Tex-Mex vs. New Orleans

So, I'm totally going to hijack this blog to document my struggle to find decent Tex-Mex in New Orleans.  (Thanks for the idea, Blaire).

Josh and I moved to New Orleans from Austin last year.  As native Texans, we were both accustomed to a diet that involved Mexican food at least 3x a week.  In my case, Tex-Mex food has been a long-standing family tradition.  Since forever, my family has gotten together every Friday night to eat at one of the various Mexican joints around Houston, like Marco's, Molina's, Doneraki's, Escalante's, that place in League City next to Randall's.  As a grown-up, I respected this; family and Mexican food are important.   My family continues this tradition without me, which to be honest, makes me choke up a little. When Josh and I moved to Austin, I insisted we eat Mexican food on Friday's out of respect; Josh certainly didn't mind.

So, going without Tex Mex was not something we envisioned in moving to New Orleans.  We were in for a rude awakening, and I should have known better.  This blog will be a salve to that wound.

Now before I being my assault, I have to share that I love New Orleans.  This city is amazing, and makes me happy.  I won't be leaving, and I have not one regret moving here.  That being said, I'm a Tex-Mex snob; I demand a lot out of salsa, and to quote a favorite book because why not, "my opinion once lost is lost forever."

To start off things, here's a quick recall of our first attempt at Tex Mex in NOLA.  The details are sparse because, to be quite honest, I've pretty much blocked the experience from memory.  The place is Taqueria Corona off of Magazine.  We only stayed for salsa, guacamole, and margaritas.  The salsa was sweet with no kick, like chunky, watery ketchup.  I'm a total wuss when it comes to heat, but there is no excuse for sweet, non-spicey salsa in the South.  The ingredients for great salsa are widely available.   I mean, Josh and I have so many peppers in our garden that I'm kinda mad about it.  WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THESE PEPPERS?? Answer: make great salsa.  

Back at Corona, the margaritas faired no better.  Premixed and stored in gallon jugs, there was so much sweet 'n sour that my stomach immediately revolted.  Ours were served in warm mugs with salt and ice.  This was a scary moment for me.  The restaurant was so busy, and had served so many of these not-okay margarita's, that the restaurant had run out of clean, room-temperature mugs.  I couldn't help but think that if Josh and I opened up a Tex Mex restaurant we'd become zillionaires.  Okay, my dreams are unrealistic.

The very worst thing about the whole experience was the guacamole.  Tinted a nice shade of brown, the avocado tasted and looked bad.  It was clear that tons of lemon--not lime--had been added in attempt to preserve the dip to gross results.  The waitress checked in on us, and I told her that I thought the guacamole had turned.  She immediately apologized, but look surprised and commented that (I will never forget this part) "the guacamole had been made fresh a few days ago."  She left us, and Josh and I just stared at each other dumbfounded.  We got the check, paid, tipped, and left.  It was so sad.  I don't think I had ever before left a basket of chips on the table.

That was the first experience.  There have been more, which will be shared in due time.  Perhaps a good thing, but after a year in New Orleans, my expectations have tempered.  I mean, we checked out a place last night in Metarie, and before heading out there, I read a review that described the food as "one step up from Taco Bell."  I took that as a good sign.

I really will post about food again sometime. But for now, I hafta post about this bad ass car seat I am trying to win on Super Frugal Stephanie. http://www.superfrugalstephanie.com/2012/12/diono-radian-rxt-car-seat-giveaway/

I am eating hummus as I type this though. Sooooo its all good.

Tofu Sandwich, Part Two

Like I said in my earlier post, last weekend I fried up a bunch of tofu to use throughout the week. Well today I used the last of the tofu, which means a block of tofu, for me, lasted 5 days. Really, though, I think today was a crap-shoot because it was a bit rubbery. That could also be blamed on my impatience; shoving food in my mouth before things are actually toasty-perfect is a favorite pasttime.

Anyway, I made another pretty good tofu sandwich. On slighty toasted (see comment above re: impatience) multi-grain bread, I added sliced heart of palm, tomatoes, spring mix, and the tofu. My "spread" was ranch dressing. I was full and content post consumption.

I OWN THIS BLOG NOW! HAR HAR HAR!!!

Because I'm the only one posting, I'm taking control. OF EVERYTHING. No, no, I'm just hoping my threat of domination will shake my co-bloggers into action.

