the Love of the Burger

2010-08-05T07:00:00.103-05:00

We love us a good burger. Although we've been dieting for our river trip this weekend, we admit to indulging in a good burger or two, going halfsies when the itch hits us to save on calories.

A few months ago, actually, we went on a quest with a few friends to find the best burger in town. It's a long time coming, but we'll post our adventures on here soon enough.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of the better burgers we've shoveled into our mouths lately:

-Hubcap Grill's Frito Pie Burger-

Located in the heart of downtown, Hubcap Grill is housed in an unlikely little hole-in-the-wall that serves up some of the best and most interesting burgers in Houston. The Greek, Muffalletta and Philly Cheesesteak burgers are some of the more inventive burgers on the menu. If you're feeling adventurous, try the Sticky burger; it's made with peanut butter of all things!

A lot of love goes into each one of Hubcap's made-to-order burgers. Their patties are never-frozen and hand-crafted; their buns and fries are all made in-house.

There's always a line out the door come lunchtime, so be prepared for a wait. And don't forget that it's cash only! We ordered the Frito Pie burger with chili, cheese, grilled onions and sliced jalapeños.

-SmashBurger-

"Tasty burger" is not the first thing that comes to mind when we think about chain establishments. But for most rules, there are exceptions, and SmashBurger certainly makes an exceptional burger.

It's true. A SmashBurger joint looks a lot like a Game Stop store on the outside. Yet we can guarantee that you'll never find burger patties smashed onto a flat-top grill to sear in every last drop of juicy burger goodness, at a Game Stop. Not a chance.

The add-ons at SmashBurger are outstanding: applewood-smoked bacon, chili, fried eggs, guacamole, haystack onions, or garlic-sautéed mushrooms. Our favorite burger is the Spicy Baja, boasting pepper jack cheese, guacamole, chipotle mayonnaise, a chipotle bun and fresh jalapeños. Yes, fresh jalapeños, not grilled or sautéed jalapeños. It's a bold move, but rather than overwhelming your palate with heat, that spicy jalapeño bite is tempered by a wash of cool guacamole.

Spicy Baja burger with an egg on top.

Smash Fries: Garlic, olive oil and rosemary fries.

On another note, we've been given the Versatile Blogger Award!

As a condition of accepting this award, we must do the following:

1. Thank the person(s) who gave us the award:

*Raven of Lipstick & Lumber
*Ela of Everything's Herbed
*Joy of Joy's Misadventures

2. Share seven tidbits about ourselves:

1. We watched all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Air Bender in one week.
2. Our favorite all-time band is the Beatles.
3. Val's secret talent is her ability to defeat anyone at a game of HORSE and/or arcade basketball.
4. Mani's a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
5. We're going to New Orleans for Halloween this year.
6. Mani has a tattoo on his left arm that says "Latifi" in Persian. Val has a tattoo on her right shoulder blade of a Chi-Rho.
7. Val hates cilantro and Mani can't stand American cheese.

3. Share this award with bloggers who you think are fantastic:
*Jill of JillKrasny.com: Writer, foodie and music hipster extraordinaire.
*Kevin of KevinNuut.com: Engineer, graphic designer and artist.
*Teresa of Invasionista: Almost-attorney, fashionista and foodie.
*Koci of La Kocinera: College student and aspiring chef.
*Harmony of Dreaming of Kumquats: Writer and foodie.
*Mitch of Chile Underground: Ph.D and food explorer.

We'll see y'all next week, folks. We'll be floating down some river with a beer in-hand somewhere in San Marcos this weekend. Don't forget that Gorillaz tickets go on sale at Friday, 10 a.m. We'll be first in line on the Interwebs, so we dare you to beat us to the punch ;). Have a great weekend!

Val's Favorite Filipino Dishes: Caldereta

2010-08-02T07:00:00.065-05:00

Howdy, folks. We're currently recovering from an eventful week. Friday we went to the Hater Magazine party with performances by Fat Tony and B L A C K I E. Saturday we checked out our friends Fly Nice & Mic Skills at Bohemeos. (Here's a link to my recent print interview with Mic for the Houston Press).

Meanwhile I've been busy writing a paper on health care reform for school, not to mention actively forgetting that class starts in two weeks. *grumbles* Mani and Crystal have been practicing furiously. And thankfully they've made some headway in their search for a drummer. Just two days after placing a Craigslist ad, they're backed up with auditions for two straight weeks.

It'll be a fun and exciting process weeding through all our candidates, but I have to admit that we've already come across a few strange characters. I mean, what did we really expect from Craigslist? No, we haven't had a run-in with any ax-murderers just yet. But we did get response that read: "hello! my name is ______ i'm definitely feel n where yall r go n w/dis project. i'm a very well rounded drummer look n 4 a genre like yalls."

Should literacy be a required quality in a potential drummer? Crystal seems to think that so long as a drummer can grunt "yes" or "no" and keep a mean beat, he's good to go. I tend to disagree. But what the hell do I know?

What else? Oh, that's right! Mani bought me an engagement ring this weekend! It's so obscenely sparkly that it takes my breath away. We pick it up in two weeks, and I really can't contain myself! It has a princess-cut center-stone surrounded by round diamonds, along with a thick band of baguettes framed by even more round diamonds. Not that I don't already love the ring that Mani proposed with; it'll be my wedding band on the big day. Afterall diamonds are a girl's best friend, and two rings are better than one.

*deep breaths* OK, I'm calm now.

*******

Back to food.

Since Mani & I moved away from home, among other things, we've longed for our moms' cooking. Our solution has been obvious of course: slowly but surely learning how to recreate their recipes. Easy enough, right?

Wrong. I mean, c'mon. We all have moms. We are all well aware that there is a little extra 'something' in mom's home cooking, be it the product of years in the kitchen or that pinch of love. Add to that the fact that I am Filipino and Mani is Persian, and you've got quite the task before you.

Lucky for you, I am happy to report that we've been successful at cooking up dishes from our respective motherlands more times than not. And now it's time for a little show-and-tell.

Last week, I cooked us up one of my favorite Filipino dishes: caldereta. It's a tomato-based stew that's traditionally made with beef, but I used chicken breast to cut down on calories. You'll need to buy a seasoning mix from any local Asian grocery store. (My mom likes to use the Mama Sita brand). We served the stew over a bed of basmati rice. Traditionally, it's served over ordinary white rice, but we prefer basmati. Do note that my mom's recipe strays from that printed on the back of most seasoning mixes.

I think you'll find that this dish is a whole lot of love in a pot. It's warm, comforting and hearty. Those are descriptives that generally apply across the board to Filipino cuisine, contrary to a recent 29-95.com review. As I mentioned in the comments section, every cuisine has its share of stranger delicacies, but Andrew Zimmern did do the Philippines a bit wrong on Bizarre Foods by featuring dishes that are not commonly eaten by native Filipinos. Filipino cuisine is anything but scary, so if you're looking for a Fear Factor-worthy eating experience, this isn't your dish. But if you want a bowl of love straight out of a Filipino mom's kitchen, this is it. :)

Last thing, do check out the work of Lisa Ogler on The Lunchbox Project. This month she will be illustrating the recipes of fellow food bloggers and posting her illustrations online. Lisa was kind enough to illustrate our croque-monsieur recipe, which is posted on her blog today!

Caldereta
(Serves 6)

Ingredients
1 pouch Mama Sita's Spicy Sauce Caldereta Mix
(Spice mix contains: tomato powder, cane sugar, salt, onion powder, rice flour, garlic powder, citric acid and other spices).
1 10 oz. can of tomato sauce
1/2 of a small can of tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 bell pepper cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup pitted olives
1/2 cup green peas
3 minced cloves of garlic
1/2 chopped onion
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Fry potatoes in a pat of butter. Toss in the carrots when the potatoes are halfway-cooked. Take the pan off the burner when the potatoes are mostly cooked.
(This is to crisp up the potatoes and prevent them from crumbling in the stew).
2. In a large pot, sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the chicken and cook until tender.
4. Add the rest of the vegetables, the bay leaves, tomato sauce, tomato paste and chicken stock.
5. Cover and bring to a boil.
6. Slowly stir in the packet of Mama Sita seasoning, along with the potatoes and carrots.
7. Cover and cook until the vegetables and chicken are fully cooked.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fish Tacos

2010-07-27T07:00:00.241-05:00

OK, so after a hefty Sunday brunch, it's been back to the Operation Beach Body grind for us. Our motivation? - We rented a river house outside Austin with some friends for a bit of tubing action two weeks from now. That means of course that these bods need to get buff...and fast.

Aside from our regularly-scheduled gym sessions, we've been eating well. We're generally pretty healthy people as it is, and we've learned over the years that the best and most fulfilling way to stick to a diet is to trick yourself: eat flavorful, filling, texturally-interesting dishes that are so good, you'd never guess that they're good for you too.

Our fish tacos -- topped with a pureed tomato salsa -- are all that and then some. Not only are they a veritable rainbow on a plate, they're light, bold and texturally fun to eat. You get two successive crunches from the red cabbage and fish breading, ending in a delicate bite of flaky fish. That citrusy cilantro, tart salsa and subtle hint of green onion only liven up the party.

(Note: If you're really in a pinch, try using frozen, pre-battered cod or mahi mahi. It works well too).

