1. I would like to apologize for the majority of my blogs being about dessert when this is supposed to be a food blog. I just eat lots of dessert, what can I say?
2. Someone needs to ban me from being able to go look at any food related website. It would really help my eating habits, but I guess then I wouldn't have much to blog about. I guess I just need to find a good balance...
3. I did it. I finally got to try the Hot Brandy Cream Pie from Boston's that I so desired after trying the mousse cake last time. It was so worth the wait.
My friend Mollie and I always use catching up as an excuse to eat dessert. Or maybe I just use it as an excuse and Mollie feels forced to abide. This is most likely the case. I should probably check on that. So anyway, we sit down and Mollie tells me that she is not really that hungry and that asks if we should just share a dessert. Now, I'm not one to share a dessert no matter how full I am, but I'm working on being a better person and trying to compromise more often, especially when it comes to food. However, compromising when it comes to food is just about the hardest thing in the world for me, so I respond that it doesn't really matter, when really inside I'm desperately screaming 'PLEASE ORDER YOUR OWN DESSERT.' If I think it but don't say it out loud that's progress, right? I don't know what it is. Even when I'm trying to be good and cut back on my dessert intake or if I have eaten a four course dessert, I have this phobia that if I share a dessert with someone the world is going to end, and I won't have enough left for myself. People have actually told me that when they share a dessert with me they feel like they are in a race. Of course I took this extremely personally, but in reality I know it's true. I just can't help it. Anytime my boyfriend tries to sample a small bite of my dessert, I nearly bite his head off. It's just a reaction for me, now. It's who I am. I nearly have panic attacks when I let people sample my dessert. It's a major character defect.
So, the waitress comes and I order the hot brandy cream pie, and Mollie kind of looks at me like 'Crap, should I order my own,' and I know she is worried that I will blow a fuse if she doesn't so she does what any good friend would do and orders her own cream pie. Phew. I breathe a sigh of relief. When the waitress brings our desserts out, we realize they are huge. I silently almost wish we would have just split one. Not because I can't finish it, (Ha, yeah right), but because I am trying to cut back (I'm sure you can tell from my blogging). I look at her as if I know that I am a bad friend and make some lame joke like, "man, I guess we could have shared this." She tells me she is mad at me for letting both of us order our own, since she wasn't even hungry in the first place. I tell her that she will thank me once she takes a bite. And boy was I right.
Heaven. I'm actually not a huge Boston cream pie, so I'm not really sure why I was dying to try this version of it (must have something to do with my OCD to try all new things). However, this far exceeded any expectations I had.
"Our signature Boston Cream Pie smothered in brandy butter, drizzled with chocolate sauce and baked to perfection."
When I originally read the description, I was expecting it to have a taste of alcohol to it, but in fact, it didn't. The brandy butter made the cake so incredibly moist. Whenever I took a forkful of cake, it was moist and had this thin layer of butter that just melted into the moistness of the cake. The richness of the cream paired with the moistness of the cake was the perfect mouthwatering incorporation of texture and flavor. Dip the piece in some chocolate sauce, and you have a match made in heaven. There really is nothing like it, and it takes Boston cream pie to a whole other level. And in case you were wondering, Mollie told me that I was right and thanked me afterwards...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Crispy French Toast
I'm sad to say that there isn't anything too exciting to say about the rest of our meals. The boys had to have pizza on our last night, and I tried not to throw a fit about the fact that we were eating something we could eat any other time on our last night. But to make up for it, I did have an amazing breakfast on our last day...after somewhat of a fiasco.
My boyfriend woke me up at 5:00 AM Saturday morning and told me that while he was trying to change our seat arrangements for our flight that day, he discovered that my boarding pass said that my plane departed Friday afternoon. AKA I was supposed to already be back in Houston. Somehow, I had booked my ticket wrong and had booked my departure for a day earlier than I was supposed to. (Not too sure how this happened, considering I was the first one to book the trip.) I then called Continental and told them about my issue, and they informed me that according to their records my ticket had been used and that there was nothing they could do for me over the phone. I had to go to the airport myself. So, at 5:30 in the morning we headed to the airport, told the staff of my situation, waited an hour, paid an extra $150 for a flight change, and two $20 cab fares to and from the airport and were back at the hotel at 7:00 AM. Phew. Needless to say, I was in need of a very fulfilling breakfast to wash away my sorrows. Crunchy French Toast.
I had been debating getting this all week but wasn't sure how I felt about paying $17 for french toast, but finally decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, it was whole wheat bread, with light syrup, and fruit. Totally worth it. Carb friendly and everything. Well, the french toast turned out to be amazing. There were four pieces and every bit of the toast was coated with corn flakes. It wasn't exactly crispy after I drenched it in syrup, but it was still incredible. The dish came with strawberries and bananas as well. Imagine the sweetness of syrup with the crunch of corn flakes paired with a slight sugary tasted from the powdered sugar with a tangy strawberry slice. It was the perfect fusion of flavors. Not only did it taste good, but the colors from the fruit next to the textured textured look of the toast were absolutely beautiful. It was so pretty I didn't want to eat it. I recommend finding a way to make it at home.