Anyway, lunch today: tofu sandwich. On a lightly microwaved hoagie bun (I wish my office had a toaster oven), I placed two tofu squares. A few days ago, I lightly fried a cut-up block of tofu in vegetable oil and soy sauce. In addition to the tofu is obviously avocado, tomato, and cilantro. The secret, however, is the sauce: a mix of sriracha sauce and sour cream. Okay, so I know the sour cream part might sound kinda foul, but it's all I had and it needed a cream element. Plus, I'm not one of those people that steals mayo from co-workers.*

Back to the grindstone.


*I know many of you loyal readers find mayo, or derivatives thereof, disgusting, and to you I say "shove it, and by 'it' I mean a big spoonful of miracle whip."

New Job, New Type of Lunch

So, a few changes since my last post: (1) I finally passed the LA Bar, (2) I've since passed the NY Bar, (3) I quit my job for 6 months, (4) I returned to my job but in a new city (Austin), (5) my responsibilities are different such that I may have a life, and (6) I've decided to start cooking more.

As a result, today's lunch is a 1/2 of a yam cooked in the microwave for 5 minutes. I delicately apply about 1/2 TB of salted butter and add a bit more salt/pepper. I must admit, though, the salad is the true treat. It's spring mix and spinach with black olives and cherry tomatoes. I have a special trick for the dressing: I put all the salad ingredients into a ziplock bag, squirt (hate that word) 1/2 of a lemon, about 1 TB of olive oil, a pinch (hate that word, too) of (1) salt, (2) onion powder, and (3) celery salt, and then shake the bag like it were a baby (jesus, it's just a joke). Voila! New Type of Lunch.

Kindly disregard the elements of this photograph that demonstrate the white-trash condition of my backyard. I tried to class it up a bit by throwin' in the whimsical straw hat but I feel my efforts might have been underscored by the faded can of Off in the pot with the year-old dead basil plant.

Focus on the food! The strawberries are from Boggy Creek Farm, which is a little urban farm/market that's about a 4 minute bike ride from my house. I ate one as soon as we got home and they were so awesomely perfectly ripe and delicious that I just went ahead and ate every fucking one of them. The cheeses are as follows: habanero cheddar, pepperoncini goat cheese, and manchego. The shot glass is filled with honey and it's very well paired with the manchego. The flowers are larkspur and snaps and they're from Boggy Creek too.

Back on the food wagon

And with that title, I present two over the top food experiences.

On the left we have a plate of food from the Wynn Buffet in Las Vegas. 4 of us on this blog have indulged at the Wynn, and most of us agree that its pretty much the best part of the strip. On this plate is hard cheese, orachattia with marscapone, duck salad and some smoked meat.

The right is a Baked Alaska. Baked Alaska is one of those food items which I always assumed was a bit of lore, or something that is only found on cruise lines. My mom made this one for Palm Sunday dinner--odd I know. Baked Alaska is a layer of ice cream, a layer of cake, topped with meringue. Then it is baked until the meringue is brown, but the ice cream doesn't melt. Pull it out of the oven, pour brandy on it and light the peaks on fire. Overall, it is a lot of work and sort of silly.

Minestrone soup

I love crockpot (aka slow cooker) cooking. I had a very aromatic, tasty vegetarian minestrone soup last night waiting for me when I got home. Prep the night before and refrigerate until morning. Turn that puppy on low before leaving for work, and...look at that! My long ass day just got better. The older get, the bigger the fan I also become of soup. It is a filling and satisfying winter meal. What's in this batch I made for the first time? Zucchini, onions, carrots, celery, crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, kale, barley, garlic and veggie broth all thrown in together and simmered all day. The leftovers I had for lunch today were even better.

Roasted Chicken and Root Veggies

Pens! sent me an article on the financial (and health) benefits of roasting your own lunch meat, and I since roasting is my favorite way to cook (besides pan frying of course) I decided to go for it. So since being frugal is important too let me tell you this: Organic chicken legs and thighs are really really cheap, especially the legs. 5 legs should cost right around 3 bucks, and 6 thighs is usually 5 bucks. I also found organic breasts on sale for 7.99 for two FULL breasts (including tenders). So for 17 bucks, I had enough organic, pasture raised chicken for 4 entrees able to serve at 3-4 people, plus left over for sandwiches, which equals about 1.00 per person. Anyway, one of the ways I prepared some of this chicken was roasting it with some organic root vegetables:The root vegetables in this dish are sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, parsnips, red onion and garlic. See that breast? Lunch meat. Yum.