Fish Tacos

(Serves 4)

Recipe inspired by Bobby Flay and Guy Fiere

Ingredients

Tacos:

1 lime, juiced

1/2 tablespoon of tequila

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound of cod or firm white fish, cut in 1-inch pieces

8 (8-inch) corn tortillas

Canola oil

6 ounces panko bread crumbs

2 eggs

Garnish:

Shredded red cabbage

Hot sauce

Sour cream

Thinly sliced green onion

Chopped cilantro leaves

Chopped tomatoes

Pureed Tomato Salsa, recipe follows

Directions

1. In medium bowl, combine lime juice, tequila, cumin, salt, and pepper; mix thoroughly. Add the fish and toss to coat. Marinate for 10 minutes. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl.

2. Warm tortillas on grill or pan. Cover with a towel to keep warm.

3. Cover a baking pan with foil, coat with Pam, and heat to 350 degrees F.

4. Remove fish from marinade, shake off excess. Dip fish into eggs.

5. Roll in panko bread crumbs, pressing panko onto fish. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Place fish into tortillas, garnish and serve.

Pureed Tomato Salsa:

2 tablespoon peanut oil

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 serrano chile
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper

Madame and monsieur, I present the ham sandwich

2010-07-25T18:58:00.012-05:00

The first time I traveled to Paris was with my mom when I was 12. I was on Summer vacation, and we were visiting some of my mom’s oldest friends. After enduring what felt like a 127-hour flight, we finally arrived in “The City of Lights.” My mom’s best friend picked us up from the airport and took us to her house for a late Parisian dinner at around midnight.

We were seated around a beautiful antique dinner table when the main course was served. It was a whole stuffed and baked fish. I have no idea what kind of fish it was. All I remember is that its head was still on, and its eyes were staring at me, begging for mercy. I was petrified. His eyes were so big and his mouth agape as if he were screaming in terror. The entire meal, I was in a trance staring into that fish’s eyes. Needless to say, I didn’t eat anything that night and went to bed famished.

Still grossed out that next morning, I skipped breakfast. We hit the streets, and at around 1 p.m. we decided to grab a bite at a little café near the Eiffel Tower. My mom, recognizing that I hadn’t eaten anything in nearly 24 hours, said she was going to restore my faith in French cuisine and ordered for me what she described as a “ham and cheese sandwich.” The last thing I wanted was a ham and cheese sandwich.

But twenty minutes later the waiter brought out what would be my first croque-monsieur. This was no ordinary, fucking ham and cheese sandwich! This was a cheesy, gooey, crispy, bite of unadulterated heaven. From that moment on, the croque-monsieur became my all-time favorite sandwich. I spent the rest of that trip ordering one at every restaurant we went to.

To this day when I think of that vacation to Paris, the first thing that comes to mind is that sandwich. The hell with the Eiffel Tower and Louvre, just give me another croque-monsieur.

This weekend Val and I attempted to recreate this amazing sandwich for a Sunday brunch. I topped Val's sandwich off with an egg to make a croque-madame and made a croque-monsieur for myself. (We've been making a lot of progress with Operation Beach Body, so we deserved a break).

We paired the heavy, decadent sandwich with a light and refreshing mint-citrus salad. The acidity and bright flavors of the salad made for a nice, clean contrast to the richness of the sandwich. We like hashbrowns and pancakes like the next guy, but sides like those would have meant a bad case of the Itis...or hypertension...or both.

Croque-Monsieur Ingredients

Recipe inspired by Ina Garten

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
5 cups of Gruyere, grated
3 cups of Gouda, grated
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin
1 egg (for a Croque Madame)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, 1/2 cup of Gouda and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere and Gouda. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere and Gouda, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot. For a madame serve with a sunny-side up egg on top.

Mint-Citrus Salad
Cut two oranges and one grapefruit into several segments: remove as much of the pith (white skin) and membrane as possible. Here's a good article with step-by-step instructions on cutting segments. Lightly toss the segments with torn mint leaves.

Houston Chowhounds Event: Tour of Little India

2010-07-21T07:00:00.043-05:00

Last Saturday we attended our first Houston Chowhouds event. Shubhrah Ramineni took us on her "Tour of Little India.” We had a southern Indian lunch at Shri Balaji Bhavan, bought spices and chutneys at India Grocers and satisfied our sweet tooth at Bombay Sweets. The turnout was great for a hot summer walking tour.

Truth be told, we were almost certain that surrounded by uppity foodie types. But the Chowhounds were anything but. Everyone was amazingly friendly. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again at the dim sum cooking class at Café Chino on 7/24. All-in-all the Little India tour was an awesome experience that definitely made Indian cooking feel more accessible to us.

Shri Balaji Bhavan

Samosas. Crunchy with a spicy masala filling. We loved the sweet and tangy tamarind chutney so much that we bought some at India Grocers later that day.

Mango Lassis. This sweet, thick and creamy concoction was refreshingly cool on our palate after a mouthful of spicy food.

The onion and masala dosa was enormous. We sopped up the savory gravy provided with our crispy dosa. The dosas we had in San Francisco honestly are still the best and most flavorful we've had, but these definitely weren't bad.

A full house. Just about everyone pictured is a Chowhound.

Laxmi Sarees

India Grocers

We love Indian cuisine, but cooking with such complex spice combinations at home has always intimidated us. Shubhrah walked us through the grocery store, carefully describing different products on the shelves and giving us tips on which items we should stock our pantry with.

Shubhrah gave helped us pick a good starter set of spices to add to our spice drawer. We picked up turmeric, cumin seed, ground coriander and cinnamon sticks. Shubhrah was right -- spices at Indian Grocers were much more economical than at the grocery store. $2.99 at Indian Grocers buys you 2-3 times the amount of spices you’d get at a regular grocery store for the same price.

We also bought a couple boxes of ready-made spice mixes: a box of garam masala and tandoori chicken masala. We bought them mostly for convenience sake, but apparently it's pretty easy -- though tedious -- to make your own. Your best bet is to make a large batch of the stuff and store it for later use. On a related note, we learned that the term "curry powder" is a fluid one; it widely varies in terms of composition. Box mixes are great for the novice, but creating your own spice combinations of course adds variety to your dishes as you tinker with ingredient ratios and find, for instance, that Home-made Curry Powder A works best on Recipe X as opposed to Home-made Curry Powder B.

Bombay Sweets

There were so many sweets to choose from, it was hard to pick just one! So we packed ourselves a variety box instead.

Tandoori Chicken and Vegetable Biryani

We were pretty stoked about putting to use all the spices we purchased at Indian Grocers, so we cooked up an Indian dinner on Monday night. We poked holes with a fork into three chicken breasts to allow for better penetration of the spice rub. After cutting the breasts into chunks, we rubbed the tandoori chicken seasoning on the chicken, skewered and marinated them for 4 hours, brushed them with olive oil and then grilled them. Here's the recipe we used for our simple vegetable biryani.

The tandoori spices didn't turn red like the instructions indicated, but looks aren't everything. The chicken was delicious. It was aromatic and had a slow burn. (On a side note, tandoori chicken is traditionally served with lemon slices, but we totally forgot to pick some up at the store. Next time.) The vegetable biryani was warm and complex.

In short, it was mission accomplished! Indian cooking wasn't nearly as difficult as we had built it up to be. Once you prepare a ready arsenal of spices, it's as easy as following a recipe.

Many thanks to Shubhrah and the Chowhounds once again for demystifying Indian cuisine. Please check out Shubhrah's website and upcoming cookbook on quick Indian cooking.

Maker's 46: Not Your Standard Bourbon

2010-07-19T23:55:00.011-05:00

[Edit: Holy mackerel! Maker's Mark just tweeted about this entry!]

My love affair with anything Maker's Mark began in 2004 when I was studying abroad in Prague. I spent a great deal of time traveling through different European cities, and after a number of visits to swanky European bars and pubs, I began to feel as though I needed to step up my game when it came to hard liquor.

I knew I had a taste for Bourbon (having spent most of undergrad knocking back shots of Jim Beam and Jack), but I wanted something more refined and sophisticated. So I began to order a different whisky on-the-rocks at every bar we would go to. That semester I must have tried at least 100 different types of whiskies, and none of them struck the chord that Maker's did.

The rich aroma, honey and vanilla overtones and bold flavor really hit home. It didn't taste like your typical weak, watered-down house whisky that's mainly used in making whisky sours. From that moment on I knew I was hooked. To this day when people ask me what I want for my birthday I still say I'd like a bottle of Maker's.

I realize that Maker's Mark is considered a mass-produced bourbon and that conventional wisdom states that the best Scotch and bourbon are never distilled in large batches. That's why I was so excited last week when, to my surprise, Val picked up a special bottle of the golden sweet stuff.

Maker's 46 is the first new Maker's product in 52 years. Only 12 bottles of 46 were delivered to the central Spec's downtown, and Val had to call in advance to reserve a bottle for me. It is hands-down the best bourbon I've ever had. It's incredibly complex with hints of butterscotch, vanilla bean and maple syrup. It's much smoother and sweeter than the original Maker's. As much of a faux pas as it may be in the foodie world, I still love me some Maker's Mark, and as a distinguished Southern gentleman once said: "Frankly, my dear, I could give a damn!"

A special thanks to our friend Jill for first breaking the news on 46!

Here are a couple pictures of some Tofu-cuddling action:

Her favorite activities are eating, sleeping and curling up with me and Val. She probably loves food more than we do (just look at her physique). So yes, she does belong on our food blog. She's the best dog ever. Do yourself a favor and adopt a pug from PugHearts if you ever find yourself wanting a furry friend.