Cab Fare $40
Additional Air Fare Cost $150
Crispy French Toast $17
The pure bliss after eating crispy french toast PRICELESS
My boyfriend woke me up at 5:00 AM Saturday morning and told me that while he was trying to change our seat arrangements for our flight that day, he discovered that my boarding pass said that my plane departed Friday afternoon. AKA I was supposed to already be back in Houston. Somehow, I had booked my ticket wrong and had booked my departure for a day earlier than I was supposed to. (Not too sure how this happened, considering I was the first one to book the trip.) I then called Continental and told them about my issue, and they informed me that according to their records my ticket had been used and that there was nothing they could do for me over the phone. I had to go to the airport myself. So, at 5:30 in the morning we headed to the airport, told the staff of my situation, waited an hour, paid an extra $150 for a flight change, and two $20 cab fares to and from the airport and were back at the hotel at 7:00 AM. Phew. Needless to say, I was in need of a very fulfilling breakfast to wash away my sorrows. Crunchy French Toast.
I had been debating getting this all week but wasn't sure how I felt about paying $17 for french toast, but finally decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, it was whole wheat bread, with light syrup, and fruit. Totally worth it. Carb friendly and everything. Well, the french toast turned out to be amazing. There were four pieces and every bit of the toast was coated with corn flakes. It wasn't exactly crispy after I drenched it in syrup, but it was still incredible. The dish came with strawberries and bananas as well. Imagine the sweetness of syrup with the crunch of corn flakes paired with a slight sugary tasted from the powdered sugar with a tangy strawberry slice. It was the perfect fusion of flavors. Not only did it taste good, but the colors from the fruit next to the textured textured look of the toast were absolutely beautiful. It was so pretty I didn't want to eat it. I recommend finding a way to make it at home.
Cab Fare $40
Additional Air Fare Cost $150
Crispy French Toast $17
The pure bliss after eating crispy french toast PRICELESS
Monday, August 17, 2009
Puerto Rico Day Two
I always try to start my day with a healthy breakfast because for some reason I feel like it justifies anything else I eat the rest of the day. Makes perfect sense, right? In our hotel was a little coffee shop that sold sandwiches, pastries, and such where I would get my breakfast. I started my second day in Puerto Rico with two small boxes of Raisin Bran, some milk, and a banana, but of course had to check out the pastries. I decided that I was on vacation and should eat like I was. So, in addition to my already filling breakfast, I decided to get a quesito. A quesito is a Puerto Rican pastry that is basically just sweet pastry dough with a cream cheese filling. Yeah, eat your heart out. Literally. It was amazing. It had the sweetness of a croissant combined with the richness of cream cheese. The cream cheese filling was perfect. It wasn't overflowing out of the pastry. It was simply a very thin layer that seemed to have just been lightly brushed on. It was the perfect combination of flavors. So much for my healthy breakfast....
That day, we went on an all day snorkeling trip, which was amazing. The trip included transportation, so after we had been dropped off at the hotel, I immediately panicked and searched through my bag of stuff that I had brought and realized that I had left my wristlet (a purse that hangs on your wrist) on the van that had dropped us off. And of course it contained all my cash, my credit card, and my drivers license. (By the way, I promise this is headed in a food related direction) So of course, I had to go through all the phone calls and drama of worrying if I was ever going to get it back. I was waiting on a phone call from the company to let me know if they had been able to get ahold of the driver, so we decided to go into Old San Juan and have dinner in the meantime. And what happens? I, of course, get a phone call telling me to meet outside the hotel promptly at 8:30 in order to get my wristlet back. Perfect. Except not so perfect. 8:30 PM, not AM. It was 7:00 at the time and the ride to and our hotel to Old San Juan takes about fifteen minutes. This should be interesting...
The Parrot Club. http://www.oofrestaurants.com/ The atmosphere and food were wonderful, but be sure to bring a flashlight if you ever go. Trust me, you will need one in order to read your menu. The restaurant was extremely dark. We started off with white corn fritters with a queso dip. The combination of the two literally tasted like macaroni and cheese, and not the cheap EZ Mac kind. For our entrees we got a bbq'd chicken breast with mofongo, red snapper with with crab guiso and yuca gratinada, a pumpkin flavored gnocchi with black beans, and a special chicken fried steak. The dish I ordered was the pumpkin flavored gnocchi. It was delicious, but rich. So rich, in fact, that I wasn't able to finish it. The gnocchi had perfect texture and blended well with the black beans and the crispiness of the greens. (I don't remember what kind of greens they exactly were..I know I know) The pumpkin flavor was the icing on the cake. It was subtle enough as to not be too overwhelming but finished the dish with a perfect sweetness of flavors. Everything about my dish was amazing. Until I threw it all up later that night....Nothing is better than waking up in the middle of the night with an awful stomach ache and throwing up pumpkin flavored gnocchi...The boys are convinced the reason I threw up is because of what happened in the next part of the story.
