It’s finally happened.

I’ve met my food match and it’s called Queso Fundido.

I bet you are wondering what exactly Queso Fundido is.  Well, let me tell you, it’s:

Sizzling Chihuahua cheese and Mexican chorizo cooked in a traditional lava stone, served with fresh flour tortillas.

Wow!

For starters, let’s break down my eating habits.  I’m not a girl opposed to eating massive amounts of food (You might recall my fine trip to Arrows).   But this tasty concoction, will burn in my soul as maybe one of the best things I’ll never be able to eat again.  Yes, it was mucho delicious with the caramelized sausage covered with the massive amounts of melted queso.  But, something happened that has never happened to me before.

I’m not kidding….

After two bites I was MUCHO FULLO.  Yes, I was that girl that took two bites and said, “I don’t think I can eat again today.”  Now that I think about it,  it’s been over twelve hours (okay, including sleeping), since I’ve eaten a thing.

That’s some powerful cheese.

I think I could save the world with Queso Fundido.  Everyone gets a little bite and it’ll last them for days!  We could eradicate world hunger by simply serving Queso Fundido.

Queso Fundido… it’s a good thing.

http://agavemexicanbistro.com/

Komali

What: “Contemporary Mexican cuisine”

Where: Uptown Dallas

Komali, Chef Salum’s latest endeavor, opened up fairly recently to provide Dallasites with an authentic Mexican meal.

I had heard of Komali once or twice before (with mixed reviews), but when I saw the deal on Scout Mob for 50% off the bill, I was in. I didn’t even check the prices on the menu before I came in because I knew I’d be getting a great deal anyway. I invited my friend to come along, and we set off for our very first Komali adventure.

This “contemporary Mexican” eatery is located in Uptown in a little strip center that was fairly foreign to us hip and out-and-about young 20-somethings. The outside of the building was sleek and trendy looking, and as she opened the door and headed to the hostess stand, I was immediately cut off by a bus boy waving a towel over his head. I was the one who waited for him to pass before catching up with my friend a few steps ahead of me. I’m not really easily offended, but I didn’t like that the bus boy couldn’t step back for the customer to pass by, much less to enter the building. Oh well. I wasn’t going to give up then.

We were promptly seated at a four-top table. The inside was clean, modern and trendy—a must for an Uptown eatery. I looked around and noticed the place was not bustling, but not quiet. It was an interesting crowd…I felt like many of the patrons represented Dallas’s recent reality shows quite well.

Our waiter brought over the menus and we began perusing the drink menu. There were several eclectic and interesting drinks to choose from, and our waiter was very friendly and answered all of our questions. I went with the Komali margarita and my friend Lisa went with the habanero margarita. We both enjoyed them—but I’d say my margarita was a bit on the sweet side.

We started off with the queso fundido. I had had it before in Mexico, so I knew it was good. Queso fundido, a melted Oaxaca cheese with chorizo mixed in, usually comes very thick and with a side of tortillas to make your own quesadillas. The cheese was good, but when the waiter set the serving fork into the bowl, a pool of grease emerged at the top. Yikes. It was super greasy and a little too melty for queso fundido. I’d much prefer the queso fundido done the right way at Lol Ha in Akumal, Mexico.

For our main dish we shared the filete de huachinango, or the grilled snapper Acapulco style. It came in a tomato-based sauce with a side of grilled veggies and hash browns. Yep, hash browns. I was hungry so I ate most of the hash browns with it, but it was a really strange concept. I don’t know if they ran out of regular potatoes or what. The fish was really good, but the sauce threw me off. It was a pretty heavy dish being a fish entrée, and my general thought was that I could’ve easily cooked that meal myself rather than spending a whopping $18 on it. Good thing we got 50% off, because that meal was way overpriced for what it was.

Finally, dessert time arrived. We held out hope and ordered the crepas de cajeta, or the crepes with goats milk caramel, caramelized plantains and toasted pecans. Hands down the best part of the entire meal. There was a bit of chocolate drizzled on top and plenty of caramel—a great dessert to share.

When the bill came, I showed our waiter my cell phone with the deal on the screen. He was very nice and went back to get us our new bill. The manager came by to greet us and acknowledge the fact that we had come in because of the Scout Mob offer. The bill ended up being $32, but $42 with the tip. It would’ve been double that without the deal—which is an insane amount considering we shared our main dish. Overall, the food was alright, but nothing special. Another thing we were a little let down by? There were no chips/salsa/guac. I understand they’re trying to achieve a more authentic Mexican eatery, but chips are always a must in my book.

So if you’re going to go, hurry up and get your Scout Mob deal. Otherwise, I don’t see myself going back for mediocre food at such high prices.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

One of the great cliche questions of pregnancy is… do you have any food cravings?  People love to ask this, perhaps in hopes of hearing some grizzly sounding combination like, “Oh yeah, I can’t get enough of popcorn drizzled with hot sauce and fish roe…”  Whenever asked this question, my wife would inevitably say, “no, not really,” and for the most part, this was true.  I mean, she never did crave meringues covered in pickles.  And while she did have some food aversions – she couldn’t eat chunks of meat: a roasted chicken, a steak, pork tenderloin, it didn’t matter, if she could see the meat, she couldn’t eat it – they only lasted a couple of months.