Fried Chicken Throwdown!

2010-07-15T09:00:00.015-05:00

Hello, blog world. Val and Mani Land has been fairly eventful since our last entry. Last weekend, I dragged Mani along to Bridal Extravaganza -- braving throngs of rabid bridezillas -- in the hope of gathering useful information for our wedding next year. (I'll be prepping for the Bar next July, so it was a now-or-never kind of deal). Mani wasn't happy about having to tag along, but he didn't kick or scream about it either. In fact, he was great sport...save for the hour or so that he disappeared with my dad to eat cake and drink alcohol samples. I really don't think that I've seen a higher concentration of glitter and lace in one place ever in my life. We vomited flower petals the entire drive home.

Mani and I interviewed Weird Al on Tuesday, which was a surreal experience to say the least. (It'll be in today's Rocks Off blog). We also attended a creative meeting for Hater Magazine. The topic for the next issue is sex, and we're writing a humorous piece on birth control around the world.

And we're really excited about our first Houston Chowhounds event this Saturday :). It'll be neat to mix and mingle with local foodies. We're going on a pretty rad tour of Little India. We'll have a southern Indian lunch, go to an Indian grocery store to peep out spices and part ways at Bombay Sweets.

But enough with the updates. Let's talk chicken. Mani and Crystal have been recording a lot lately. (In fact, they set up a MySpace recently with a few demos if y'all want to take a listen, but please keep in mind that they are still very, very rough). Lots of recording fortunately has meant lots of cooking at home. Since we talk a lot of shit at our house, one thing led to another, and before we knew it, Mani and Crystal had challenged each other to a fried chicken throwdown.

It was a cook-off to the death. OK, not really. But it was one delicious battle. Raven, Mike (a.k.a. Mic Skills), and I were more than happy to serve as judges.

Mani double-battered his chicken in panko and flour, seasoning it with salt, pepper, paprika and a touch of cumin and chili powder.

For her chicken, Crystal used a flour, crushed croutons and buttermilk batter. She seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and celery salt. (And yep, our stovetop cracked :(. We're still waiting for a replacement).

Here are our lovely judges. Raven's admiring her plate of greasy goodness. Mike is fueling up for his interview with me that night. (I am currently doing a write-up on him for the Houston Press. It'll appear in next week's print edition. Check him out! He's one of Houston's most talented and hard-working rappers).

Dinner is served. Here's a plate including both contestants' entries and our collaborative sides.

I made the broccoli and cheese. I made a simple roux, slowly adding heavy cream to the flour and butter. I then added milk and shredded habanero cheddar, for a silky, cheesy béchamel sauce. Crystal and I made the mashed potatoes with chopped garlic, shallots, dill, butter and milk.

This was probably the most anti-climatic throwdown in the history of throwdowns. Their was no winner in spite of the build-up and idle fighting words. Being the good liberals we are -- afraid of stepping on toes and hurting feelings -- we judges pussy-footed around declaring a clear winner. "Both entries taste nice!" we'd say to the unhappy contestants. It was a lot like that never-ending game of Monopoly among liberals who keep lending each other money.

Anyway, our contestants at least received some criticism. Mani's batter wound up being too thick. It had a nice outer crunch but was undercooked and chewy closer to the chicken itself. Crystal's batter was more successful but her chicken overall could have benefitted from a touch more salt. But honestly, apart from a couple of flaws, both of their chicken entries were good eats. Thumbs-up, guys!

At the end of the day -- not to toot my own horn or anything -- but I guess I was the de-facto winner of our Fried Chicken Throwdown. The sides garnered rave reviews. *brushes shoulders off* Victory tastes like...chicken.

Mani's Vegetarian Chili

2010-07-04T11:00:00.096-05:00

Crystal, Val's best friend, and I recently formed a band and are in the process of writing and recording a handful of songs. We're currently looking for a drummer, hoping to launch a MySpace page soon, and are looking for a good band name. Suggestions anyone? So far we've ruled out: The Astonishing Dinosaur People, The Perverts and Brown Menace. (Sorry in advance if we've already ruled out your suggestion; it's just not going to happen).

Meanwhile Val and I have been trying to get back into beach-body shape, so I decided to make something that's relatively healthy and hearty, yet very tasty. This is a recipe of mine that's a sort of fusion between a friend of mine and Michael Chiarello's:

1 large can of petit diced tomatoes

1 medium can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 can of corn

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of pinto beans

1 serrano pepper diced

1 jalapeno pepper diced

1 packet of McCormicks chili seasoning

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

1-2 bottles of beer

Bring to a boil then let simmer for 2-24 hours

We placed 1-2 corn tortillas inside a bowl and ladled chili on top. Then we sprinkled grated habanero cheddar and chopped green onions over the chili. Though warm and comforting, this is a very light chili that's great for summer eating.

This weekend we reused our leftover chili in an omelet topped off with chives. This is a three-egg omelet with about 1/4 cup of chili added to it.

Happy 4th of July from me, Tofu, Lucky and of course Val! (Tofu and Lucky will be united today when we celebrate our niece's birthday. Tofu probably doesn't care, though. She hates that dog).

This Was Featured as a "Top 9" Blog Post on Foodbuzz.com Out of Over 3000 Posts!

Anniversary Food Extravaganza

2010-07-03T17:37:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's 1 p.m. and we're just now waking up. Hooray for the long July 4th weekend! We watched The Last Airbender, which was ridiculously bad :(. Shyamalan should stick to making gimmicky "twist" flicks and quit ruining our favorite animated series!

Tonight we're getting sushi at Tokoyohana for our friend Neil's birthday. And tomorrow we're watching the Wimbledon final at Mani's parents' house and then celebrating our niece's 12th birthday with steaks and poker. We're also really happy that the federal agency Val interned at this summer decided to hire her on for the school year! Three cheers!

Last weekend, we celebrated our 2-year anniversary. We wanted unique dining experiences, so we had dinner at The Melting Pot on Friday and a picnic on Saturday morning at Hermann Park. Then we visited a couple exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

We highly, highly recommend The Melting Pot! Neither of us had eaten fondue before, so it really was a culinary adventure for us both. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive. They wished us a happy anniversary at least three times during the course of the night, which we really appreciated. :)

The atmosphere at The Melting Pot is both fun and inviting. Its communal nature makes it perfect for a night out with friends. It's interactive enough to keep the kiddos entertained and awesome for a romantic dinner. (Fellas, we guarantee that the ladies will love you).

Really who doesn't love dipping random items of food into a giant vat of tastiness? If we'd been offered a plate of paperclips, we would have dunked them in cheese and eaten them happily. Word.

We started off with a couple of cocktails that were almost too gorgeous to drink. Val had the Yin & Yang: Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, Stoli Vanil vodka and ice cream topped with chocolate shavings. Mani had the Pomegranate Mojito.

We opted to sample the four-course "Pacific Islands Big Night Out" summer menu.

The first course was a Feng Shui Cheese Fondue with white wine, mirin, Gekeikan Traditional Sake, aged Gruyere cheese and horseradish and chive Harvati. It was creamy, earthy and spicy. Bread squares, granny smith apple slices and mixed veggies came as sides to be dipped.

Next up were the lettuce wraps, which were refreshingly clean and tangy: green leaf lettuce, thinly sliced cucumber, sliced carrots, bean sprouts, mint and honey roasted almonds with a mandarin orange-ginger dressing.

We ordered the mouth-watering "Fondue Fusion" for the third course: rich lobster tail, tender sesame-crusted teriyaki sirloin, tart citrus-infused pork tenderloin, melt-in-your-mouth sushi-grade Ahi tuna, garlic chili chicken breast, citrusy kiwi lime shrimp, spring vegetable dumplings and fresh veggies.

The Mojo cooking style we chose was a Caribbean-seasoned bouillon with tons of garlic, citrus, cilantro and green onions. We skewered the our meats and veggies, letting them cook for a couple of minutes in the broth, dipping them in numerous sauces provided for us. The Sriracha aioli was our favorite by far.

For dessert, we had an adorable platter of cakes, fruits and assorted sweet treats that we dipped in a Passion Fruit Yin & Yang Fondue: dark chocolate swirled with passion fruit-infused white chocolate.

-Saturday at Hermann Park-

Breakfast-by-the-pound at Whole Foods. The migas were flavorful and the salsa fresh. And the homefries and biscuits were a home run. But the turkey sausage was a on the dry side, as were the pancakes, which crumbled under our forks with each bite.

Mani and Tofu.

Tofu grubbing down on a little breakfast. It was her "birthday" afterall. We he adopted her exactly one year ago last Saturday.

-Museum of Natural Science-

Then we went to the Archaeopteryx and Magic exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. FYI, the Archaeopteryx was the definitive ancestral link between dinosaurs and birds. And the Magic exhibit displayed legendary magicians' tricks and props. Plus there are free magic shows on the weekends.

-Crave Cupcakes-

We ended the day at Crave Cupcakes. We attempted to make a pit stop at Sprinkles too, but we drove passed the non-descipt building at least three times looking for it. What's the deal with their teeny-tiny sign in the upper left-hand corner of the building? Seriously? Context clues, i.e. the enormous, snaking line around the building, tipped us off that we had finally found the right building. But by then, we were exasperated and decided to start heading in the direction of Crave instead.