At dinner we were obviously in a hurry since I had to make it back to the hotel by 8:30 in order to get my wristlet from the driver. We were rushing our waiter through the meal, and I eventually asked if I could just get my dessert to go. He insisted that it was ready, so I patiently waited. He brought it to our table at 8:15, and I kid you not, I inhaled my dulce de leche brownie. It actually came with two brownies. I scarfed down the first one and a half brownie, grabbed the other half and ran out the door to grab a taxi. Now that's dedication. The boys think that because I finished an entire two brownies in approximately 60 seconds that this caused me to throw up later on that night. The world will never know..... Now this dulce de leche brownie was pretty darn good. The texture was not that of your typical brownie. It wasn't soft and moist and didn't crumble when held, but was almost hard, but not in an "unfresh" kind of way. That doesn't sound particularly appetizing, but it actually worked well. The brownie tasted like the shortbread cookies that Girl Scouts sell, just in a brownie version. And everyone loves a good shortbread cookie. And as a perfect ending to a perfect meal, we made it to the hotel in time, and I got my wristlet back, money and all. Now why couldn't I have just not left my wristlet on the bus. Then I would have been able to order at least one more dessert. Guess it just goes to show you can't have your cake (brownie) and eat it too.....
That day, we went on an all day snorkeling trip, which was amazing. The trip included transportation, so after we had been dropped off at the hotel, I immediately panicked and searched through my bag of stuff that I had brought and realized that I had left my wristlet (a purse that hangs on your wrist) on the van that had dropped us off. And of course it contained all my cash, my credit card, and my drivers license. (By the way, I promise this is headed in a food related direction) So of course, I had to go through all the phone calls and drama of worrying if I was ever going to get it back. I was waiting on a phone call from the company to let me know if they had been able to get ahold of the driver, so we decided to go into Old San Juan and have dinner in the meantime. And what happens? I, of course, get a phone call telling me to meet outside the hotel promptly at 8:30 in order to get my wristlet back. Perfect. Except not so perfect. 8:30 PM, not AM. It was 7:00 at the time and the ride to and our hotel to Old San Juan takes about fifteen minutes. This should be interesting...
The Parrot Club. http://www.oofrestaurants.com/ The atmosphere and food were wonderful, but be sure to bring a flashlight if you ever go. Trust me, you will need one in order to read your menu. The restaurant was extremely dark. We started off with white corn fritters with a queso dip. The combination of the two literally tasted like macaroni and cheese, and not the cheap EZ Mac kind. For our entrees we got a bbq'd chicken breast with mofongo, red snapper with with crab guiso and yuca gratinada, a pumpkin flavored gnocchi with black beans, and a special chicken fried steak. The dish I ordered was the pumpkin flavored gnocchi. It was delicious, but rich. So rich, in fact, that I wasn't able to finish it. The gnocchi had perfect texture and blended well with the black beans and the crispiness of the greens. (I don't remember what kind of greens they exactly were..I know I know) The pumpkin flavor was the icing on the cake. It was subtle enough as to not be too overwhelming but finished the dish with a perfect sweetness of flavors. Everything about my dish was amazing. Until I threw it all up later that night....Nothing is better than waking up in the middle of the night with an awful stomach ache and throwing up pumpkin flavored gnocchi...The boys are convinced the reason I threw up is because of what happened in the next part of the story.
At dinner we were obviously in a hurry since I had to make it back to the hotel by 8:30 in order to get my wristlet from the driver. We were rushing our waiter through the meal, and I eventually asked if I could just get my dessert to go. He insisted that it was ready, so I patiently waited. He brought it to our table at 8:15, and I kid you not, I inhaled my dulce de leche brownie. It actually came with two brownies. I scarfed down the first one and a half brownie, grabbed the other half and ran out the door to grab a taxi. Now that's dedication. The boys think that because I finished an entire two brownies in approximately 60 seconds that this caused me to throw up later on that night. The world will never know..... Now this dulce de leche brownie was pretty darn good. The texture was not that of your typical brownie. It wasn't soft and moist and didn't crumble when held, but was almost hard, but not in an "unfresh" kind of way. That doesn't sound particularly appetizing, but it actually worked well. The brownie tasted like the shortbread cookies that Girl Scouts sell, just in a brownie version. And everyone loves a good shortbread cookie. And as a perfect ending to a perfect meal, we made it to the hotel in time, and I got my wristlet back, money and all. Now why couldn't I have just not left my wristlet on the bus. Then I would have been able to order at least one more dessert. Guess it just goes to show you can't have your cake (brownie) and eat it too.....