It’s really hard for me to do anything productive on Saturdays. I always have really good intentions to get to all the things I put off all week, but mostly I just stay in bed until about noon feeling guilty about not addressing all the things I promised myself I would do. And that’s how things went this Saturday until about 1pm, when the guilt became so overwhelming that I put on a bra, and still wearing my pajamas got in my car to go to the gym. My car felt weird, so I pulled over and discovered that my front passenger side tire was no longer functionally attached to my vehicle.

So anyway, long story short, I got hungry while the guys were putting a new tire on and that’s how I ended up across the street, dressed like a frumpy crackhead, with these bean and cheese tacos and chips from my local taqueria. They were fine, whatever, pretty bland. I really like bean and cheese tacos, and in eating these, I thought a lot about this, and decided that I am going to make it a little quest to find the best bean and cheese tacos in ATX. These are not them:

I'm Not Good at Food

So you've been warned. I'm typically a sustenance eater, which should explain my first post. I do, on occasion, eat great food. I'll try to capitalize on those great food moments by embarassing my eating companions who will watch as a I snap pictures in public restaurants. All of this in the name of food, without which I might not have the energy to type these last fe w w o r d s.

Enjoy.



Tomorrow I sit for the final day of the Louisiana Bar Exam. Obviously, I'm cramming. For the past few days I've survived mostly off of redbull, cheezits -- which have an awful after-taste and can only be cured by eating more cheezits --, cereal, coffee and water. Because of my horrible study eating habits, my stomach and overall wellbeing have gone to shit. So, I've decided to employ the phrase "carpe diem" and treat myself a little better. While a gas station sandwich doesn't spell gourmet eating to most, it's hella lot better than yesterday. Plus, a non-caffeinated drink for good measure.

Note - I typically don't drink Powerade, but the gas station was out of Gatorade. Gotta work with what you got.

Been awhile

Ok, so to get things back on track I will post a bunch of shit I ate in the last few weeks or so.

The first is some really delicious tuna salad. But the bigger story here is these crackers. Made by Mary's Gone Crackers, they are are wheat free, gluten free, organic, non GMO, whole grain and if you care, Kosher. Its a whole bunch of seeds and brown rice baked together and the shit tastes good.









Next we have the classic go to in a lunch time bind: The Sunrise Salad from my favorite Co-Op, Greenstar.The Sunrise Salad has everything you want, something sweet with the poppy dressing, salty crunch with the sunflower seeds and the delightfully smooth yet chewy texture of tofu-kahn. Its dumb expensive, but it its really good shit.






Finally, so we don't have to change the name of the blog to "Shit We Eat Out of Plastic Containers", I have included an evening meal prepared just for me, by me. Lovely Stuffed Avocados. Stuffed with what you ask? Tons of tasty shit. Walnuts, chicken sausage, onions, garlic.

My bressfest today

Organic blueberries

Yogurt

Yoplait is the best kind of yogurt.



Very Vanilla indeed.

Lunch and Snack

I woke up this morning late, and then added to my lateness by spending 15 minutes packing a lunch and snacks for myself for the day. However, I was in such a rush to leave the house that I forgot my food on my kitchen counter. Fail.

Instead, I took a little trip to Sprouts and replaced my healthy tuna sandwich with these brown rice California Rolls:



They were really tasty, although I could have done without the carrot.

I also replaced my afternoon banana, with this apple and a little bit of chocolate trail mix for a special treat because I was a very good girl today:

Best. Cake. Ever.

I am not a cake eater, especially a birthday cake eater.But this blew my mind. A chocolate cake with raspberry chocolate ganash and a cream frosting.

Birthday Dinner two

Ate some of this delicious Sushi before remembering to take a pic. Lobster roll with spicy mayo on the side, and a Princess roll with caviar and wasabi mayo. Mom got birthday drunk off the warm Saki, Dad paid for dinner from Vegas. Perfect.

Birthday Dinner one

This is from my first birthday dinner. Grilled pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes, apple sauce, seasonal veggies from the East Shore Cafe. Did not appreciate the cold applesauce.

Shameful

I am too ashamed to post a picture of my lunch. I had a grilled chicken sandwhich from McDonalds, and a latte from Dunkin Donuts. Bad planning, bad Itchy Boobies.

El Chilito

Delish pescado taco and rice. Wanted a fruit cup but they were out so I
got the rice instead and I am glad because it is really tasty.