Crave was similarly packed with insufferable uppity types huffing and puffing at the long lines or the fact that they didn't get enough cream in their coffee. The 100-degree heat outside and the elbow-to-elbow cluster-fuck inside Crave wasn't exactly the joyous cupcake experience we'd bargained for. The icing on the cupcake (har har) was the fact that one staff member asked us to put our camera away because photos were "not allowed" indoors. Too bad we had already taken the photos we needed, lady.

We ask: when did the cupcake cease to be that homemade reminder of your mom's kitchen and become a designer commodity? Ugh.

We ordered the pumpkin, strawberry and coconut-chocolate cupcakes.

The pumpkin and strawberry cupcakes were divine. The icing was creamy and not too sweet. The cake was perfectly moist. The pumpkin was not overly spicy, and the strawberry tasted of freshly-picked strawberries, rather than that artificial strawberry flavor we expected.

The coconut was so-so. The icing was overly sweet, so much so that we could feel the grit of sugar grains in our teeth. It would have been a nice touch had they lightly toasted the coconut shavings too.

Two Years Together

2010-06-25T00:08:00.009-05:00

Two years ago, we met at at one of Mani's shows. We shared a cheesecake milkshake at Katz’s that night. We talked about law school, the Obama campaign and the Food Network. Val said she’d never been to New Orleans. Mani said he’d take us to Preservation Hall and Café du Monde one day.

One week later, we met again at Mani’s lasagna night. Mani invited a few friends over and recreated for them his Italian uncle’s lasagna recipe. Little did Val know that “lasagna night” had really been an elaborate scheme to see her again. It didn’t matter in the end. Mani got the girl, and the girl got a boy who could cook a mean lasagna.

Three months later, the law school semester had begun for both of us. Having no semblance of a social life, we were miserable. We studied. A lot. And either the Food Network or MSNBC kept us company while we buried our heads in our casebooks. We found solace in cooking meals together after class. We prepared old family favorites alongside recipes we’d always meant to try. We finally ate at restaurants we’d never dined at. We began our Sunday brunch tradition. And we took pictures of our meals, posting them on Facebook.

Six months later, due to the positive feedback we’d gotten on our food photography, we decided to start a food blog to memorialize our shared meals. We set up a Blogspot account and uploaded pictures off Val’s point-and-click camera. We went on foodie travel adventures together. Together we ate Amish Country cuisine, Philly cheesesteaks, New York Buffalo Wings/Trash Plates, San Antonio puffy tacos , San Francisco cioppino and Hill Country BBQ. We read cookbooks and watched a lot of food television. Much to their delight, we cooked often for our friends and family. And we blogged about all of our culinary adventures together. To us, the blog was a fun and relaxing retreat from our studies.

One year ago, Mani proposed. We moved in together and adopted the fat little pug we’d been talking about since we met. We named her Tofu. Mani took us to New Orleans. We saw a show at Preservation Hall and stuffed our faces with beignets at Café du Monde.

Two months ago, Mani was just one month away from graduation. We were much more proficient in the kitchen than we'd ever been in our lives. Having become aware of the local foodie community of cooks, bloggers, writers, food explorers and everyone in-between, we decided to tap into the network.

Today is our two-year anniversary. We'll be married next October. It’s crazy to think that we would spend the rest of our lives with the person we shared a cheesecake milkshake with just over two years ago. Looking back on our earlier entries, we do laugh at the crappy quality of our pictures (see below). We didn’t quite understand the value of natural lighting, and we didn’t own a DSLR yet. Our food writing was more personal in nature and left a lot to be desired. But we love those early entries all the same.

From the very beginning, food has played an integral part in our relationship. We had finally found that kindred soul with whom we could share geek-out appreciation for Sriracha and chiffonade. And most importantly, we’d found someone to cook with and...for. And it’s only the beginning.

Chicago Italian Beef + Recent Shows

2010-06-21T20:31:00.009-05:00

Mani and Crystal are recording, and I'm cold lamping on the couch with a glass of wine and my Macbook. Having nothing on the agenda after our regularly scheduled 9-to-5's has been refreshing. The living has been easy for the first time in a long time.

Last week, we caught a couple of movies, won second place at Maple Leaf Pub's trivia night, celebrated Father's Day with our amazing dads and met up for Mike's (Mic Skills) birthday.

Coppola's new film Tetro starring Vincent Gallo was a real bummer. The plot had promise, but the acting was stale and the script poorly written. The Karate Kid was a sleeper hit. It was both nostalgic and original, and Smith and Chan brought surprising depth to their characters. Plus it was kid-approved; our nieces loved it to pieces. (Shout out to Leah who beat the third-best juvenile golfer in the nation at last week's tournament. We're so proud of you!)

On Sunday, we got brunch with my family and then watched a little World Cup at Mani's parents' pad.

This weekend will be somewhat more action-packed. We celebrate our second-year anniversary with a picnic-brunch at Hermann Park, followed by the HMNS's Magic and Archaeopteryx: Icon of Evolution exhibits. We're still trying to nail down a good brunch menu, but so far, we're thinking eggs in purgatory with orange-grapefruit mimosas. I guess we're a couple of nerds. We often find ourselves at the museum in celebration of romantic occasions. We may swing by the Hater Magazine art show and HMNS's Mixers & Elixirs on Friday too.

Anyway, without further ado, here are a few pictures that are long overdue:

-Mike's Birthday at Chicago Italian Beef-

It was Mike's birthday last week. A Chicago native, the one thing he wanted for his birthday was to go home to the Windy City. The next best thing to Chi-Town, in our estimation, was a slice of deep dish, so we took him to Chicago Italian Beef.

Chicago Italian Beef is the closest you'll get to Chicago deep dish deep in the heart of Texas. Neither of us are real fans of deep dish pizza. We prefer New York-style pie and have Pink's Pizza on speed-dial.

And although we still like our pizza folded, the offerings at Chicago Italian Beef are a tasty knife-and-fork affair nonetheless. Mike was happy, and that's all that mattered. Happy Birthday, Mike!

Clockwise: Mike (Mic Skills), JB, Byron (Radremm), Karina Nistal, Dmetrius, Craig (BBC), Ahmad and his girlfriend, Sadia, Nibu and Val.

-Recent Shows-

Here are a few pictures from shows we've covered recently for Hater Magazine and the Houston Press, along with links to reviews we've written. Mani took all of the pictures below. Not too shabby, little guy.

Common & Biz Markie:

Mani's review, Val's review

Summerfest 2010: A whirlwind weekend that ended in a marathon writing session and strep throat. The turnout was astounding. Houstonians braved the relentless heat and mud all in the name of music.

Mix Master Mike: Review

Val being a good little music journalist. Raven trying to dodge the photo. Gotcha!

Kid Sister: Review

Girl Talk: Interview and show review

Mic Skills: Review

Other Stuff
*Interview with Beaumont's Rapping Weatherman
*"Summertime" from the Grave
*Happy Father's Day: Loser Kids of Rock Star Dads

Mourning Crawfish Season

2010-06-19T17:23:00.006-05:00

If you're like us, you've been crying yourself to sleep every night since the end of crawfish season. Crawfish have been our crack rock over the last few months, and they indeed will be a tough drug to kick. But before we tune you into a good crawfish-substitute joint we tried last night, here are a few stand-out dishes we had this season.

-Calliope's Po-Boys-

Calliope's takes a stripped-down approach to crawfish that neither of us were accustomed to. Not that that's a bad thing of course because 'different' in this case still meant good. Our backyard crawfish boils and trips to Louisiana as kids meant bold layers of flavor and sweat-inducing heat.

But Calliope's crawfish were delicately seasoned and succulent. The light hand brought out the crawfish's freshness and natural flavor, which speaks to the confidence Calliope's must have in their product. While crawfish are sturdy enough to stand up to lots of flavor, crawfish au natural is the focal point at Calliope's; they don't need to hide behind mounds of seasoning, butter, corn or potatoes.

We still prefer having our faces melted and our hands dripping with juice and seasoning, but change can sometimes be good.

This crawfish po-boy is the stuff of dreams. That French baguette rocked our world, and really the only time we've had better baguettes was in France. They have an enormous, flakey crunch on the exterior that gives way to a pillowy, cloud-like interior that just melts in your mouth. Calliope's has them made fresh daily from a supplier. The crawfish were perfectly fried. The fries were pretty meh, but no one comes here for the fries anyways.

Lisa Carnley of Calliope's just got a nod from the Houston Press as one of our city's hottest females chefs. Meow! She grew up in New Orleans and moved to Houston post-Katrina. Lisa has our vote!

-Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen-

Danton's is quickly becoming our favorite place for happy hour. Their crawfish specials this season were off the chain, and yeah, the crawfish at Danton's are GINORMOUS. These crawfish have become our second favorite in the city. As we mentioned in a previous post, Pappadeaux's still takes the cake in our book.

BBQ shrimp: sumptuous rosemary butter broth perfect for crusty bread-dipping.

Campechana: We hate Pesce and their crappy $17 Seafood Martini with a passion that boils deep within the inner cores of our being. We absolutely loved this Mexican-style seafood cocktail with shrimp, crab and avocado. And we will admit, our love for this dish was partly driven by sheer contempt for Pesce and their awful, overpriced martini glass of suck.

Fried Jalapenos stuffed with crab cake filling, monterrey jack and cheddar cheese. Mouth-watering!

-Shuck Daddy's-

After being stuffed into suits all week, we wanted to go somewhere casual where we could put our feet up last night. We'd read good things about Shuck Daddy's in the Heights so we decided to give it a try. The crab-stuffed jalapenos were so-so. The jalapenos were a little under-done.