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Puerto Rico
Hola! I am officially back from Puerto Rico. I know my many followers have missed my many blogs, but not to worry, I am back with many stories to tell! Instead of writing one extremely long blog about all the meals from Puerto Rico, I decided to break it up into separate blogs.
So we started our trip with a lovely meal of turkey dogs, salad, carrots, and a cookies n cream brownie on the airplane. Does anyone even know what a turkey dog is?? I still don't know what it is, and I ate one less than a week ago. It basically looked like a thicker version of a hot dog and was wrapped in bread. I am not a huge hot dog fan to begin with, but I decided to give it a go. There is nothing more frightening and gross than taking that first bite into a hot dog, or I'm sorry, turkey dog. It's such a weird looking specimen that you just can't help but be hesitant. It ended up being pretty good, considering. The turkey dog itself tasted similar to a regular hot dog, and the bread surrounding it tasted like pure soft dough. It was delish, to say the least. After a few bites, I couldn't get over the fact that I was eating a turkey dog, and had to put it down. After finishing off the rest of the bread part of course. As for the carrots and salad I'm sure you can take a wild guess and decide for yourself what those tasted like. And finally, to finish it all off we had a small 150 calorie cookies n cream brownie. It wasn't the best brownie I have ever had, but it definitely wasn't bad. It was harder than a normal brownie is, but had huge Oreo chunks in it. I prefer my desserts to be a little bit larger, but what can you do? I even saved the top part of the wrapper from the brownie so that all you foodies out there would know what brand it is and everything.
As a side note: I used this small wrapper for the remainder of my trip as a bookmark for The Time Traveller's Wife. I must say, it was somewhat challenging making sure it didn't blow away while laying on the beach with the wind blowing everywhere. I was sitting at breakfast by myself the last morning of our trip, reading my book as I waited, and when my waiter came over to bring me out my delicious meal, (more on that later) I grabbed the small wrapper from the table and stuck it in my book. Needless to say, she looked at me like I was crazy. Only someone like me would use a brownie wrapper as a bookmark.
Anyways, the name of the brand is Love and Quiches Desserts. I'm sure it's some brand that only sells to airlines, but good luck anyways!
And now to our first night in Puerto Rico! Well first of all, it poured the whole entire night. It was awful. I was convinced that our trip was going to be horrible and ruined. We took a taxi from our hotel and got dropped off in Old San Juan, which by the way, is beautiful. We had no idea where we would end up, but figured we would just walk around until something looked appealing. And then it starts to monsoon. Literally. We had to hide under a covered building until it stopped. Which it didn't, so we ended up making a run for it to a bar across the street. The boys (my boyfriend and his two friends) decided to have a beer while we waited for the rain to stop. I decided to chat up people at the bar to find out where we could find some good old Puerto Rican food. A guy happened to tell me of this amazing place called Genesis. He said his girlfriend worked there and they had the best authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and assured me he wasn't just telling me that because his girlfriend worked there. This should have been a big red flag.
We left the bar after it stopped raining, only for it to start pouring again. We found Genesis and were excited for our taste buds to take an adventure. The menu itself was very disappointing. I, being the food obsessed freak that I am, remembered running past a restaurant on our way to Genesis that looked really crowded. I told the boys I would take one for the team and run through the pouring rain just to go check out the menu. And she's off! I ran as fast as I could in my oh so sturdy sandals through the rain to the restaurant to see if the menu was any better than Genesis. People were looking at me like I was a mad woman. No, I am not a mad woman. Just a very dedicated and obsessed foodie. I ran underneath an umbrella where a huge group of people were waiting outside the restaurant. I found out that there was a twenty minute wait for the restaurant, so I ran back to Genesis stood in the doorway dripping and stared ahead. I tried.
So we started our trip with a lovely meal of turkey dogs, salad, carrots, and a cookies n cream brownie on the airplane. Does anyone even know what a turkey dog is?? I still don't know what it is, and I ate one less than a week ago. It basically looked like a thicker version of a hot dog and was wrapped in bread. I am not a huge hot dog fan to begin with, but I decided to give it a go. There is nothing more frightening and gross than taking that first bite into a hot dog, or I'm sorry, turkey dog. It's such a weird looking specimen that you just can't help but be hesitant. It ended up being pretty good, considering. The turkey dog itself tasted similar to a regular hot dog, and the bread surrounding it tasted like pure soft dough. It was delish, to say the least. After a few bites, I couldn't get over the fact that I was eating a turkey dog, and had to put it down. After finishing off the rest of the bread part of course. As for the carrots and salad I'm sure you can take a wild guess and decide for yourself what those tasted like. And finally, to finish it all off we had a small 150 calorie cookies n cream brownie. It wasn't the best brownie I have ever had, but it definitely wasn't bad. It was harder than a normal brownie is, but had huge Oreo chunks in it. I prefer my desserts to be a little bit larger, but what can you do? I even saved the top part of the wrapper from the brownie so that all you foodies out there would know what brand it is and everything.