In truth, the only thing that my wife wanted with any sort of regularity was cheese, tortilla, salsa, and guac, perhaps with beans and maybe – but not necessarily – meat.  For the first six months of pregnancy, my wife craved those flavors so often that we felt it inevitable that our baby would be come out of the womb wearing a sombrero and shouting, “ole!”  Quesadillas, nachos, those precocious little tacos from Hernandez, those insanely inexpensive burritos from Hernandez, the uniquely awesome huaraches from Hernandez (heck, I’m pretty sure a paper towel would taste good from that quaint little strip mall kitchen), basically any combination of beans, guacamole, cheese, and salsa would satiate her inevitable “mexican” cravings (yes, I realize that Hernandez is not capital “M” Mexican, but rather Central American, but bear with me), all of which suited me just fine.  Because, while I might not be pregnant, I love any sort of “mexican,” whether it be the Good (the aforementioned Hernandez), the Bad (Cafe Mexico), or the Ugly (frozen burritos bought from 7-11 – I’m kidding, I never eat those).

So, for a couple of months, we ate the following meal so often that I really was starting to wonder if my wife was going to give birth to a small, bald, mexican boy – which surely would have caused some awkward questions in the delivery room – but, fortunately, she gave birth to a perfect, diminutive me, which is good, because it means we can continue to enjoy… Pork Queso Fundido, with Cinnamon Chili Black Beans, guacamole and homemade heirloom tomato salsa.

Pork Queso Fundido

• One poblano pepper.
• 2 serrano peppers.
• 2 jalapeno peppers.
• 2 green onions.
• a small bunch of cilantro.
• a clove of garlic.
• A pound of ground pork (or turkey).
• 1 yellow onion.
• 3 Tbs. Beer or white wine (I’m usually drinking something like Driftwood’s Fat Tug IPA, so that’s what I use, but whatever you’re drinking will work).
• 2 C Spinach leaves chopped.
• 1 C Monterey Jack.

(Note: I like this dish fairly spicy, if this is too much heat for you, swap OUT the roasted serrano and roast one of the two jalapenos instead, and if it’s not hot enough, then swap IN a serrano for one of the jalapenos)

Queso Fundido is Spanish for melted cheese (although I’m relying on the internet for that information, so for all I know it could actually be Spanish for “the guy writing this is a moron…”) and this recipe, inspired by the fabulous Rick Bayless is a spicy pork and cheese dish that works great as an appetizer with tortilla chips, or as a filling for soft tacos, or – in our case –  as the meat portion of my Satiating the Pregnancy Craving Burritos.

To begin:

• Rub a poblano and a serrano pepper with a little olive oil, then put them on an old pie plate under the broiler on high.  Turn every 5 minutes, or after the flesh of the peppers has burned.
• While the peppers are roasting, roughly chop two green onions, a small bunch of cilantro with half the stems, two jalapeno, and a clove of garlic.
• When the peppers have finished roasting, put them in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave them for five minutes until they’re cool enough to remove the skins and insides.
• Combine the roasted peppers and all the other ingredients in a food processor and blast until they have been obliterated into a smooth paste.
• Dump the pureed, spicy goodness in with the pork, stir it all up and allow everything to come together for an hour or two (note: In all honesty, I generally let this come together for about 53 seconds, but hey, that’s me…).

• Slice the onion and saute it in a tablespoon of canola oil.
• When the onion is starting to soften, add the pork mixture and keep moving it around your pan until all the meat is broken up.  Keep cooking until the pork is cooked.
• Add the beer and cook for one minute.
• Add the spinach and stir it in to the dish.
• Turn off the heat and then add the cheese and stir it in (the heat of the mixture will be more than enough to melt the cheese, so don’t worry about it).

Cinnamon Chili Black Beans

Literally translated, La Parranda means ”The Binge”. We did the name proud.

While roaming around the city, we had wandered past it many times. It seemed like your average, touristy kind of place…nothing to write home about. In the evening, however, it gave off a totally different vibe.

In Mérida, on the weekends at dusk, they close off many streets around the central square allowing the restaurants to spill out onto the sidewalks and beyond. It makes for a whole lot more ambiance.

The place has a load of kitsch about it…typical Mexicana abounds. The enormous sombreros are brought out with mock rifles so the customers can pose for cheesy photo-ops. After a few tequilas and Margaritas, it’s hard to resist.

The well-stocked bar that was responsible for this bout of silliness….

A nicely varied menu…some touristy favorites, but quite a few regional specialties. No idea why we didn’t grab some of the ”Mayan’s Cuisine”. Great reason to hurry on back!!

Panuchos are similar to tacos with two exceptions. The corn tortillas are fried until crisp then stuffed with re-fried beans. These are topped with shredded turkey, lettuce, tomato, pickled onion and avocado. With a tangy splash of salsa roja, these are sensational. A superior version of the taco, I must say.

Since my visit last year I’d been craving the Especial Charros .

Beans, al Pastor and healthy portion of ooozy Queso Blanco.

This here spoonful is one thing that makes the journey so very worthwhile. Best bowl of pork and beans…ever!!!

The Fajitas Caribbean was a solid plate…a very ample combo of chicken, beef and prawns served almost sizzling. They were sizzling awhile, but sat for some time while the servers figured out their destination.

Another favorite here is Queso Fundido. This could be translated as “Cheese Fondue”, but it simply means “melted cheese”.

The use of Queso Oaxaca here is perfect…sort of like mozzarella but a touch saltier, an excellent “melting” cheese. With a good and greasy, slightly spicy chorizo, this was a fantastic dish on it’s own. Wrapped up in a fresh corn tortilla and a hit of pico de gallo …even better.