But after ordering The Feast off their "Pound It" menu, we knew we'd found a good crawfish alternative for when our off-season itch kicks in.

The Feast: 1/2 pound of shrimp, 2 clusters of snow crab legs and all the trimmings (corn, potatoes and spicy sausage). Presentation is key!

We asked them to combine all three seasonings: lemon pepper, cajun and chipotle, and it was everything we love about crawfish sans crawfish. It was spicy, sloppy and eat-with-your-hands addictive. It wasn't a bad deal either - $25 fed both of us.

The shrimp was the star of the show, but the crab got mixed reviews. Mani thought they were great. Val thought they were on the salty side; she prefers a simple steam with nothing more. You will be seeing us again, Shuck Daddy's.

Random Foodie News

We signed up for the My Table Magazine newsletter and found out a few tidbits.

*Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd (Reef, Little Big's and Stella Sola) are partnering up with former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh to open up a Tex-Mex restaurant at the now-vacant Tower Theatre on Westheimer. (We are still sad about Hollywood Video closing, though)

*Uchi, our favorite sushi restaurant in Austin, is coming to Houston. It'll be in the building that once housed Felix Mexican Restaurant. Although it was an old Houston institution, we weren't too keen on Felix's grub, so we are glad that change is a-coming.

*As we've mentioned in previous entries, we are unabashedly obsessed with The Next Food Network Star and The Next Iron Chef. Apparently, one of Houston's own was selected to be a competitor and is one of the last 4 standing. Right on! Can't wait for the debut episode. (We wouldn't be surprised if Caswell is our city's representative what with his James Beard nomination this year).

Austin: Sushi Zushi & Salt Lick - Part 2

2010-06-15T19:14:00.002-05:00

We had a blast this weekend in Austin for our friends Jesse and Kevin's birthdays. We partook in some World Cup, USA vs. England action at Alamo Draft House.

Then we ate at Sushi Zushi, a restaurant that prides itself on variety what with its sprawling menu complete with nearly 100 roll selections. It's enough to make sushi purists cringe. We are far from traditionalists, however, so we relished in the opportunity to taste from among Sushi Zushi's inventive creations. Oh, and we're not really cocktail people, but their cocktails were delicious and chock-full of fresh ingredients.

Zen Tea-Tini

These were the favorite rolls of the night:

L - Godzilla Roll: fried crawfish, cream cheese, serrano chiles, chives wrapped in avocado and topped with sriracha sauce. (This one was by far the crowd favorite)

R - Colonnade Roll: shrimp tempura, asparagus, creem cheese and avocado topped with plantain and chipotle sauce. (The plantain was an unexpected pop of sweetness)

-Sunday-

It was indeed time to make our yearly pilgrimage to the Salt Lick. We had been looking forward to the BBQ goodness for weeks and eating sparingly all weekend so as to save room for Family Style plate after plate. The 30-minute drive to the Salt Lick complex was agonizing for our stomachs, and as soon as we pulled up, that familiar smokey scent permeating the air greeted our noses.

As always, the BBQ was well worth the self-imposed deprivation and the drive. The beef brisket, which we usually find to be under-seasoned and on the dry side, was uncharacteristically juicy with a spicy, delicious char on the outer edge. Really we needn't bother with descriptions because a picture says a thousand words. Our mouths water just looking at the Family Style plate pictured above.

The beef ribs really wowed us. They're only available on Sundays, and honest-to-God, they're the best ribs you'll ever put in your mouth. Smoke flavor soaked all the way to the bone, and the meat was fall-apart-tender. Eating these ribs made us understand for the first time how and why Tofu gets down on steak bones. She gets a crazed look in her eye that we only see when we give her a taste of red meat. We really did go animal-style all over these ribs, forgetting that we were in the company of friends and tearing into them like cave people. Each rib is worth every penny of the $4.95 you'll spend on 'em. Word to your mom.

These are the sides that come with every Family Style meal: potato salad, cole slaw and bread. They're good, but why fill up on distractions?

These pits are some of the only you'll find in the United States.

San Antonio

2010-06-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

We ventured to San Antonio for Memorial Day Weekend. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and yes, we probably picked the worst possible weekend to visit the Riverwalk and avoid screaming babies, sweaty tourists and old people in walkers all at the same time. But our objective was simple and straightforward: we came for the puffy taco.

But we had a few other adventures along the way...

-Casa Rio-

Ok, before you get all judge-y, at least give us this - we were starved by the time we arrived in San Antonio. Our hotel was on the Riverwalk, and we wanted to traverse the shortest distance as possible in order to fill our bellies. We asked around, and the verdict was that Casa Rio put on a decent Tex-Mex show.

Of course we were skeptical. The Riverwalk is a Texas tourist trap among tourist traps. So we were pleasantly surprised to find the beef and shrimp fajitas to be both affordable and mighty tasty. We're pretty particular about our fajitas, and these were tender and bursting with flavor. Give it a try if find yourself similarly stuck in San Antonio tourist hell.

Thanks a lot, Mani!

-Ripley's Believe It or Not: Food-related exhibits-

Stealing chocolates from Forrest

The Beatles painted on tiny quail eggs

Painted not on canvas but on....toast!

L: Mani wished to be a big boy!

R: Obligatory light saber fight.

-Riverwalk-

You know, ironically the one thing we realized in visiting the Alamo in the first time since grade school is that we really don't remember shit about the Alamo. Texas History was garbage. It wins the prize for most boring subject ever.

This is our family on vacation at the Riverwalk. L-R: Mani, Tofu, Val.

-La Hacienda-

Mojitos.

The Main Event: Puffy tacos. Really after all the build-up, puffy tacos weren't the god-sends we thought they'd be. The fried and puffed corn tortilla didn't have the crunch we expected; it had a slight crisp, but it was more chewy and greasy than anything. The beef taco meat didn't blow our minds, and there wasn't anything special about the beans or rice. If we ever come back to La Hacienda, we aren't so sure that we'd order the puffy taco again. Not sure what all the hoopla is about (aside from Bobby Flay challenging the owner to a puffy taco-off not too long ago). We have yet to try a puffy taco in Houston. It's on the to-do list.

Decent flan, but Churassco's is still tops.

Homemade Bruschetta

2010-06-11T00:23:00.003-05:00

A few posts ago, we introduced y'all to our tomato plant Tony. He's since bared for us his weight in fruit, and very gratefully, we've whipped up a few delicious dishes showcasing his tomato children. Our latest is homemade bruschetta, which is probably our best bruschetta recipe yet.

Bruschetta (serves 2)

*1 pint grape tomatoes

*A few torn basil leaves

*2 tablespoons of ricotta

*2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan

*2-4 cloves of garlic

*Juice of 1/2 lemon

*1 tablespoon of dried oregano

*1/2 loaf of ciabatta

*2 tablespoons of olive oil

*Pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut ciabatta loaf into thin slices and brush with olive oil. Squeeze lemon onto bread.

3. Brush an oven pan with olive oil, scatter the tomatoes and garlic in pan. Lightly salt and pepper. Add red pepper flakes and oregano. Leave them in oven until tomatoes burst and sweetly caramelize.

4. Take pan out of oven and add ricotta and parmesan. Take out of pan when cheese is lightly browned (20 minutes).

5. Place bread in oven until toasted.

6. Take bread out of oven, spread mixture onto bread and top with fresh basil.

Crab & Lobster-Stuffed Salmon

2010-06-03T23:30:00.004-05:00

It's been really busy these days juggling work, shows, writing and doing music. And unfortunately, we haven't had the opportunity to cook as much as we'd like. Thankfully this hasn't (always) meant stuffing our mouth holes with complete garbage during bikini season. We picked up beautiful, pre-prepared salmon filets stuffed with lobster and crab from the midtown Randall's. We threw them in the oven with a few slices of crusty bread and tossed a quick garden salad. Just like that - easy and inexpensive (each filet cost about $6). Surprisingly enough, thus far we've had fairly good experiences with the pre-prepped meals at our local grocery stores when we're in a crunch for time. Somehow our summers always end up being just as action-packed as the school year. We're not complaining, though. The break has been a blast up to now :)

We're covering Summerfest for the Houston Press and Hater Magazine this weekend, so we're pretty excited about that. The lineup is way epic this year. Here are a few links to pieces we've written recently:

*Girl Talk Interview

*Common Show Reviews: Mani's, Val's

*6 Songs You Never Want to Hear At A Graduation

*Things You Should Never Do : Scare Black People & Call A Fat Woman 'Fat'

*Houstonions On Arizona's Immigration Legislation

*Why Is M.I.A. Hating On Redheads?

Hater's "Food Issue" drops Monday, so make sure to pick up a copy or view the issue online. We contributed to the restaurant review section. We'll post our San Antonio trip pictures soon! Hope to see y'all at Summerfest.

*****************

Mani's Birthday/Graduation Weekend

-Raspberry Criminal (MJ vs. Prince) at House of Blues-

-Graduation at the George R. Brown Convention Center-

Mani, Val & Val's parents

Mani & his parents

Lunch at Churrasco's

Caprese Sandwich

2010-05-27T12:05:00.025-05:00

This is Tony the tomato plant. We purchased him recently at Kroger's. His children have made for delicious caprese sandwiches. We did a taste test comparing store-bought tomatoes to Tony's children. Tony's children > Store-bought tomatoes. Our homegrown tomatoes are juicy and full of flavor. They make papa Tony proud.