As a side note: I used this small wrapper for the remainder of my trip as a bookmark for The Time Traveller's Wife. I must say, it was somewhat challenging making sure it didn't blow away while laying on the beach with the wind blowing everywhere. I was sitting at breakfast by myself the last morning of our trip, reading my book as I waited, and when my waiter came over to bring me out my delicious meal, (more on that later) I grabbed the small wrapper from the table and stuck it in my book. Needless to say, she looked at me like I was crazy. Only someone like me would use a brownie wrapper as a bookmark.
Anyways, the name of the brand is Love and Quiches Desserts. I'm sure it's some brand that only sells to airlines, but good luck anyways!
And now to our first night in Puerto Rico! Well first of all, it poured the whole entire night. It was awful. I was convinced that our trip was going to be horrible and ruined. We took a taxi from our hotel and got dropped off in Old San Juan, which by the way, is beautiful. We had no idea where we would end up, but figured we would just walk around until something looked appealing. And then it starts to monsoon. Literally. We had to hide under a covered building until it stopped. Which it didn't, so we ended up making a run for it to a bar across the street. The boys (my boyfriend and his two friends) decided to have a beer while we waited for the rain to stop. I decided to chat up people at the bar to find out where we could find some good old Puerto Rican food. A guy happened to tell me of this amazing place called Genesis. He said his girlfriend worked there and they had the best authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and assured me he wasn't just telling me that because his girlfriend worked there. This should have been a big red flag.
We left the bar after it stopped raining, only for it to start pouring again. We found Genesis and were excited for our taste buds to take an adventure. The menu itself was very disappointing. I, being the food obsessed freak that I am, remembered running past a restaurant on our way to Genesis that looked really crowded. I told the boys I would take one for the team and run through the pouring rain just to go check out the menu. And she's off! I ran as fast as I could in my oh so sturdy sandals through the rain to the restaurant to see if the menu was any better than Genesis. People were looking at me like I was a mad woman. No, I am not a mad woman. Just a very dedicated and obsessed foodie. I ran underneath an umbrella where a huge group of people were waiting outside the restaurant. I found out that there was a twenty minute wait for the restaurant, so I ran back to Genesis stood in the doorway dripping and stared ahead. I tried.
We all ordered the same thing. Stuffed chicken with sweet plantains with rice and beans. Sounds good right? Wrong. Terribly terribly wrong. First of all, I took a picture of my meal, and the chicken and rice blended in with the plate.
There is something wrong with that picture. (Ha ha, get it?) The first bite was actually decent, but I think it was because we were so hungry. The plantains were sweet as they should be and blended well with whatever sauce was covering the chicken, but if you ended up with a bite of just chicken, it was so dry. Nothing is worse than dry tasteless chicken. I am not a huge fan of white rice, but will eat it, but it was completely undercooked. The beans were decent except it was more like bean liquid than beans. I literally ended up drinking them. The salads we were served were shredded lettuce. I am not exaggerating. There was nothing else. We were given bottles of olive oil and vinegar. Thanks, but if I wanted olive oil and vinegar I could have just gone to Subway. (Puerto Rico actually did have Subways. Very Americanized, which obviously makes sense, but shocked me) I then asked what sort of dessert Puerto Rico was known for. Flan. Of course it is. I hate flan. The texture itself is just disgusting. Lucky for me there was a Haagen Dazs store right across the street from our hotel.Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Restaurant Week
Once upon a time, in a far away land, Restaurant Week was created. It was the best thing ever. The end. Okay, just kidding. But seriously, restaurant week really is the best thing ever. For those of you uninformed readers out there, let me fill you in. Restaurant week is usually longer than a week (to my knowledge), and is a time where select restaurants in a certain city offer three course menus for $35. Part of the money spent goes to some sort of Food Bank. Now, in case you are not a frequenter of fine dining establishments, $35 for a three course meal is a bargain and of course gives you an excuse to go hit up a restaurant you have been dying to try. I think you see where I'm going.. I always take advantage of restaurant week. Even if I am on a major budget, restaurant week is the one obvious exception.
Tonight, my mom and I dined at Olivette, a restaurant inside the Houstonian Hotel. The Houstonian, from what I know, is a sort of resort, health spa, hotel all in one. The reason I chose Olivette is because it was a new featured restaurant in my 2009 Zagat book. (Check) However, the main reason was the lemon olive oil cake being featured on their Restaurant Week Menu. Out of all the menus I researched, something about that lemon olive oil cake sounded so enticing, that I had to have it, and I had to have it soon.