The neat, little ”cornitos” made for a couple of great side-bites.

Following along in the ”cheese and tortilla” theme are the Nachos Con Pollo. Not much to be said here…this is just a big ol’ hefty plate of nachos with a gut-load of moist, grilled chicken. A huge portion…at about five bucks…huge value.

A duo of salsa, roja y verde, kicked things up quite well.

One of the things La Parranda does well is their table-side cookery. From flambéed steak and/or prawns to Crêpe Suzette, it’s always good entertainment!

The downside here is that this we didn’t order this. An adjacent table got all of it. A great spectacle, nonetheless.

For your tequila selection, might I recommend my dear friend, Señor Don Julio.

If you can get your hands on a bottle of Don Julio Reposado, you will be a very, very happy person. This is nowhere near yur average tequila. It has a rich creaminess to it…almost like caramel. If you simply shoot it you’re missing so much flavour. Deep, rich and very, very smooth. A excellent ”lingering” tequila, comprenda?

Down in Mexico, it’s thirty dollars, or so. Up here in Vancouver you’re looking at close to a hundred for a twenty-sixer. That’s a seventy dollar savings on every trip. You can’t afford not to visit!!

If you’re ever down Merida-way, be sure to stop in and prepare to binge…

Lolita Cocina opened at about 7pm on Friday, the very hour their liquor license went into effect. After two weeks of delays, Lolita was ready to go and it didn’t take very long to fill up, the place was packed all night. My friends and I went for a later dinner around 10pm and they were still on a wait.

Lolita is very different from its former inhabitant Pappa Razzi. Its got a lounge / nightlife feel with dim red lights, red wall paper and open standing space for a bar scene to take place after the dinner rush. Since they are open until 2, I have no doubt in my mind the bar will be packed until close every weekend.

To start the meal our server brought out a smoking dish of grapefruit. Then he poured a splash of tequila on top of it. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but apparently it’s meant to cleanse your palate. Confused? A little, but the smoke was cool. The grapefruit was frozen, still a little confused, but my palate did feel cleansed.

They brought a trio of salsas to start (pictured below): a traditional red salsa, a green tomatillo salsa, and a aioli / piquante type salsa. I really liked all three, but the tomatillo wins. Our server also brought us a bottle of mango habanero hot sauce and made sure to warn us that it was extremely hot. It was a hit, we put it on everything and talked about buying a jar of it.

Clockwise from top left: Tomatillo Salsa | Queso Fundido | Salsa Trio | Mango Habanero Sauce | Guacamole Picante

Lolita offers 4 different kinds of guacamole, we got the Picante which has hell’s chile oil, and fresh hot green chiles. Loved the guac, it was really spicy! To make things evern more interesting, we put the mango habanero salsa on the guac – that turned out to be a mistake for some people who couldn’t handle the heat.

Now for the highlight of the meal, queso fundido: bubbling hot asadero cheese & chorizo sausage, roasted poblano chiles & mushrooms, cilantro pesto. Oh yes. This was unreal, and BONUS: it was four times as big as I thought it was going to be. Queso fundido, it’s time for your close up…

There are no words

For side dishes we went 100% corn. Not sure how that happened, but I have no complaints. The Iron Pan Cornbread with roasted garlic sauce was buttery, a tiny bit spicy and a good size to share. We also got the Zocalo Corn: grilled corn brushed with chipotle crema, chile powder, cotija cheese & black pepper. Delicious. It reminded me of Toro’s corn – but more Mexican than Spanish.

Iron Pan Corn Bread | Zocalo Corn

The Tortilla Soup was great too. The flavor of the broth was excellent, I was instantly addicted. My only complaint is there was not enough broth in comparison to the mountain of tortillas, but aesthetically it worked.

For an entree we got the Carnitas (pictured below): crispy slow cooked pork, salsa verde & red onion radish escabeche. The pork was very tender, no need for a knife, it just separated with the touch of a fork. The sauce was great, almost like an enchiladas verde sauce (but better) and the greens had an unexpected burst of flavor. For some reason, a couple of my friends didn’t love the Carnitas, but I did!

Clockwise from left: Carnitas | Tortilla Soup | Slow Cooked Brisket Tacos

My favorite entree was the Slow Cooked Brisket Tacos: pulled, with a shot of ‘gravy.’ The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the gravy sauce had an insane flavor. It was like traditional gravy with a mexican twist. The tacos are great to share, a ton of food and perfectly separated portions. Slow Cooked Brisket Tacos, it’s time for your close up…

Probably should have saved this goodie for Food Porn Friday, but I just couldn’t wait!

We were so full and decided not to order dessert, but Lolita gives complementary green apple cotton candy (covered in pop rocks!!) to every table.

I really didn’t like the flavor of the cotton candy, it was too sugary for me, but a lot of my friends loved it. It was devoured pretty quickly regardless of food comas.

Lolita’s drink menu has everything from Margaritas to Sangria to Mojitos and hundreds of different types of tequila. We tried the Lolita Margarita: sauza ‘100 years’, patron citronge, fresh lime, cane syrup, squeeze of grapefruit. This was excellent but its hard for me to understand the $12 price tag. Maybe if it was big, but its tiny! I thought the food prices were very reasonable given quality – but the margaritas are too expensive. We also tried the Diablo Margarita ($13?!): lunazul reposado, luxardo triplum, serrano chile, blood orange, pineapple & strawberry. AMAZING (but…$13).