This was the first caprese sandwich that we lovingly crafted with one of our tomatoes. We used fresh ciabatta bread, basil, fresh mozzarella, 1 homegrown tomato, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. The simplicity of this sandwich makes it really ingredient-driven. Thank you, Tony, for a tasty sandwich.

Updates on us:

-School's out for summer!" (c) Alice Cooper

-Mani is a lawyer! He's taking the February bar. Come next year, he'll be official. He begins saving the environment, one tree at a time, starting June 1. Oh, Mani also turned down a starring role in "The Prince of Persia." Way to pick up his sloppy seconds, Jake Gyllenhaal.

-Val began her internship last week and totally digs it. Federal agency, do you love her as much as she loves you? Val also rejoined the Houston Press music team and will be reviewing the Common show on Friday and interviewing Girl Talk next Tuesday.

-We got a new camera: Nikon D5000. It rocks our motherbleeping socks.

-Mani started a band with Val's best friend Crystal. They've recorded a handful of rad demos already. We'll upload some samples for your listening pleasure soon enough.

-Val is a finalist in the W Chic Picks Sweepstakes. Vote for her...pretty please?

-Memorial Day is here, and we'll be taking a trip to Shiner, Texas (home of Shiner Beer) and then heading up to San Antonio for puffy tacos and Ripley's Believe It or Not. Stand by for a new blog post...

Mi Luna: Say "Tapas Bar" Three Times Fast

2010-05-26T14:08:00.041-05:00

Above: Pizza de mariscos - Pizza with shrimp, squid, mussels, basil, pesto and mozzarella. Yes, it looks delicious, but the seafood was overcooked and fishy. Every other dish we sampled, though, was amazing.

It's common knowledge that Rice University folks are all a little off. Maybe the school just doesn't emphasize courses on social normalcy in their curriculum. In spite of the rather odd students that frequent it, Rice Village has a handful of restaurants that every self-respecting foodie in Houston must pilgrimage to at least once in their lives. Next to the Urban Outfitters on University Boulevard you find Mi Luna. This Spanish/Moroccan tapas bar is one of the joints we find ourselves going back to over and over again. The interior decked out like a villa in the south of Spain, and all of the wait staff have a distinct Antonio Banderas accent. In fact, we think they're all named Antonio...even the women.

But architecture and hanging with Zorro aside, Mi Luna has some of the best tapas in Houston.

Above: Mashed, battered and fried potato fingers topped with a sour cream drizzle. Crispy outside with a creamy potato interior and a tart drizzle.

Below: Pinchos marunos - grilled Moroccan lamb kabobs over a bed of couscous.

Below: Kafta - Moroccan style meatballs with green peas. Spicy, smokey with a tang from the tomato base.

Below: B'Stilla - Moroccan chicken pie with cinnamon almonds wrapped in a crisp phyllo dough. Light, flakey with an unexpected sweet-savory combination that works.

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Melange Creperie: A Taste of Paris on Westheimer @ Taft

2010-05-12T20:33:00.003-05:00

(A version of this review was published on the Hater Magazine blog; a shorter version will appear in the upcoming May issue). “Buffalo” Sean Carroll is wearing a plaid fedora with lavender wildflowers tucked into the brim. He is cheerfully chatting up the small throng of customers patiently surrounding his crêpe stand before the Art Car parade and ably manning a circular crêpe griddle situated in his tiny stand stationed in the Mango’s parking lot. He ladles batter onto the center of the stove and then spreads it outward with a spatula. His methods seem easy enough. But his laidback demeanor and the simplicity of the egg, flour and milk components of his crêpe batter belie the true difficulty and precision of his craft. Yet Carroll and crêpes, it seems, were meant for each other.

With a degree in Art History, Carroll’s appreciation for the crêpe formed during his honeymoon in Paris. Carroll instantly fell in love with the performance and ritual behind preparation of the Parisian street food. After an unfortunate string of failed museum jobs in our tough economy over the last year and a half, Carroll turned to the crêpe. He honed his knowledge of crêpe craftsmanship watching YouTube videos, purchased a stand and crêpe griddle, secured a city permit, and set up shop on his asphalt home in front of Mango’s.

Those of you who have ever tried making crêpes at home or who’ve seen Alton Brown’s Crêpe Expectations episode know that crêpes are a veritable bitch to make. You need the perfect ingredient ratio for a light, delicate batter and a quick blending method for smoothness. In our experience, a trashcan full of scorched or fat, lumpy crêpe batter taught us two things: 1. We suck at making crêpes and 2. Crêpe-making is an art form, an art form that Carroll has perfected.

The first time we ever experienced a crêpe was in Paris as kids, an experience no other Houston establishment since has been able to recreate until Melange Creperie entered our lives. While most Houston restaurants serve up dry, bland imitations of the French street food, Carroll’s crêpes have that authentically delicate outer crisp, finishing with a moist, tender and eggy interior. We had the andouille & spinach, ham, egg & cheddar and banana & Nutella. Carroll piled on a heaping mound of fresh spinach onto our crêpe, which was a nice, fresh accompaniment to the rich, smokey andouille sausage. The ham was thick-cut for a hearty bite, with the egg and sharp cheddar melting into the soft crêpe. The warm banana and Nutella combination made us feel like kids again.

Above: ham, egg & cheddar. Below: andouille & spinach.

The menu rotates weekly, the goal being to pay tribute to each of Houston’s 200 cultures. Offerings range from tabouli with avocado and chicken with pesto, to classics like the ham, egg and cheddar or bananas with Nutella we sampled. You can follow Melange Creperie’s times, location and menu updates via their Twitter page – @MelangeCreperie.

Houston Foodie News

2010-05-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

The Kirby Whole Foods location celebrates its 10th anniversary on May 21-22 with live music, prizes and food/drink tastings.

May 7: t'afia chef & owner Monica Pope is hosting this week's presentation of Movies Houstonians Love: Meals on Reels. Tonight she'll be showing "Food, Inc." at 7 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts. FYI, Pope is in the process of writing her first book, Eating Hope and Other Things I've Had to Stomach.

The Sodastream: What's Wrong with America

2010-05-05T11:49:00.004-05:00

Last we counted, there are 3 finals standing in between us and summer. During this most dreary time of the year, when we're not dreaming about offing ourselves, we are usually awake at odd hours of the day. Beginning at approximately 3:00 AM every morning the infomercial reigns king. We thought we had seen them all: the ShamWow, the Magic Bullet, the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer. But last night, friends, we stood corrected when the Sodastream entered our lives.

What is it?

It's a home soda maker. Now you can make your favorite colas or anti-colas at home!

Why on earth would I want one?

Isn't the better question: Why wouldn't you want one? Who in their right mind likes lugging 18 cans of soda from the grocery store all the way home every week? -- Doesn't everyone drink that much soda?! And who the hell exercises anymore?! Just one flavor bottle gives you 33 cans of soda and 1 carbonation bottle gives you 60 liters of soda! Oh, and it's good for the environment!

All you do is add tap water to a Sodastream bottle; infuse it with a burst of carbonation with one push of a button; add flavorings, mix and enjoy!

Sound cool?!

Doesn't everything sound like a good idea at 3 in the morning? First of all, who drinks tap water? -- Especially if you live in Houston, a city that last year ranked as the 95th poorest out of 100 big cities in terms of water quality? Whose water has 3 contaminants present in quantities above legal limits set by the EPA? --Raise your hand, Houston! It's true that many bottled water brands are little better than bottled tap water. But if you steer clear from brands with unregulated water source terms like "glacier water" or "purified water," you can rest assured that you're not drinking water that was in your neighbor's toilet last month. Go for "spring water," folks. "Spring water" is a regulated term of identity, so it actually is spring water.

So bottom line?
**If lack of exercise, toilet water and more soda are for you, buy a Sodastream, fatass.
**If there were a prize for the product on the market that defines America, it would go to the Sodastream.
**The Sodastream is yet another reason why America's going to hell in a handbasket.

International House of Sandwiches...IHOS?

2010-04-29T20:39:00.025-05:00

For a good year we'd been eyeing a sign at the 1900 block of Taft that read “TASTE THE WORLD: Juan Mon’s International Sandwiches.” The building, which was once a gas station, looked abandoned, leading us to think that Juan had likely packed up his French baguettes, Italian mortadella, and Mexican oaxaca and headed for greener pastures.

As it turns out Juan (a recent UT-Austin grad) was busy traveling the globe, sampling its sandwiches and readying the financing to open up his international house of sandwiches. Walking into Juan Mon’s is like walking into an indoor Marley Fest (sans pot cloud and retarded hippies) with its plastic palm trees and brightly painted walls. The jammin' reggae tunes that greet you both in-restaurant and on the Juan Mon website are enough to transport you back to your smoke-filled college dorm room. Pink Floyd poster and lava lamp sold separately.

[Pictured above: The Venice] Juan Mon’s menu is an assortment of different sandwiches named after the cities that inspired them. Our favorite sandwiches are the Venice and Berlin. The Venice is the type of sandwich one comes up with after spending a good, hard weekend at Marley Fest. It's stoner food done right. And who knew that spaghetti, salami, sour cream, grilled onions and provolone on a toasty baguette could taste so good to a sober law student? The spaghetti has a perfect al dente bite, supplying a nice change of texture from the crispy baguette and delicate cheese and salami. The tartness of the sour cream compliments the sweetness of the grilled onions, and we've come to the conclusion that everything tastes better with spaghetti on it. Really one can never go wrong with a carb-on-carb party. In our humble opinion.