Now, I would just go straight in to talking about the desserts at Olivette, because they were to die for, however, I believe that this is a food blog not a dessert blog, so I feel the need to inform all you readers of the food as well. For starters, Olivette brings out a delectable bread basket. I am usually not a huge bread person, because I feel that it's a waste of calories (this coming from the person who will eat five desserts in one sitting). Unless the bread looks very peculiar or is served with some sort of flavored butter, I typically stray away. However, tonight I happened to be starving, so I dug in. One of the choices was some sort of crisp cracker like bread with fennel seeds in it, which was tasty to say the least. There was also this wonderful little ball shaped bread that tasted like a croissant stuffed with a hint of cheese and herbs that was just melted in your mouth. And finally was the sour dough bread. Now, I also typically do not spread butter on my bread (yes, to save calories-laugh all you want), but I decided to indulge, and let me tell you, the butter was so soft and spreadable. There is nothing worse than being served cold, hard butter that just ends up being flung across the table while trying to spread it. I then proceeded to dip the sour dough bread in the olive oil that had been served on a plate with olives on it, and it was wonderful. I guess I should also talk a little bit more about the olives, since the restaurant is called Olivette. Although, apparently Olivette is an italian word, and the restaurant used to serve italian food. Anyways, that is besides the point. I haven't had an olive in years, so I really didn't know what to expect. They tasted like a very very strong olive oil, and I'm not quite sure how I felt about having to take the pit out of my mouth at a nice restaurant. At least they had a plate to put it on.
For our appetizers we selected the veal ravioli served with spinach, garlic, and prosciutto broth and clams served with garlic, parsley, butter, and grilled ciabatta. Now this appetizer course was a little adventurous for me. I tried veal years ago, and literally could see the baby cow as I was eating it and haven't touched it until tonight, and I have never tried clams before. Both presentations were lovely. My waiter came over and poured the prosciutto broth into the bowl that my raviolis were served in, which of course was somehow mesmerizing. The veal ravioli was well portioned as an appetizer and was a nice light starter to a meal. As far as the taste goes, I really don't know what to say. It was different and good, but nothing special. It tasted mostly like a dumpling with a slight hint of prosciutto. The flavors meshed well, but overall, I could have done without. Now to the clams. Keep in mind, that I do not know what clams are supposed to taste like, but I would hope that they are not supposed to taste as they did tonight. All i tasted was the ocean, and not in a good kind of way. More of in a "you're boogie boarding at the beach and get wiped out by a wave and then salt water floods your mouth kind of way." In other words, pure salt. My mom, on the other hand, enjoyed them, so to each his own, I suppose.
For my main course I selected the grilled flat iron steak served with ratatouille, potato croquettes, and basil. My mom had the seared gulf snapper served with spanish chorizo, black olives, fennel, and sherry vinegar. My steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It didn't taste like your basic steak house steak, but more of a zesty flavor. I was so excited to try this "ratatouille" with my steak, because I have been dying to try it since I saw the movie Ratatouille, and was somewhat disappointed. Not necessarily in the ratatouille itself, but the overall flow of the dish. I just didn't think the flavor combination of the zucchini and other vegetables in the ratatouille went well with the steak. The potato croquettes on the other hand were delicious, but then again what's not to like about a potato croquette? (Which in case you don't know, sort of tastes like a breaded hash brown). Now, I am not a seafood person, but will try everything at least once, so of course I had to try my mom's snapper, and I will say it wasn't bad. I typically associate fish as a very light food and chorizo as a heavier flavored food, but the flavors of the two mixed surprisingly well together. And, the fish was not fishy!
Drum roll please...........Lemon olive oil cake. Need I say more? It was everything I thought it would be and more. You know how when you watch those movies like Made of Honor and the girl meets the man of her dreams who is perfect only to find out that he is not the man of her dreams, some other guy is(because duh, I could have told you that in real life people don't get married in castles in Scotland)? Well, this dessert was nothing like it. This was love at first sight and bite. There was no, "I'm not sure of this is the right one business"; this was everything I had been waiting for and more. It was lemon olive oil cake served with a lavender honey cream and blueberries. The cake itself was a yellow cake and was moist with a slight hint of lavender from the cream, very slight though, not too overwhelming. I loaded each bite with the cake itself and the cream then dipped it in the blueberry sauce on the plate and topped it with a blueberry. It was such a smooth clean taste, and the lemon and the blueberry were the perfect flavor combinations. Neither flavors were too tart like lemon and blueberry sometimes can be, and the sweetness of the cake balanced the dish perfectly. Like I said, it was a match made in heaven. For our second dessert, we had a chocolate pudding cake with fudge sauce, hazelnut ice cream, and hazelnut tuile. This dessert was just as incredible as the first. The chocolate pudding cake itself was similar to a molten cake, but the whole cake was moist and fell apart at the touch of a fork, which is probably why it is called a pudding cake. Each bite was filled with chocolate sauce and crumbled cake. I just scooped it up with hazelnut ice cream, which tasted exactly like hazelnuts, and it literally melted in my mouth. The hazelnut tuile was very artistic. I had seen a chef create tuiles, I believe on one of the Top Chef competitions. It basically looked like a long stick with the ball at the end of it of hardened sugar. The stick part tasted like caramel, and the ball had a hazelnut inside. A pleasant surprise. (Pictures will be posted soon).
