Pampa Market and Grill – Houston, Texas

Some of the best, most authentic places are hidden in plain sight of America’s strip malls. And tonight I definitely found one of them in the Spring Branch section of Houston.

WHAT I ATE:

Empanada de Pollo (Chicken Empanada) $2.50

Empanada de Jamon y Queso (Ham and Cheese Empanadas) $2.50 – The empanadas were baked and had a nice golden outside. The dough was great and the fillings were tasty.

Costillitas de Cerdo a la Riojana $12.50 – 2 pork chops, red pepper, bacon and peas with a fried egg.  The fact that flavor in these double grilled chops were so awesome I was easily able to overlook the slight toughness of the meat. If you have anyone in your life that doesn’t like peas, take them here for a taste of the red pepper, bacon and green peas side, it was delicious.

These desserts looked great but the meal had me stuffed so I had to settle for a picture.

Pork Egg Rolls YUM!!!!!!

For a good recipe to make these egg rolls click here

Veggie Plater Dilemma

It happens every time, your having a party and instead of offering an all out meat feast you want to give your guest an option for some vegetables. In comes the obligatory vegetable platter. Well now the party is over and guess who is still hanging around? Yes the faithful vegetable platter and its sidekick, ranch dressing. You have a few options at this point. You can allow perfectly good veggies to die a slow painful death in the crisper drawer or make an ass kicking soup with them.

Whats Needed:

6 cups of chicken broth

veggie platter (I added some onions, and half a jalapeno pepper)

8 garlic cloves (crushed)

olive oil

herbs and spices (salt, pepper, accent, oregano, rosemary and whatever else you like)

blender

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Toss all of your vegetables in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, herbs and spices. Pour vegetables into a well oiled roasting pan in a single layer.

Place the roasting pan in the oven and roast until vegetables are browned and tender. Toss vegetables every 10-15 minutes.

Place the vegetables into a boiling pot of chicken broth and let simmer for about 5-10 mins. Pour vegetables and some broth into the blender and blend well until smooth.

Return to pot (if the soup is to thick you can add more broth) and simmer. Stir in a few spoonfuls of ranch dressing and sour cream.

The soup is now complete and you can add in some bacon, kielbasa sausage or lean ham chunks if you are a swine lover like myself.

SuperBowl XVLI Party

For the Superbowl Chris and I teamed up to make our take on food from our team’s region. Chris represented the New York Giants and I represented the New England Patriots:

Chris’s Menu:

- Famous Pizza Dip

- Coney Island Hot Dogs with homemade Challah Buns

- Little Italy Chopped Salad

- Bon Chon Korean Chicken Tenders

Toriano’s Menu

- Beantown Bean Dip

- Maple Chipotle Wings

- New England Clam Chowder Mac and Cheese / Ham Truffle Mac and Cheese

- Patriot Pot Roast Sandwiches

- Pumpkin Pie Pudding

The meat is seared and ready to be slow roasted with beef broth and red wine.

The Patriot Pot Roast Sandwich is a slice of provolone topped with homemade slaw, shredded pot roast and then a slice of mozzarella. The sandwich was then grilled and pressed. In the back you can also see Chris’ homemade challah bread ready for the hotdogs.

Crushed graham crackers topped with pumpkin pie pudding, chocolate and whipped cream

Chris and I plan to start catering together so if you have any events that require good eats please let us know.

Assaggio’s Italian Bistro

After my better half took me to Assaggio’s for lunch, my first question was “why has a girl from the Bronx not taken me to this place sooner”? Authentic, quality and tasty Italian cuisine may be hard to find in the South but now I know exactly where to find it.

Garlic Knots – The dough was nice and light with a great garlic and butter flavor

Calzone (sausage, pepperoni, ham and cheese) - Again the dough was impressive and stuffed with cheesy goodness that kept me chomping away.

Meatball Parm Sub – Bread was ok, but these were a couple of the best meatballs I have had in a while. I was transported back North with these bad boys…AWESOME!!!!!

