Tres Cochinitos

So many culinary adventures, so little time to blog! That has been the sentiment for me as of late. Two weekends ago, my cousin Jeff made a trip from Santa Barbara with his girlfriend Marisa and her friend Stephanie. They arrived in San Diego Friday evening, and we headed out to dinner downtown. We went to The Yard House and the place was packed with at least an hour wait. Our party of five was too famished to wait so we headed over to Rock Bottom, and fortunately—for our stomachs and our patience—we were seated within 5 minutes on the patio. We could tell that service was not going to be particularly attentive because it was prime dinner time on a Friday night. We all got a variety of beers from their brewery offerings. Mr. Tall ordered a brown ale and I got their honey ale, which I thought was very light and delightful. For appetizers, we all shared Titan Toothpicks, which were smoked chicken, Jack cheese, peppers and onions in hand-rolled, fried tortillas, served with guacamole, sour cream, fresh salsa and, my favorite, Chipotle BBQ sauce. They were fried to a crispy golden brown and were perfect with our beers. Everyone ordered burgers for their entrées, except for me. I ordered one of the specials, which was stuffed portabella. The mushrooms were stuffed with cheese and roasted peppers, and topped with warm diced tomatoes, spring greens, and balsamic vinaigrette. The dish was actually better than I had anticipated. It was quite flavorful and each component went well together. No pictures from this dinner though. I don’t usually frequent Rock Bottom unless it’s Happy Hour, which they have really good deals on beers, drinks, and appetizers. Although their menu isn’t diverse and beer offerings aren’t as extensive as The Yard House, it’s still a pretty fun place to chill out after work.

While my cousin and company went to the Zoo and saw some male-on-male gorilla action, I had to attend a civil litigation seminar for work the entire day on Saturday for the second and last time—thank goodness. We walked around my neighborhood for a bit before decided to get some Chinese for dinner. We got take-out at Taste of Szechuan located on University in the complex next to the entrance of the 163-North. The last time I got Chinese take-out was with the 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club from the less than impressive Hong Kong Restaurant. My roommate Emily was loyal to her favorite of Sweet and Sour Chicken, I ordered the Orange Chicken, Marisa ordered the Walnut Shrimp and Jeff rounded out the meal with Szechuan Eggplant. We share all the entrees along with a large order of half steamed rice and half fried rice. The first thing that I must share about Taste of Szechuan was that the service was very friendly and attentive. Even though we were only ordering take-out, the adorable Chinese gentleman in the front was quite helpful and even joked around with us while we were deciding on the entrées. He also informed us that the Szechuan-style dishes could be made with any spice level that we desire since the Szechuan region is quite known for its spicy tendency. While waiting for our order, we made a quick trip for Stephanie to pick up some pizza from Pizza Nova. I had never been there before, but Stephanie ordered a small Cheese Pizza and seemed to have been satisfied with it. I guess it’s kind of hard to mess up a cheese pizza. I’m not quite sure on how good Pizza Nova is but it seemed to be relatively popular as more of a sit-down place than Bronx Pizza. Anyway, back to Taste of Szechuan. The restaurant itself was rather effortless in its attempt to be contemporary—can you tell that was a sarcastic comment? But who cares about the décor of the restaurant when the food can justify itself. Let's just say that I will be frequenting Taste of Szechuan for my Chinese take-out fix.

Before Jeff, Marisa and Stephanie departed from San Diego, I had to take them to another favorite of me and Mr. Tall: Mama Testa. Mama Testa is a true taco shop. The menu is filled with regional variations of every sort of tacos beyond your imagination from Mama Blanditos or soft tacos to Mama Cesta or steamed tacos. The first thing you would notice once you enter the restaurant is its colorful décor. Red, yellow, and green dominate the unique furniture; napkins at your table are sandwiched between colorful, plastic salt and pepper shakers and macho libre toys. You walk up to the register to order and with your food you get a basket of chips. One of the best things about Mama Testa is its salsa bar. There are always at least a dozen different types of salsas from the favorite with red onion and tomatillo to the more interesting variation of parmesan and peppers, and the mild of mango and papaya. And if you’re like me, you’d go crazy and fill yourself up with condiment cups full of at least half of the salsa bar. The food quickly arrives just before our party gorged ourselves too much with the complimentary chips and salsa.