All in all, Olivette was good, but it didn't blow me away. Except for the desserts. My mom and I decided that since we were in the area though, that we might as well stop at some other dessert places and pick some extra desserts up for the road. And yes, by this point I was full, but for some reason when it comes to dessert, my stomach miraculously is no longer full. Imagine that... Anyways we went to a little cafe in the area and picked up a piece of pistachio cake and some other dessert bar that were also amazing. However nothing beats this. After we had picked up our fourth dessert of the night, we were driving by Memorial Park, which is a very popular park in the area where lots of people go to run, walk their dogs, etc. And when I say lots, I literally mean that I thought a marathon was going on. What beats driving down the road watching packs and packs of runners as you stuff your face with your 4th dessert of the night? How about telling your mom that you should go to the local ice cream place and pick up a free ice cream treat for your dog, when really you just want some ice cream for yourself? And yes, I actually did do that....
http://www.houstonian.com/
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Stolen Mints
So, I'm in the process of moving from one house to another, and I must say, I hate it. However, I did come across something that made moving a little more bearable. Well, I didn't necessarily come across it myself. Let me explain.
As you can tell by now, I have a problem. A food problem, that is. Yes, I am perfectly aware. Well one day, a few months ago, my boyfriend brought home a cup full of the chocolate mints that Olive Garden gives out with the bill. Yes, I know, they are wonderful. I was so excited when he brought them home and planned on devouring them all that night. He told me that I couldn't and said that he was putting them in the outside refrigerator we had in the garage. I can remember a couple days after he brought them home getting a strong craving for something chocolate. Of course I immediately went to the outside refrigerator to have some mints, but when I opened the door, they were gone. I was obviously very upset, but I just figured he had eaten them. I'm sure I found some other chocolate thing to eat. Anyways, today we were cleaning out the refrigerator, and my boyfriend opened this little door in the refrigerator (that I hadn't seen before), and guess what. He had hid them from me! Can you believe that? He had hid them from me so that I wouldn't eat them all. He laughed it off, and I rebelled by finishing the remainder of the mints. All twenty of them. I actually don't think he knows that yet. But I suppose he is about to find out once this blog is posted. Let's just say it just may be a problem when someone has to hide Olive Garden mints from you...
As you can tell by now, I have a problem. A food problem, that is. Yes, I am perfectly aware. Well one day, a few months ago, my boyfriend brought home a cup full of the chocolate mints that Olive Garden gives out with the bill. Yes, I know, they are wonderful. I was so excited when he brought them home and planned on devouring them all that night. He told me that I couldn't and said that he was putting them in the outside refrigerator we had in the garage. I can remember a couple days after he brought them home getting a strong craving for something chocolate. Of course I immediately went to the outside refrigerator to have some mints, but when I opened the door, they were gone. I was obviously very upset, but I just figured he had eaten them. I'm sure I found some other chocolate thing to eat. Anyways, today we were cleaning out the refrigerator, and my boyfriend opened this little door in the refrigerator (that I hadn't seen before), and guess what. He had hid them from me! Can you believe that? He had hid them from me so that I wouldn't eat them all. He laughed it off, and I rebelled by finishing the remainder of the mints. All twenty of them. I actually don't think he knows that yet. But I suppose he is about to find out once this blog is posted. Let's just say it just may be a problem when someone has to hide Olive Garden mints from you...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Mile High Ice Cream Pie
So, I know in my last blog I said that domination of the new dessert at Applebee's was going to take place today, but I lied. I don't know what exactly happened, but it wasn't domination, it was more like extreme, mega, ultra domination. I must confess though, that I did have a friend's help, but I could have easily eaten it by myself. And plus, we shared two desserts, so I technically did eat it by myself.
All right, I had planned beforehand on really savoring the dessert, paying special attention to each and every mouthwatering bite so that I could hurry home and blog to all my fans about all the flavors and textures of the new Mile High Ice Cream Pie, but I failed. Miserably. I just can't eat a dessert slowly. I mean, I really think that phrase is an oxymoron. Eat dessert slowly? It's just not right. But in order to give you an idea of all the flavors here is the Applebee's description of the Mile High Ice Cream Pie:
This pie-scraper starts with an OREO® cookie crust, filled with chocolate ice cream and layers of chocolate fudge and peanut butter. Then we add peanut butter ice cream, caramel swirls and peanut brittle. Finally, we drizzle it with hot fudge & caramel, and top it with whipped cream and OREO® cookie crumbs.