[Pictured above: The Berlin] The Berlin is the sort of sandwich you get at a bratwurst stand in Germany. This sandwich would ordinarily be preceded by a long night of getting hammered on Spaten Optimators and Einbecker Ur-Bocks…real beers. Unlike the Venice, the Berlin is simple and traditional: German sausage, provolone, grilled onions, and Dijon mustard on a toasted wheat bun. But it’s that simplicity that keeps you coming back for more. Afterall some things are just meant for each other: when you think of German food, you don’t think of Bœuf de Hohenlohe and gutbürgerlich (whatever the fuck those are), you think of beer and a brat inside a bun lathered in mustard. And that’s the way it should be.

Ultimately, Juan Mon’s is a real Houston find. From the crazy stoner sandwich to the staple of late night German dining you can get it all. It is like tasting the world without having to leave the loop.

Grilled lamb loin chops & tender greens salad with citrus vinaigrette

2010-04-25T22:04:00.020-05:00

We needed to get the hell away from our casebooks and outlines for a moment, so we dropped by Central Market this weekend. Intending to buy chicken breasts, we spotted beautiful, perfectly marbled lamb loin chops behind the butcher's counter instead. We brought home 6 chops for dinner. Anyways, we love coming home with the freshest of ingredients at the market and writing up a recipe on the fly. Our recently purchased lime-scented thyme plant became the inspiration behind our menu: grilled rosemary-thyme lamb chops and tender greens salad with a citrus vinaigrette. We wanted our menu to highlight the very subtle lime flavor of our thyme plant. (FYI, herbs are 3 for $10 at Central Market).

Lamb is a protein with a very strong, distinct taste on its own. It can easily stand up to other bold flavors but also has a tendency to have a gaminess that can be unappealing if improperly treated. Light, citrusy flavors in our marinade and vinaigrette, we thought, would help to counterbalance that.

A marinade, in essence, is an oil, an acid and an aromatic.

Marinade for 6 lamb loin chops (2-3 servings)

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

The juice of 2 freshly squeezed lemons
1/2 tablespoon of fresh, chopped rosemary

1/2 tablespoon of fresh, chopped thyme

2 garlic cloves -- chopped (we really like garlic)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon pepper

1. Using a fork, lightly poke holes into both sides of the lamb chops to tenderize it and for better absorption of the marinade.

2. Salt and pepper both sides of the chops.

3. Rub the herbs and garlic into both sides of the chops.

4. Pour the olive oil and lemon juice into a large ziplock bag and mix.

5. Add the seasoned chops to the bag and gently coat each chop in the liquid.

6. Refrigerate overnight.

Citrus vinaigrette

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon pepper

1 teaspoon of minced thyme

1. Mix the citrus juices in a cup.

2. Slowly wisk in the olive oil at first until it becomes emulified with the juice.

3. Continue wisking, adding the rest of the olive oil in more quickly.

4. Add the salt, pepper and thyme.

Yeah, we really had to pat ourselves on the back for coming up with this dish. In its entirety, the dish had a real freshness and balance of flavors. We'll have you know that Mani is awesome behind the grill. The chops took about 4-5 minutes on each side for medium rare. The lamb was tender, juicy and had just the right amount of char and smokiness from the charcoal. The olive oil added to its moistness and the lemon-herb combination really brighted its flavor.

As for the salad, we tossed tender greens -- arugala, spinach and romaine -- with the vinaigrette. Texture and unexpected flavors are the keys to a good salad. We added croutons, glazed walnuts and dried cranberries to bring out the sweetness of the orange juice and to both balance out and compliment the tartness of the lemon in the marinade/vinaigrette. The citrusy flavors of the orange/lemon juice and thyme really brought out the fruitiness of the olive oil. The most interesting aspect of the salad were the little bursts of lime from the minced thyme. All-in-all, the dish took us about 30-40 minutes.

Val & Mani - 2, Lamb - 0.

Finals are upon us, kids. There is much crying to be done before school is through with us. Wish us luck!

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The Cooking Channel: The "New" Kid in Town?

2010-04-22T22:22:00.013-05:00

The other night, we saw a promo on Food Network for a new Cooking Channel, a channel "by food people for food people" as the promo declared. We were intrigued. For its May 31 debut, the Cooking Channel promised programming with an international flare, a premium on food culture and an ethnically diverse cast -- a far cry from Food Network's soccer mom-cooking-out-of-a-box daytime rotation that we have grown weary of.

But how odd, we thought. Why would Food Network advertise its competition? We had to get to the bottom of it all.

Come to find out, Food Network and the Cooking Channel are really nothing more than two peas in the Scripps Network Interactive (SNI) pod. The New York Times took a peek into SNI's programming strategery, finding that execs hope that the Food Network spinoff will be "a little grittier, a little edgier, a little hipper.”

So is this new food channel really just Food Network clothed in American Apparel? Perhaps, but neither of us ever want to see the likes of Michael Symon, Rachael Ray, Emeril Legasse or Bobby Flay in purple skinny jeans and a gold spandex tube top. Each of these Food Network regulars will be unveiling new shows on their sister channel.

At the end of the day, did SNI really need a new channel to launch substantive, compelling food programming? The answer is simply...no. Much to our dismay, Food Network's programming mantra too often has been "out with the old and in with the suck." Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour gave way to What Would Brian Boitano Make? And The Real Chefs of Beverly Hills came on the heels of Mario Batali's contract expiration. Bourdain and Batali, thankfully, have moved onto greener pastures. Bourdain, the epitome of rockstar chef, of course went on to host his widely acclaimed No Reservations on the Travel Channel. And Batali went on to film PBS's Spain ... On the Road Again, accompanied by none other than Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Stipe -- you know, real rockstars. Gritty? -- Check. Thought-provoking? -- Check. American Apparel? -- Not so much. Sucking, in Food Network's estimation, apparently is the easier alternative to creativity and innovation.

The recipe is really pretty simple, Food Network:
A little less suck and a little more Anthony Bourdain.
Kthxbai.

Houston Foodie News

2010-04-19T02:37:00.005-05:00

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is back with its second annual Big Bite Nite, featuring spicy dishes served up by some of Houston's most presigious restaurants. For more details, along with pictures from last year's event, click here...

Last week's Houston Press had a pretty great cover story on the growing number of chefs with serious bodyart, a trend we've certainly noticed watching our weekly foodie television rotation. These are the chefs your grandma warned you about. Read more here...

Crawfish Rolls

2010-04-17T20:18:00.009-05:00

It's that time of year again, indeed one of our favorite times of the year: CRAWFISH SEASON. This year we've gone out for crawfish at least once a week if not more. In our opinion, Pappadeaux's had the best crawfish in town this season and probably gave us the best bang-for-our buck at $3.95/lb. every Monday & Tuesday. Very law student on loans friendly, if we do say so ourselves. Pappadeaux's really packed the punch this year in terms of bold flavor, heat and messiness factor. Every pound of crawfish, in fact, comes equipped with a bib, plastic tablemat and handwipes. No, crawfish is not for the faint of heart (afterall, they do live in the mud) but food is best eaten with your hands. Better luck next year, Wet Spot & Coaches Pub. Picture taken at Pappadeux's.

We also decided to try our hand at a bit of crawfish cooking after watching Alton Brown's "Good Eats" episode on crawfish. Lobster roll, watch out. Mani &Val and your little cousin (literally) from down south are 'bout to rep the Gulf Coast. Behold: The Crawfish Roll. Recipe from an Alton Brown blog.

Two crawfish rolls

8 oz of cooked crawfish tailmeat

3 tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Pinch of kosher salt

1/2 grind of black pepper

New England style hotdog buns, toasted.

Whisk to combine. Should look like a salad dressing.

Fold in the tailmeat.

Augmentation possibilities:

Cut cilantro

Finely diced celery

Finely sliced green onion

Dice ripe avocado

Note: We boiled a few corn and red potatoes in crab boil as a side. (Get it? -- Like a crawfish boil? We're so clever). We also substituted crab boil seasoning for salt/cayenne in the recipe and added chives and avacado into the mix.

Super delicious, quick, inexpensive & easy. You could really taste the crawfish in this receipe. The crunch of the roll itself was a nice contrast to the creamy filling. The light oniony flavor of the chives complimented the squeeze of lemon juice. The potatoes & corn gave off some major heat, reminiscent of a crawfish boil. It was like a crawfish boil in a sandwich.

"Going to the chapel, and we're..."

2010-04-16T14:03:00.019-05:00

It's official: We're getting married on October 29, 2011!!

Our wedding day will mark 3 1/2 years of our togetherness and 2 1/2 years since Mani first proposed. We're so stoked.

The ceremony will take place at the Chapel of St. Basil, one of Houston's architectural gems.

Front.

Back: The newly built prayer garden where a mariachi band and servers who'll be handing out champagne will greet guests at the close of the ceremony.

Then it's on to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for our reception. We rented out the entire first floor. That includes the Paleontology, Chemistry and Energy Halls. We chose the museum because: 1. we love knowledge and learning, and what better way to celebrate your wedding than to be surrounded by things and people you love? And 2. seriously, we've been bored out of our minds at most weddings we've been to in our lives. We didn't want to do the same old song & dance (pun intended) and wanted to make this a night for all to remember. So bust out your fancy pants, folks, because it's going to be a dino Halloween wedding!

By day...

By night...