I convinced Jeff to order my absolute beloved dish: Majados de Carne.
Let me break this down for you:
4 Rolled shredded beef tacos
+ Delicious, spicy beef broth
Topped with onion, cilantro, queso fresco and lime
= Absolute foodgasm
How mouth-watering does that look and sound! I usually overload mine with fresh squeezed lime--I love my limes so leave me alone. Jess ordered De Aire, simple rolled crunchy tacos, and Marisa ordered De Bandera Morena, or rolled shredded beef tacos, all along with the usual fixin's of lettuce, salsa fresca, sour cream and queso fresco.

Mr. Tall usually goes with one of the soft tacos—this time he got the Tres Cochinitos, or carnitas soft tacos. And, of course, I always have to round out my meal with horchatha and his usually with tamarindo. He and I have sampled most of the offerings (except for desserts) and can conclude that practically everything on the menu is tasty.

Well, that's all for the weekend with Jeff and company. My sister is currently visiting this entire week for Thanksgiving, and I will most definitely be blogging about Little Miss's adventures with Pinnerton!

Enjoy,
Little Miss

Cupcake Love

Due to the recent events of birthdays and Halloween, I found myself back in the baking business, which I do not mind at all. Mr. Tall had a Halloween potluck up at his company's headquarter in Tustin, so I volunteered to bake up something for him to bring. I was delighted by the fact that the potluck also entailed a food competition because, as much as I hate to compete, I love the thought of prizes. I had a few cans of pumpkin puree left over from the Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake so I thought I'd bake something that had pumpkin in it. I had found a fantastic recipe on Posey’s Party Cakes's blog of Pumpkin and Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

The recipe was so enticing not only because the cupcakes contained pumpkin but also because Mr. Tall is a big fan of Mexican chocolate. The recipe was simple and combined ingredients that I would have never thought would go together well like pumpkin and Mexican chocolate. The cinnamon cream cheese frosting topped off the soft cupcakes nicely especially with the hint of spice from the Mexican chocolate. I just sprinkled the cakes with shavings of remaining chocolate, and it was ready for the potluck. Unfortunately, the cupcakes didn't win the top prize, but I still thoroughly enjoyed making them. I think I would like to bake up this recipe again because I had read on another entry of Posey's Party Cakes that if you toast the cinnamon before combining it for the frosting that it releases the essential oil of the spice so the cinnamon taste is stronger.

Round two of cupcakes galore was for my co-worker Nishanthi's birthday. She is a self-confessed peanut butter lover. I also knew that she loves Resse's Peanut Butter Cup so I thought what would be better for her birthday than Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting! I found the recipe on the Food Network website. It was so simple and made a perfect batch of 12. The cupcakes combined chunky peanut butter, which gave them a very tasty crunch, and just the right amount of chocolate chips to not be overwhelmed by the rich, chocolaty ganache frosting.

When I was still in school last year, I had a lot more free time and was able to bake quite often. But now that I'm working, all I want to do when I come home is veg out on the couch and get hypnotized by the television. But baking is definitely one of the things I will always truly enjoy. I love cooking and baking for others; I must have gotten that personality trait from my grandma, who would always made sure that our family was always well fed. Like most children, I was a picky eater, and one of the few things that my grandma was able to get me to eat was rice and pineapple. What an odd combination, I know. Interestingly, it's really reflective of the inclination of my taste buds toward things that are sweet and sour.

Anyway, if anyone wants any of the recipes that I have experimented with and can't find them online, let me know and I can post them.

Enjoy,
Little Miss

A Good Year

Last Friday was the big 365-day anniversary for me and Mr. Tall. Pretty exciting, I know. We didn’t really want to do anything grand so we just decided to make a date to Monsoon. Mr. Tall got the idea for Indian food because he had never had Indian food before until last weekend when, on his company field trip, they took everyone to an Indian buffet. And he really enjoyed the food. The first time I had Indian food was actually in Bangkok. During my summer internship a few years ago, a friend of mine’s family manages a hotel in downtown Bangkok. The hotel is noted for its fine royal Indian cuisine (it’s called the Rembrandt Hotel if any of you ever make a trip to Bangkok). From then on, I fell in love with Indian food. I had been hesitant about trying Indian food anywhere else for fear of being disappointed. Until Jess, Mai and I went to Monsoon. We were at a great advantage during that visit because Mai and Jess’s close friend, Michelle, was the head waitress at the time and she pretty much hooked us up big time.

We definitely overindulged on the garlic naan along with the chutney sampler of sweet mango, mint, and raita. We asked Michelle to order for us since she knew the food best. I’m not quite sure what we got, but I believe we had the Murgh Makhani (butter chicken) and a lamb dish.