We also tried a pitcher of the Rojo Sangria towards the end of the meal (red wine, jamaican tea, gran marnier, gold rum, canela, star anise, cherries and fresh citrus rojo). This was pink (not red) and tasted more like iced tea or juice than sangria. It was good, very light and refreshing – but it wasn’t really what we had in mind when ordering red sangria. We didn’t even think there was red wine in it, but our waiter told us that there was. Weird.

Bravo to Lolita. Usually first nights are a disaster, but they pulled it off with flying colors. Service was a 7 out of 10 – rough around the edges, but I’m positive it will improve as they get used to the space. I’m officially obsessed with Lolita and will be going back VERY often to try everything on that menu.

•••

So, last night we made tortilla pizzas, custom-made to our own tastes. Christian had an asadero (In case he didn’t have quite enough in the queso fundido!)/chorizo/spring onion/serrano pizza. I had an asadero/chorizo/cilantro/serrano/black trumpet mushroom pizza. I simply put the toppings on the tortillas and put them in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. The flour tortillas make a great, crunchy crust, and hold the toppings very well. Cheap but delicious flat-bread pizza. We had salad on the side, filled with bok choi, DARK green lettuce, spring onions, Daikon radish, tomato, serrano, carrot and cucumber.
It’s about time for lighter, “colder” meals. The temperatures are soaring here in El Paso, and my waistline’s expanding. I’m craving lots of vegetables, cold soups like vichyssoise or gazpacho, and even my Cafe Americano cravings are going away. Does anyone have a cold soup recipe that they turn to when they want to eat light and keep cool?
In the meantime, I’ll just finish up my raw oatmeal/pear/raisin/milk/honey breakfast bowl, yet another cup of steel-strong coffee, and suck in my stomach as I surf expedia.com for trips to Munich. I know I just got back from NYC last week. But man, I need a vacation!!!!!

Cuisine – Mexican
Approx 4099 W. Broad (in the strip mall at the corner of W. Broad & Georgesville Rd.)

Click here to map it!

We’d been to Restaurant Karla (then called Cenduria Karla) when it was located on Sullivant Ave., and liked it a lot.  More recently, Lydia from Los Potosinos suggested that she thought it was the best sit-down Mexican restaurant in town. Basically, we had high expectations for this place… and that can often lead to a bit of a letdown, even when good.

But not in this case.

As you might guess from the photo above, these guys are in transition.  They’ve only recently moved into their new space and haven’t yet sprung for appropriate exterior signage.  Look for the banged up El Huarache sign, and you’ll find them below it.

Belying any expectations gleaned from the exterior, the interior of this place is clearly no afterthought.  It’s quite the elaborate set-up, actually, including a performance stage and what we took to be a small dance floor.  We assume it was largely inherited from the former tenants, but nonetheless, it’s a surprisingly complete and highly detailed space with a caballero theme and loads of Mexican character.

Service is similarly well thought-through.  Our server was efficient, pleasant, and attentive without being the least bit overbearing. When we asked for queso fundido for our app and the molcajete for two, her nod and quick wink suggested we must’ve ordered well (or perhaps just less predictably than the average gringo?)

Chips and a fresh, mild salsa kept us occupied until the app arrived.  Queso fundido (above) is basically a dressed-up melted cheese dip, and as far as such things go, it definitely satisfied.  The cheese was tangy and perhaps tinged with garlic (think Mexican fondue), and the generous quantities of chorizo spiced it up nicely.  When it arrived, the large portion size prompted us to agree that we weren’t going to eat it all for fear of not being able to stomach the main course. That turned out to be a tough promise to keep…

…and then ¡holy molcajete!

The name of this dish refers to the stone pot it comes in… you can barely see it in the photo, but it’s under there.  It’s been heated up to keep the food warm, and filled with a staggering assortment of vegetables and proteins, including nopales (cactus), onions, jalapenos, beef, ham, chicken, chorizo, and several large shrimp. A plate with beans, rice, guacamole, and lettuce accompanied, as did some fantastic warm, homemade tortillas.  Seasonings on all were nicely (but not aggressively) spicy and the properly cooked shrimp and moist chicken were the standouts among a nice range of options.  As the photos adequately suggests, portions were generous and doggie bags were a must.

While there are certainly meat-free dishes, strict vegetarians should be wary (as with most Mexican restaurants) – even meat-free options often include lard, chicken broth, or the like.  Pescetarians should be able to find contentment in Karla’s reasonably large seafood offering.  Regardless of diet, its unlikely that a dining duo would leave with a tab much larger than our $26 bill.

Karla also offers a popular $6.99 daily special that comes with soup, various weekend specials, and is open for breakfast.

Carnival Splendor was docked in our lovely city yesterday, and boy oh boy do they know how to have fun!  We had everything in this bunch, young and old (can I say that?!), Americans, Canadians, drinkers, non-drinkers but they all had one thing in common…they all wanted to simply enjoy themselves and enjoy their time in Mazatlan.

I have to share the story of the three couples, none of whom knew each other…but by the end of the tour, were best friends!  One was from Alabama, the other Vegas (woohoo! go Vegas) and the other from Oklahoma.  Two of the fellas were in the Airforce so we made them come up and sing their Airforce song…10 points for getting up in front of everyone and giving it a go…but only 3 points for singing off key hahaha!  Good job guys.

As always, we started with our Margaritas, and Billy (he’s the one with the white head thing!) informed us he had never made a Margarita, let alone tried one, so how exciting to be the first to give him that experience!