I've never really been into frilly, dramatic gowns, so I'm opting for a more non-traditional wedding dress that I can feel comfortable in the entire day but that will still be a show-stopper. My ideal dress will be short and a happy mix of fashion-forward and old Hollywood. Right now, I'm in LOVE with Amsale Aberra's "Little White Dress" line. Here are some of my favorites from the collection:

And it's been written. I'll be donning a birdcage veil on our big day.

Mani's wants that day are pretty simple, him being a dude and all. He doesn't care what kind of flowers we have or what the centerpieces look like. He just wants to know what time everything is so he can show up. He also wants to try his very best to look James Bond-esque when he does make his appearance, which means a very tailored tux with a classic look and feel.

Val won a Look 10 Award!

2010-04-13T12:00:00.011-05:00

A big thanks to Look 10 for giving me a Look 10 Award!

You guys rock!

...and now back to your regularly scheduled program: "Final Exams and Tears."

Hello, blog world!

2010-04-11T12:57:00.004-05:00

-Acquisitions from Central Market's "Citrus Festival"-

Texas grapefruit, honey tangerines, blood oranges and a Hand of Buddha.

We started this blog originally as a hobby and to act as a sort of online scrapbook of our recent cooking and dining adventures. While it's been a challenge to update as regularly as we'd like due to our school and work schedules, it's been a fun and much needed reprieve from the constant grind of law school. We both work very hard at succeeding professionally, but we've found that all "the little things" we enjoy -- whether it's food, fashion, music, politics or travel -- are what life really is all about (hence the name of our blog).

Law school is almost over for the both of us, so we think we'll be able to devote a little more TLC to our blog. Mani is graduating from law school this year (yay, Mani!) and landed himself a fancy new job as an environmental attorney. Val will be clerking for a couple of federal agencies this summer and will be entering her final year of law school this fall.

We are excited about our futures but equally excited about 'officially' entering the blog world. We finally joined the ranks of Bloglovin' and other blogging communities (so follow us, yo!).

Hello, blog world!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T13:39:00.001-05:00

Mani's never had an Easter basket, so I surprised him with one this year.

Easter themed flowers.

Spring Break 2010 Destination: San Francisco

2010-03-17T10:29:00.019-05:00

We've been highly anticipating our trip to SF for months now. It's probably our most favorite city in the nation with its coastal view, perfect weather and healthy living. Val got a chance to visit her former UC Berkeley campus for the first time in almost ten years, and yes, we indulged ourselves in the city's culinary offerings. Oh, how we ate.

Day 1: North Beach & Fisherman's Wharf

Sotto Mare in North Beach has some of the best cioppino in San Francisco. The dish originally kept warm hungry Italian fishermen on the high seas in the late 1800s. North Beach, until the 1980s, had traditionally been known as the 'Little Italy' of San Francisco. Too bad that our hotel didn't provide us with a topographical map of the city because we chose possibly the steepest route we could to find get to this place. The workout certainly helped our appitites, though! The broth was rich and complex and tasted as if it'd been simmering for an entire day, so it was a wonder that the chef literally prepared our meal in 20 minutes or under. The seafood was fresh and its tenderness provided a nice texturural contrast to the crusty bread we used to sop up that amazing broth.

Fresh dungeness crab, clams, squid, shrimp and scallops.

Sourdough crab.

"Oh, helllll no, you didn't just try to take my sourdough..."

Dude. The mirror maze at the Fisherman's Wharf is a trip. They give you a pair of latex gloves because it's that much of a mindfuck. So much that there's a very good chance that you'll smack right into a wall and smudge up the fun for everyone else. Our advice? Tread carefully.

Tasting California wines. On a side note, have y'all seen "Bottle Shock"? You should. It's a pretty good film about the day that California wine matched French Wine.

You Cali folks is crazy. In n' Out is not big pimpin'. Can we say McDonald's big brother? Pass.

Day 2: Union Square, Berkeley, the Mission

Union Square

Wow, public transportation in SF is the shit. We didn't have to drive once. We either walked, took the BART or a streetcar and maybe a taxi here or there. We wished we could SF's public transportation home with us to Houston. Maybe then Houstonions could shed that much needed pound or three.

Shopping in Union Square. We thought we'd go more ape shit than we actually did; we came back with one shopping bag a piece. The Zara was ginormous, and the H&M was overwhelming. Self-restraint = $ in the bank.

Crazy flowers straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

-Berkeley-

So when Val was a student a UC Berkeley, the question was: Blondie's or Fat Slice? Val was always a Blondie's fan, but her time at Berkeley was almost a decade ago. Was she merely glorfying the Blondie's experience in her own mind or was it really just that good? We took the BART to Berkeley and found out for ourselves. We brought our slices of goodness up to the UC Berkeley Campanile, which was Val's favorite place to study or nap back in the day.

Blondies?or Fat Slice?

Definitely Blondie's. Thin, crispy crust, sweet sauce. Sorry, Dawn!

Blondies:

Fat Slice:

We capped off the night by meeting Andy in the Mission for fancy beers and drunken talk about politics and how much James Cameron's "Avatar" blows. (We're glad you agree with us, Andy). Then, armed with a couple of 40s, Andy took us up on top of a hill to see an amazing view of SF at night. Straight gangsta.

Day 3: Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge & Chinatown

The next day, we were pretty hungover and craving something greasy. Seeing as our hotel was in the Fisherman's Wharf, it was fairly easy to succumb to one of the many tourist traps set up around our lodgings. And we did. In our case, we fell prey to the street seafood vendors on the Wharf. While the shrimp roll and fried clams/shimp pictured here look pretty damned good, they were really very bad. They'd probably been sitting out for a while because all were fishy tasting :(. Just say no to Fisherman's Wharf tourist traps, kids. Try your local Long John Silver's for better sea fare.

The seagulls seemed to enjoy our food, though.

Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world.

View of SF from atop Lombard.

We thought it would be romantic to walk across the Golden Gate at sunset. Little did we know that there aren't any taxis on the other end. Of course we figued this out 1.4 miles later across the bridge. We ended up having to call one over from Sausalito, walking beside for the freeway for a while, and meeting the taxi at the next exit. Think Frogger. The view was stunning, though.

Windy.

Remember...there is hope.

Chinatown. Musicians outside our Hong Kong restaurant.

Prawns and vegetables in a nest.

Day 4: Muir Woods & Sonoma Wine Country

Muir Woods really blew us away. Its one of the last surviving old growth redwood forests on the Pacific Coast and is dedicated to the legacy of John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. This is totally an understatement, but these trees are enormous! Adult trees can grow to be as much as 2.5 times taller than the Statue of Liberty. They've adapted to absorb moisture from the Pacific fog directly through their needles. An adult tree in fact can absorb as much as 1500 gallons of water per week.

This redwood lived an entire century!

Sonoma

After visiting the vineyards of Sonoma County, considered the birthplace of wine in California, we found ourselves wanting to quit law school and work as field hands. This is the Larson Family Vineyard. We purchased their award winning Pinot Noir, which was our favorite wine of the entire day:

"Our Carneros Pinot Grigio is a crisp, clean, dry style of Pinot Grigio. The grapefruit, green apple, and white peach aromas are complemented by fresh citrus, peach, grapefruit, honeydew melon and lime flavors. The cool Carneros climate produces a naturally balanced wine which will age well in years to come. Enjoy this wine with all foods; it is outstanding, fresh and clean. No oak, no ML fermentation."

Bread. Pudding. Enough. Said.

Amazing Indian food with Andy at Dosa in the Mission.

Dosas as long as your arm!

Spring as arrived...

2010-03-13T10:15:00.002-06:00

And so has Spring Break. Thank you, baby Jesus. First stop: Val's brother's house for the Pacquiao fight and crawfish boil.

Silence & Noise vest, A&F tube, F21 shorts, Zara booties, Coach bag.

I absolutely love this bag. I bought it last fall and now that spring is in town, I wear it with everything. I grew tired of lugging around giant totes everywhere and struggling to find my cell phone or wallet, and I've found this bag to be the perfect size. It adds a nice pop of color to every spring outfit too.

Zara booties that Mani *gasp* picked out for me.

Yes. I am obsessed with these shorts. I haven't been able to take them off since I got them.

Grilled pork with pesto

2010-03-02T04:39:00.005-06:00

So Mani made quite the investment in our culinary education. He bought us the book, "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman which teaches you everything from basic knife skills to how to make homemade ketchup. The book is a very easy read and has a number helpful, instructive illustrations. In fact, a number of culinary schools have taken to using the book as their official textbook. Bittman himself has racked up a number of serious media accolades. Mani first read about the book in an issue of GQ Magazine, and we were happy to see Bittman as a first-time judge on Food Network's "Chopped" recently. But we digress...

We tried out a simple pesto recipe from the book this weekend that was pretty darned awesome if we do say so ourselves. We used cassuli pasta, whose many grooves deftly caught all the pesto goodness, and paired it with a charcoal-grilled pork. It's the other white meat.

Miyako: Sushi Pizza

2010-02-17T04:35:00.004-06:00

We took Crystal (Val's best friend) out for her birthday at Miyako, ordered an assload of sushi and talked about how stupid Republicans are. Miyako's sushi pizza was a real show-stopper. The seaweed "crust" was light and crispy and the mixed shrimp and crab topping was succulent and juicy. Talk about eating with your eyes first. Lord have mercy. Miyako is one of our sushi happy hour standards anyways, so we might be a little biased. But their sushi really is pretty amazing.