From the little I had at this place, I am impressed. The only thing that didn’t blow me away was the sauce that came with the calzone and garlic knots. I cant wait to taste the rest of the menu

SUPERBOWL IDEAS: Spiced Kettle Corn

With the Superbowl coming up this weekend, all week I will be highlighting some ideas for your game day eats, here’s one:

SPICED KETTLE CORN

Yesterday when I was watching the Food Network they were making Spiced Kettle Corn in a dutch oven on the stove. It looked easy and as I drooled at the tv I could smell my house being filled with the smell of popcorn. Since I already have a dutch oven the next stop was the grocery store to grab some corn kernels and try it out. This is a great game day recipe and you can leave the butter out if you don’t want to go the kettle corn route. Play around with different seasonings and see what happens

as adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup popcorn kernels (unpopped)

3 tablespoons sugar (I did not want it to be too sweet so used 2 tablespoons of sugar)

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (did not use)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Have a hot pad or kitchen towel and a paper grocery bag or large baking sheet handy. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pan over medium heat. Place a couple of kernels of popcorn in the pan. When the kernels pop, proceed to the next step.

Once the oil is hot enough, add the butter and stir quickly into the oil to prevent burning. Immediately add the popcorn and stir (the butter may not be completely melted). Add the sugar right away and stir again. Cover the pan, and start shaking it gently back and forth on the burner, using a hot pad or kitchen towel to protect your hands. Keep shaking as the popcorn pops.

Once you start hearing 1 or 2 seconds of quiet between the pops, turn the heat off immediately. This means the popcorn is mostly popped. (Be careful not to overcook, as the popcorn can easily burn.) Pour the popcorn into the paper bag or onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. Allow to cool a few minutes before placing in a bowl. (Careful, the hot sugar makes the popcorn extremely hot!)

SUPERBOWL IDEAS: Pizza

With the Superbowl coming up this weekend, all week I will be highlighting some ideas for your game day eats, here’s one:

Homemade Pizza

Last weekend I decided to step up from the Boboli crust and make my own. In the baking section I found the “Fleishschmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast” and the directions on the back made things easy:

I split the dough and put them in a cake pan greased with olive oil and butter. This recipe did not call for any rising time but I allowed it to rise in an oiled bowl for over an hour. The crust that I allowed to rise further after sitting in the pan came out much better and lighter.

Ingredients

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour (I used bread flour)

1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza yeast

1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup very warm water (120-130 degrees F)

3 tablespoons oil

pizza sauce, toppings and cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.

Pat dough with floured hands to fill greased pizza pan or baking sheet OR roll dough on a floured counter to 12-inch circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet.  Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough.

Spread with pizza sauce.  Top with desired toppings and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake on lowest oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

*If you don’t have a thermometer, water should feel very warm to the touch.

**To knead the dough, add just enough flour to the dough and your hands to keep the dough from sticking.  Flatten dough and fold it toward you. Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away with a rolling motion.  Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat the “fold, push and turn” steps.  Keep kneading dough until it is smooth and elastic.  Use a little more flour if dough becomes too sticky, always working the flour into the ball of dough.

Recipe Note:   Use crust to make one thick crust 9-inch pizza.  Increase baking time to 20 minutes.

SUPERBOWL IDEAS : Boiled Peanuts

With the Superbowl coming up this weekend, all week I will be highlighting some ideas for your game day eats, here’s one:

BOILED PEANUTS

Many people north of the mason-dixie line have never had or heard of boiled peanuts. I would even say that many people in south aren’t very familiar with them as well. The practice of boiling peanuts likely came from african slaves. I made them last week for the NFC/AFC championships and they are great to pick at with a frothy beverage

Here is a basic recipe to get you started. I pour a bit of hot sauce and Cajun seasoning in my water. After a couple of hours of cooking taste your water and peanuts (they will not be done and still a bit crunchy but you can get an idea of flavor) and adjust according to your taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound of raw “green” peanuts (not the color green, but fresh raw peanuts which are called green peanuts)
• 1/4 cup kosher salt (or 2 Tbsp table salt)
• 4 cups water

Put water, salt, seasoning, peanuts in a large pot. Bring to a low boil. Cover and reduce the heat just enough to maintain a low boil. Boil for about 3 hours or longer. The peanuts should be soft with no crunch but each person has their own personal preference.