As the day progressed, their table got louder and louder, which was really quite entertaining for everyone else.  We certainly hope you all find each other once you get back home – finding people you get along with is hard to do, but both Leonique and I have many many overseas friends and we both truly love staying in touch with them all.

We had a great recipe idea from one of the passengers yesterday.  I’m pretty sure his name was Nick, but don’t hold me to that!  Anyway, Nick suggested we put up a recipe for Queso Fundido (Mexican Melted Cheese).  We thought what a great idea, so here it is:

Serving Suggestion

QUESO FUNDIDO A LA SALSA AND SALSA

Ingredients:

1 lb Chihuahua Cheese, or Oaxacan Cheese or Monterrey Cheese (If you do not have access to a local Mexican grocer, Mozarella works just as well)

1 Poblano Chile, finely chopped, seeded

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 lb Fresh Mushrooms, stem removed, cap quartered

You will need:

Molcajete and Manita (Mexican Mortar and Pestle – available for purchase on http://salsaandsalsa.com)

Frying Pan

Oven

Cutting Board

Sharp Knife

• In a skillet or frying pan, heat on low 1/2 tsp of oil.  Fry garlic and poblano until garlic begins to brown.  Remove from heat.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (185 degrees C)
• Add to your Molcajete and mush till it becomes a paste.
• Add the remaining oil and mush for one minute.
• In skillet, or frying pan, add mushrooms and fry for 10 mins.  Remove from heat and set aside.
• Add cheese to Molcajete and mix into chile and garlic paste.
• Place Molcajete into oven and allow cheese to melt (about 10-15 mins)
• Remove from oven (be careful, will be very hot!) and serve immediately.

**If you have a broiler, place Molcajete under broiler for 5 mins or until golden on top.  Also, if you’re feeling creative, fry up some bell pepper and onions and serve on top (see picture!)  YUM!  Serve with warm tortillas and your favorite salsa!  Enjoy! **

Let us know what you think of the recipe!  Request your recipe or share your recipe with other fellow Salsa and Mexican cuisine lovers! We’ll take great joy in sharing your family recipes…but make sure you send us your photo, we have to put a face to the recipe! 

Now I’m hungry… off to the kitchen!

Saludos,

Pamela Hormazabal

(Dancing Chef)

At any rate, I asked a couple of Meridaians (is that a word?) where they go for Queso Fundido. A waiter at one restaurant mentioned a place that my mom and step-dad have been to. Then, when we were at Mayapan, there was a small group of college students touring archeological sites and their local guide was from Merida. So, I asked him and he said, “go to El Fogoncito“. So, that’s where we headed.

Turns out that there are two El Fogoncito’s in Merida, so we went to the one closest to my mom’s house. Much to our disappointment it was located in a brand new modern mall. The atmosphere was so generic we could have been at a TGI Friday’s (turns out that it’s also a major food worldwide food chain, no surprise). No culture whatsoever. But, they do have Queso Fundido con chorizo.

I was a little worried because it was priced about half of what everyone elses entrees were. Was this a meal or an appetizer? When it showed up it was a small earthenware dish filled with melted cheese, chunks of chorizo, and a couple of flour tortillas. It was definitely not a main dish. It was, however, absolutely delicious! I mean, let’s be honest here, it was melted cheese and chorizo. I scarfed that thing down like it was nothing. Since it was an appetizer I was still hungry afterwords.

Seeing that they served Tacos al Pastor, I really had no choice but to order a couple. Not quite as good as the one I ate at the San Benito Market, but still pretty good. These were served more traditionally with onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and a slice of pineapple.

With plenty of room in my belly for dessert I also had to order the flan. This one was clearly not as good as the flan I had in Cozumel’s Sabores. You could definitely taste the love put into that homemade flan that this one lacked as this one was more mass-produced. The texture was a little more jelloey than flan should be and I’m not a big fan of the maraschino cherry on top (save that for lame cocktails), but overall it wasn’t that bad.

I didn’t get the dish I was after, but that was no one’s fault but my own. I guess I’ll have to bother the hell out of my mom about it again next time I’m in Merida. Sorry mom.

Downtown Bloomington, photo by Chauncey Davis

If you were tasked with assembling an all-star team of restaurants in your area, what would that team look like? What’s the go-to breakfast joint? Or how about that lunch spot that delivers in the clutch, every single time? And dinner? If I’m living in the Bloomington-Normal area, here’s my juggernaut of a lineup:

Breakfast
Coffeehouse & Deli
114 E. Beaufort St.
Normal, IL

This is the coolest place in uptown Normal. I’m selecting it as my breakfast joint, but it’s a great place to chill at any time. It has a substantial selection of coffees from around the world and serves breakfast all day in addition to the lunch and dinner specials. Plus, the atmosphere is really unique and is a great fit for group meetings, or just one-on-one chats.

Lunch
Meatheads
305 N. Veterans Pkwy., Ste 107
Bloomington, IL

Meatheads is a small Illinois chain with locations in Bloomington, Naperville and Northrbook. It also happens to be home to some of my absolute favorite burgers and fries. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say it’s my favorite lunch spot – anywhere. The service is speedy and in no way compromises the presentation and more importantly, taste, of the burger. I’ve never had a burger there that doesn’t look commercial-ready, and it tastes better than it looks. That, combined with some Cajun fries and their zesty cheese sauce, makes for the ultimate lunch. The sub-$10 bill takes it to a whole new level.