We ended the meal with mango mousse with strawberry rose sorbet. But the best part was that our dessert spoons were cooled in a small dish of ice and rose water. I hadn’t eaten that much since my girlfriends and I hit up the buffet in Vegas.

After being greeted with a bouquet of colorful daisies (my favorite flower) and even a card, oh my, Mr. Tall and I headed out to Monsoon. I had requested on the online reservation to be seated next to the curtain of waterfall in the middle of the restaurant, and they willingly complied with our request. Mr. Tall and I started with, what else but an order of garlic naan served with a small ramekin of garlic and cilantro chutney. He also got the India Special Reserve Beer and I got my absolute favorite, iced Chai tea. What makes the iced Chai at Monsoon so special is that it is nothing like what you would get at Starbucks or Peet’s. It is real Chai brewed with fresh spices—you can truly taste the blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and of course, the mild heat of the ginger.

For our entrée, we shared the Lamb Vindaloo, which was cooked with a little vinegar with chunks of baby potatoes in a tomato-based curry, and Murgh Tikka Tandoori Chicken, which was marinated in yogurt, ginger, Garam masala, fresh lemon and cilantro. We order the tandoori chicken with a tomato-based sauce that really highlighted the mild and tender chicken. Even though my first visit to Monsoon was very memorable, this visit exceeded my expectations. The Lamb Vindaloo is by far the best dish I had enjoyed there. You can tell the lamb was carefully prepared because the spices really hid the gaminess of the meat, and the curry complemented the tender chunks of meat perfectly. The entrées were served in mini brass pots along with a side of basmati rice. At the end of the meal, I just wanted to pour the rest of the curry on my rice and eat it just like that—it was so good! I am officially declaring Monsoon one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. I will definitely have to check out other Indian joints soon to see how they measure up.

One tip that I’d like to share with diners out there, check out www.opentable.com. I was introduced to it last year when I was making reservations for Top of the Cove during the San Diego Restaurant Week. There are many restaurants in San Diego, which you can reserve for your party through OpenTable. It’s easy to do and you can collect points through your reservations.

You know it’s officially fall when all the bakeries and cafes begin to make pumpkin or maple products. Mr. Tall, for one, is a huge fan of pumpkin. If it’s got pumpkin in it, he’ll eat it. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffin, pumpkin bagel … and if it’s got maple in it, he’ll eat it, too. Maple sausage, maple syrup …
The Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake is probably one of the best recipes that combines his love for these two ingredients coupled with the fact that he really enjoys cheesecakes. So, naturally, I made him a Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake for his birthday. The recipe called for real maple syrup, and I highly recommend investing in a bottle of the Canadian maple syrup goodness. Just a couple dollars more and you get the real maple taste without all the heavy, artificial sweetness.

It was my second attempt at the Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake. I was bummed out because my first "test" round turned out to be better than my second, which saddened me since it was for Mr. Tall’s birthday. It’s pretty bad news when a cheesecake is undercooked. Unlike cakes, in which you can poke a knife and see when it’s done; being an amateur cheesecake baker, I cannot accurately gage when it is done. I am determined to make another attempt at cheesecake—successfully! The cheesecake still tasted good, but quite soft in the center. But, Mr. Tall being the clever man that he is, decided to freeze the cheesecake, and who would have thought ... frozen cheesecake is pretty damn tasty!

For dinner, from one of my favorites on the Food Network, Tyler Florence (I pretty much love him), I got a recipe for his Ultimate Fried Chicken. The chicken turned out slightly more brown than what we would have liked due to the pot that we had used to fry the chicken. We also cooked up mashed potatoes and green beans to go with the fried chicken. The potato ricer came in handy once again, and our mashed potato was even better than the last time. Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I was quite disappointed with the way the chicken looked and the way the cheesecake was undercooked. But, Mr. Tall, being a good sport and appreciative boyfriend that he is, still enjoyed the meal. The fried chicken, overall, had a subtle spice level to it, and soaking it in salt water prior to cooking it helped to maintain that juiciness in the meat. Mr. Tall and I intend to fry up some chicken again, and I am positive that it will be better the next time. This weekend was nearly perfect. I say nearly because, well, it wasn’t as flawless as I had anticipated. But, all in all, I am content because, as Mr. Tall reminded me, it’s the thought that counts.

Enjoy,
Little Miss