Now you understand why I actually ate at Applebee's. The place needs descriptions like that to get people like me in the door. My friend and I showed up in the parking lot, and we were literally the only two cars in the parking lot. I thought the place was closed down, in which case I would, of course, been VERY upset. So what I do remember about the dessert is this: it was finished in approximately 5.2 seconds. Okay, not really, but like I said, we extreme, mega, ultra dominated it. I don't remember tasting much peanut brittle. And you know that on Iron Chef if the "secret ingredient" is not the highlight of the dish, then you definitely aren't going to beat the Iron Chef. And no, peanut brittle is not the "secret ingredient", but what if I was a major peanut brittle freak, and that was the only reason I even wanted to try the Mile High Ice Cream Pie? That would be some major disappointment. I do, however, distinctly remember the Oreo crust and peanut butter layer. And by the way, if you haven't tried dipping Oreo's in peanut butter, you're missing out. I stole that from the Parent Trap. Thanks, Lindsay!
Okay, so the peanut butter layer was very peanut buttery (is that a word?), the texture was very smooth, and the flavor meshed so well with the Oreo crust and ice cream. This is a peanut butter lover's dream. (Okay, maybe I wouldn't make such a good food critic) On the other hand, if you are not a peanut butter lover, it's not so overwhelming that it just tastes like one big peanut butter mess. Although, I'm not sure that that would be such a bad thing. Overall, I give it a B+. I mean, it was good. Real good. I finished it, and probably could eat it every day for the rest of my life, but I just wasn't blown away. I like unique desserts though; something with some weird random combination of flavors that I never would have thought of by myself. In fact, one of my biggest pet peeves is dessert at Italian restaurants. Cheese cake, creme brule, cannoli, tiramisu, blah, blah, blah. Boring! I mean seriously, think about it. When have you ever seen anything different on an Italian dessert menu? Yes, I understand those are considered Italian desserts. But my rule is that there should at least be one off the wall dessert on the menu. I have even been known to base what restaurant I eat at because of this. I once chose a restaurant to eat at in NYC based off a Willy Wonka themed dessert I read about online. It had a golden egg and snozberry flavors and everything! When I went, they told me that it was no longer on the menu. I'll let you guess my reaction, but let's just say no one heard the end of it for weeks...
All right, I had planned beforehand on really savoring the dessert, paying special attention to each and every mouthwatering bite so that I could hurry home and blog to all my fans about all the flavors and textures of the new Mile High Ice Cream Pie, but I failed. Miserably. I just can't eat a dessert slowly. I mean, I really think that phrase is an oxymoron. Eat dessert slowly? It's just not right. But in order to give you an idea of all the flavors here is the Applebee's description of the Mile High Ice Cream Pie:
This pie-scraper starts with an OREO® cookie crust, filled with chocolate ice cream and layers of chocolate fudge and peanut butter. Then we add peanut butter ice cream, caramel swirls and peanut brittle. Finally, we drizzle it with hot fudge & caramel, and top it with whipped cream and OREO® cookie crumbs.
Now you understand why I actually ate at Applebee's. The place needs descriptions like that to get people like me in the door. My friend and I showed up in the parking lot, and we were literally the only two cars in the parking lot. I thought the place was closed down, in which case I would, of course, been VERY upset. So what I do remember about the dessert is this: it was finished in approximately 5.2 seconds. Okay, not really, but like I said, we extreme, mega, ultra dominated it. I don't remember tasting much peanut brittle. And you know that on Iron Chef if the "secret ingredient" is not the highlight of the dish, then you definitely aren't going to beat the Iron Chef. And no, peanut brittle is not the "secret ingredient", but what if I was a major peanut brittle freak, and that was the only reason I even wanted to try the Mile High Ice Cream Pie? That would be some major disappointment. I do, however, distinctly remember the Oreo crust and peanut butter layer. And by the way, if you haven't tried dipping Oreo's in peanut butter, you're missing out. I stole that from the Parent Trap. Thanks, Lindsay!
Okay, so the peanut butter layer was very peanut buttery (is that a word?), the texture was very smooth, and the flavor meshed so well with the Oreo crust and ice cream. This is a peanut butter lover's dream. (Okay, maybe I wouldn't make such a good food critic) On the other hand, if you are not a peanut butter lover, it's not so overwhelming that it just tastes like one big peanut butter mess. Although, I'm not sure that that would be such a bad thing. Overall, I give it a B+. I mean, it was good. Real good. I finished it, and probably could eat it every day for the rest of my life, but I just wasn't blown away. I like unique desserts though; something with some weird random combination of flavors that I never would have thought of by myself. In fact, one of my biggest pet peeves is dessert at Italian restaurants. Cheese cake, creme brule, cannoli, tiramisu, blah, blah, blah. Boring! I mean seriously, think about it. When have you ever seen anything different on an Italian dessert menu? Yes, I understand those are considered Italian desserts. But my rule is that there should at least be one off the wall dessert on the menu. I have even been known to base what restaurant I eat at because of this. I once chose a restaurant to eat at in NYC based off a Willy Wonka themed dessert I read about online. It had a golden egg and snozberry flavors and everything! When I went, they told me that it was no longer on the menu. I'll let you guess my reaction, but let's just say no one heard the end of it for weeks...
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