Dinner
Reality Bites
414 N. Main St.
Bloomington, IL

There aren’t a ton of tapas places in central Illinois, so it helps that this is a good one. The menu isn’t huge, but what’s on it is great. I’m especially a fan of the hot plates. The Queso Fundido (tortilla chips, pico de gallo, guacamole and baked beer cheese with chorizo and melted chihuahua cheese) is stellar, as is the spinach artichoke dip. It’s definitely my favorite dinner date in Bloomington-Normal, especially if I’m in the getting-to-know-you stage. It’s casual but classy, modern but not over-the-top, and it gives you a chance to share a variety of dishes at a reasonable price. The drink selections are outstanding, too.

So, what does your all-star restaurant team look like?

– Nick Nottoli

Apparently I don’t know how to walk down a short flight of stairs because Saturday morning, sober as a judge, I was walking down crzybeautifullife’s front stairs and my legs decided to not work. So nearly 4 weeks later, I still have a huge reminder on the front of my shin.

I really have a lack of new material from this trip, and I would like to say that it was because we “laid low,” but that was not the case at all. But the things that we were doing were mostly local stuff. A trip to Milwaukee to see the Braves beat the Brewers, Wicker Street Park Festival and whatnot.

I will mention that, as I fell down the stairs, we were on our way to the Cortiva Institute to get one-hour student massages for $40 and they completely rocked. I wish we had a Cortiva institute in Atlanta.

The purpose of this blog is really just to highlight our trip to Topolobampo on North Clark Street. At the demand of one of my travel snobs, we walked from the Cortiva Institute to Topolobampo for lunch. (Well, brunch really). And we were not disappointed. “Topolo” is part of the Frontera Kitchens group which focuses on farm raised yada yada and organic blah blah blah, supporting local farms, you know the drill. We walked into a packed restaurant and were told that it was going to be an hour and 45 minute wait. We sat ourselves at a crowded bar and hunkered down. But then some people that came to the bar afterward were paged within 5 minutes of arriving. So we opted to put our name on the list and, sure enough, were paged 5 minutes later. Score!

Since we had just gotten morning massages, and were in the middle of a 7 mile walk, we kept up with the clensing, “detox” mentality and skipped the alcohol. We opted instead for fresh squeezed juices. YUM. And this is where my first disappointment comes in. Riddle me this, Batman:  They had fresh orange juice. They had fresh pineapple juice. They had fresh lime juice. They EVEN had pineapple/lime juice. SOMEBODY please tell me why they refused to serve me an orange/pineapple juice. Anybody?  ANYBODY?   Charge me ten dollars. I DON’T CARE. Just give it to me.

We started with the Queso Fundido Classico hoping that it would be, well, queso. And it was. Sort of. It was baked cheese. I think what we both wanted then was fake mexican food. Something that we could scoop up with tortilla chips. What we got was a small baked dish of congealed cheese with small tortillas. Voila! Cheese taco. Bleh. I have to say though, that crzybeautifullife was very upset. And I don’t blame her. The poor girl can’t find real, fake-mexican queso anywhere in Chicago. What is a girl to do!?!  I would fly to Texas just to fulfill the craving. Oh wait…….

I had the Tacos Al Carbon. And this is how it is printed in the menu:

Tacos Al Carbon wood-grilled meat, poultry, fish or mushrooms sliced and served with roasted pepper rajas, two salsas, frijoles charros, guacamole and homemade tortillas

This is where my second (and last) moment of confusion came about. Same scenario: They have steak. They have chicken. They have fish. And they have mushrooms. Could someone please explain to me why they would not sell me Tacos Al Carbon with 1/2 steak and 1/2 mushroom? I didn’t even get a “let me check with the chef,” I got a flat out “NO.”  Now, this might just be the financial planner in me, but wouldn’t it be more economical for them to charge me for an order of steak, only give me 1/2 the portion and give me the cheaper mushrooms?  Again, charge me $20 more than the price. I DON’T CARE. Just give me what I want, ok? I mean, I wasn’t asking them to go find the rarest white truffle and serve it to me on a platter, right?

Ah yes, one last thing. They gave us 3 different salsas with our cheese tacos. (NO TORTILLA CHIPS, MIND YOU – but salsa nonetheless). Our waiter was telling us about the flavors in his broken English and asked us if we liked hot hot salsa. To which, of course, I replied, “Yes! Bring it on.”  So he substituted out one of our salsas for the hottest thing I have ever put in my mouth. I mean, thank goodness he warned us. All you have to do is put less than what you can hold on the tip of a fork onto your food and your mouth explodes. It was great!  …..until we saw the $2.75 tacked onto the end of the menu.

So I just realized that it sounds like we had a bad experience. On the contrary. Yes, it was a $50 lunch. And yes, the service sucked. And Yes, the waiter and hostess were mentally incompetent. But you cannot go wrong when you have the freshest ingredients and pair good tasting foods together. Aside from the cheese tacos, my meal was D-E-licious.

The house I grew up in still looks the same, minus a few rose bushes. The door is still red, a point of rebellion for my parents in a neighborhood with somewhat draconian deed restrictions. More and more small ranch houses have been replaced by ticky-tacky McMansions, so large that they take up all but a few square feet of the lot they are on. I can never understand that…not wanting a yard of some kind. A lot of people in my neighborhood seem to prefer a stark concrete slab in place of grass or gardens. I mean, who on earth would want to actually tend a GARDEN these days, after all. Vegetables? Fruit? Christ…they sell that shit at the grocery store….all shiny…no worm holes…no bugs…no life.

Houston is almost unrecognizable to me…and to my husband…as evidenced by the fact that we got lost repeatedly this trip. We both grew up here, for God’s sake. I was there for nearly 25 years..my husband longer. At one point, we were leaving Humble after visiting Uncle John and Auntie Tiffany and somehow ended up by the San Jacinto Monument (EAST)…instead of where we wanted to be (WEST).

Sure, the humidity is still there…as are the mosquitoes, as dense as a plague of locusts and the roaches, as big as cats. Every time I go back to visit my family, I search high and low for the Houston I knew as a child…the Houston that pretty much ended at Katy and dissolved into cow pastures with rusted, tin roof shelters. Those cow pastures still exist but you have to go way past Columbus to find them now.

A few great restaurants are gone, namely “La Jaliscience” on Studemont, which everyone just referred to as The Taqueria. It was open until 4am…a great place to fill your gut with spicy Mexican food after a night of drinking too much Shiner Bock. (In a town that completely shut down at 2am, it was much loved among my fellow drunks.) Sean misses “Felix” on Westheimer. There was an extremely cantankerous and senile waiter there called Frank, since passed away, who was only friendly towards him:

Thankfully, though, some of my favorite restaurants still remain. I always have to stop by
Treebeards in old Market Square in downtown Houston. I’ve talked about Treebeards before. See my Treebeards blog from a few years ago. I adore their red beans and rice and their spicy mustard greens studded with sweet, succulent shrimp. It’s a must-visit every time we’re in town. This was Maggie’s inaugural visit, so our niece Brigid and our friend James (aka Jimmy Pineapple) made the trip down for lunch.

We were only in Houston for a few short days at first. Ever since Sean’s family moved up to the Austin area, we’ve been making the 3-hour trip back and forth every visit.

Now, I have been accused (unfairly) in the past of being a food snob. I’m not, I swear. I love all food. I can appreciate any food that is lovingly prepared. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I also have a certain nostalgia for Texas fast food restaurants that don’t exist here in California such as Whataburger,
Taco Cabana and Sonic. (Yes, there is a Sonic near Disneyland but that’s like an hour away….far too long of a journey for a Frito Pie. Plus…the transcendent Frito Pie is probably only a Texas thing.) My husband usually wants to make the trip to and from Austin as quickly as possible, so we usually hit the drive-thrus to eat…which is one of the many reasons why I tend to have an extra 10 pounds to lose when I return to LA. This trip was no different. First stop: Sonic. One of the novel things about Sonic is its quaint carhop service. Just pull up to the menu, and a carhop will skate up to your window to take your order. My usual order? The ultra-healthy, mega-delicious, afore-mentioned Frito Pie and tater tots. I love me a good tot. (Especially when I fry them here at home in duck fat.)

No trip between Austin and Houston is complete without a potty stop at the Weikel’s Bakery, formerly the Bon Ton, in La Grange for Kolaches:

By Kolaches, I mean Klobasnek or Klobasniky, Czech for Pigs-in-the-blanket. (Czech and German people settled here in the Hill Country of Texas in the mid-1800’s.) Klobasniky is the proper term, but the name Kolache is used incorrectly and interchangeably in Houston for the sweet pastries as well as the savory, sausage and cheese-stuffed pastry, probably because no one can pronounce Klobasniky. They both share the same sweet, yeasty pastry, which I think is especially delicious wrapped around a local, spicy jalapeño sausage. Sweet and salty always gets me. The sweet Kolaches:

The savory kolaches (klobasniky):

Well, we loaded up on both styles of Kolaches as well as all sorts of fun Texas treats such as locally made pralines, candied jalapeño’s and German chocolate cake and then we headed north to Georgetown to visit Sean’s folks. A large portion of Sean’s extended Irish family was converging at the Shannon house to witness the coming of Maggie. The youngest of the 8-kid Shannon clan had produced a baby finally. It was a reason to gather, eat and celebrate!

Maggie and her Paw-Paw Shannon:

Maggie with Mee-Maw and Uncle Pat:

Maggie’s cousin Audrey was sooo excited to welcome her to the family:

Maggie fell deeply and immediately in love with her cousin Sean T (aka Pizza Sean):

Auntie Ann and Auntie Cynthia got in some quality Maggie time too:

Then we sat down to a big country dinner of hickory-smoked brisket, macaroni and cheese, and of course, Quad for dessert. Quad is a four-layer dessert that Mee-Maw (aka Big Shirl) makes with a nut crust, cream cheese/whipped cream, chocolate pudding and whipped cream top. I have never made it as successfully as she does it. Big Shirl has some secret-squirrel way of making it heavenly.

If we were ever to move back to Texas, I don’t think I could ever move back to Houston, but I could move to the Hill Country, preferably near Lake Austin. One night, we went to the The Ski Shores Waterfront Cafe to see our friends Stephen Doster
and Bill Carter play an acoustic set right out on the dock. God, that was the quintessential Austin night: The breeze off the lake blowing through my hair…the mineral smell of the water in my nostrils..as if I had wiped out while water skiing and held on to the handle a little too long…the slippery wet condensation on the ice cold beer dripping on my bare legs…lime and salt on my tongue…the bacon cheeseburger with jalapeños so spicy on my lips…..the ski boat wakes splashing up through the dock and soaking my bare toes…the crackle of the order speaker as it drowned out the band…oh wait…I bet Stephen and Bill could’ve done without that part. Yes, I could live around there, definitely….especially if Stephen and Bill were playing the soundtrack:

Alas, it was hard to go back to Houston after that. Not that we didn’t want to see my family, but Tropical Storm Edouard was out in the Gulf of Mexico on a trajectory that would bring the eye straight through the Houston area. There was concern that it would turn into a hurricane, so the whole town was shutting down in preparation…the schools were closed….there was talk of the airports closing and Sean was due to fly out early the next day to get back to work. People were leaving Houston and heading to Austin to escape the storm and we were heading straight into it…with a 7-month old baby.

You sure couldn’t tell it was coming from the looks of the weather. It was a gorgeous day, if a bit hot, as we drove south. The wide Texas sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds. The one-stoplight towns seemed to shimmer in the heat. The hills were all green and rolling. The tin roofs were rusted…

When we returned there was a hushed feeling of impending doom hanging over the city. The air was moist and hot and seemed elelctrically charged. This is the city that took on a lot of the Katrina refugees in 2005 and dealt with Rita a few months later. Houston does not monkey around with hurricanes now. Shit closes down. But since Edouard wasn’t expected to be anything worse than a Category 1 hurricane at its strongest, it just made Houstonians want to party. If people weren’t at grocery stores buying water or boarding up their windows, they were out at restaurants and bars getting loaded. They knew damn well that if this storm turned ugly, they were going to be stuck in close quarters with family, no power and canned food for days, possibly. If that isn’t a reason to drink, I don’t know what is.

Sean and I were no different. We met up with some family at a Tex-Mex restaurant called
Lupe Tortilla. Lupe Tortilla is a wonderful concept if you have a kid. They actively seek out kid business but it’s not a Chuckie-Cheese. It’s an adult restaurant that just happens to have a kick-ass sandpit playground for the kids and tables all around for the parents to hang out and eat great Tex-Mex food and drink strong Margaritas.

I have a great love for Tex-Mex food. I get chicken quesadillas a lot in Texas. There is something very comforting about the simplicity of them. Not that I don’t love things like carnitas and such but in Texas, it’s all about the quesadilla for me. I get more authentic Mexican food here in LA. Tex-Mex is something else. Flour tortillas are more prevalent than corn. The chips are super thin and shatter in your mouth whereas the tortilla chips here in LA have a tendency to be a little more coarse and thick. They have Chili con Queso, which doesn’t seem to have crossed the Texas border at all, as when I ask for it here in LA, people look at me blankly and say: “You want CHEESE?” Yeah…melted cheese…preferably Velveeta with Rotel Tomatoes mixed in. Queso here in LA is invariably Queso Fundido, which is real cheese that is melted in the manner of a fondue. You’ve really got to go with Velveeta for the chile-con-queso in Texas. It is ubiquitous at every Tex-Mex restaurant there.

After hearing the airports might close or have delays, Sean rescheduled his flight for the day after. We ended up hitting yet another Tex-Mex place with our friends Dogman of the band
The Hightailers, his wife Carie and their son Akira. As it turned out, the big hurricane Edouard never was. Not only did it go in to the Northeast of us but it never really strengthened. It just rained most of the day and then the sun peeked through in the evening. The streets didn’t even flood and they almost always do in a bad storm. When we were kids, we used to get excited when our street became a lake when the sewers backed up. We used to swim in it. Can you imagine? We were basically swimming in shit. Of course, we used to follow the mosquito trucks all the time too. It’s a miracle we survived past the age of 10.

Dogman and Sean:

Carie and Maggie:

Maggie to Akira: “Hey, where’d you get your Dylan shirt? I’ve got 3!”

Maggie ‘done wore herself out’ hunkering down in a Mexican restaurant and riding out Tropical Storm Edouard:

The worst part of Tropical Storm Edouard, by my father’s standards, was that they closed the pool and he didn’t get to have his afternoon swim. I am so thankful that it was all nothing. I still remembered riding out Hurricane Alicia, a Category 3 hurricane that hit Houston head-on in August of 1983, when I was just about to start my sophomore year of high school. My father was out of town and my mom barricaded us in a windowless hallway all night. The winds were howling and the house seemed to be heaving great intakes of breath throughout the night. It was pretty terrifying. I kept expecting to be lifted into the clouds like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”.

INTERMISSION

Mee-Maw’s (Big Shirl’s) QUAD:

1st Layer:
1 Cup Flour
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Chopped Nuts

Blend and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

2nd Layer
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Cool Whip

Blend together and spread on crust.

3rd Layer
3 small pkgs chocolate instant pudding
Mix with 3 Cups of Milk
Spread on top of cream cheese mixture

4th Layer
Spread remaining Cool Whip on top of Chocolate pudding.

Ingredients

1 T olive oil

1 large link fresh Mexican chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled

1 medium white onion, cut into thin slivers

2 poblano chilies, roasted and skins removed*, cut into thin slivers

1 can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, drained and diced

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded pepper Jack cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterrey jack cheese

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In a large cast iron skillet (this will help it stay hot and melted for dipping) over medium heat, warm the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the chorizo and saute using the side of a spatula to break up the chunks, until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and chilies saute, stirring, until the onions are soft.

Turn the heat to medium-low and add both cheeses, stirring constantly, until they melt. Add the cream and stir until heated through. Remove from heat but keep in cast iron skillet and serve with tortilla chips and/or warm flour tortillas.

*Note: To roast peppers, broil in oven or place directly over gas flame until skins are charred. Put peppers in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag and set aside for about 10 minutes. Peel the peppers, discarding stems and seeds.