I turned off the heat, drained a small bowl full of nuts and set out for eating. As the bowl was emptied I would drain another batch and add to the bowl.

If you have leftovers you can refrigerate and eat for a couple of days but they will go bad unlike roasted peanuts.

“The process of boiling peanuts also draws antioxidants from the shells. The boiled peanuts have four times the antioxidants of raw or roasted peanuts.”

GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Island of Mauritius

After 18 days sailing and over one month onboard seeing the small island nation of Mauritius was a welcome sight.

“The island of Mauritius was unknown and uninhabited before its first recorded visit, by Arab sailors during the Middle Ages who named it Dina Arobi. In 1507 Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island and established a visiting base. Portuguese navigator Diogo Fernandes Pereira was probably the first European to land on the island at around 1511. The island appears with a Portuguese name ‘Cirne’ on early Portuguese maps, probably because of the presence of the dodo, a flightless bird which was found in great numbers at that time. The Portuguese did not stay long as they were not interested in these islands.”

From 1638 to 1710 the Dutch made attempts to colonize the island but failed due to sickness and frequent typhoons. They did succeed in decimating the Dodo bird before moving on. The French and British would later have succesful settlements before independence in 1968.

“During the Napoleonic wars, Île de France (as it was called during French Rule) became a base from which French corsairs organised successful raids on British commercial ships. The raids continued until 1810 when a strong Royal Navy expedition led by Commodore Josias Rowley was sent to capture the island. Despite winning the Battle of Grand Por, the only French naval victory over the British during these wars, the French surrendered to a British invasion at Cap Malheureux three months later. They formally surrendered on 3 December 1810, on terms allowing settlers to keep their land and property and to use the French language and law of France in criminal and civil matters. Under British rule, the island’s name reverted to the original one.”

We got off the ship late morning and part of the crew was bused to Port Chambly Hotel. After a month onboard I wonder if the company made it point to not put the whole +100 man crew all in once place and spread us out. Either way I feel like our group got pretty lucky as this place was a little slice of paradise before starting a full day of traveling home.

“The cuisine of Mauritius is a blend of Indian, African, Chinese and European influences. It is common for a combination of cuisines to form part of the same meal.

The production of rum, which is made from sugar cane, is widespread on the island. Sugarcane was first introduced to Mauritius by the Dutch in 1638. The Dutch mainly cultivated sugarcane for the production of “arrack”, a precursor to rum. However, it was during the French and British administrations that sugar production was fully exploited. Pierre Charles François Harel was the first to propose the concept of local distillation of rum in Mauritius, in 1850. Bee is also produced on the Island, by the Phoenix Brewery”

My time in Mauritius  was short but it was nice to visit a place with such a rich maritime history. As early as the 1500s ships were pulling into the same harbor we pulled into on that sunny day. During the days of sailing, vessels Mauritius was a regular stop on voyage from Europe to India and the Far East. I don’t know if I will ever make it back but it was great to experience a small slice of what the place had to offer.

Quotations were taken from Wikipedia, all pictures were taken by the author and property of La Buena Vida.

Singapore to Mauritius: Good Bye Singapore

In the past year I have flown back and forth to Singapore so much that I was expecting the pilot to ask me if I wanted to sit in on this one. The feeling was bitter sweet because while I have grown comfortable with exploring the places and food of Singapore, the commute every four weeks has become exhasting.I had a chace to eat a lot and see a lot of Singapore and below are a few of my post from my time in Singapore:

Bayang / Balinese Indonesian in Singapore - My visit to a great restaurant in the Clarke Quay section of Singapore

Singapore Street Food -  Tasting some good Singapore street eats.

Chinatown Hawker Stand – One of my many trips to a hawker stand without getting sick the next day!!!

Shiraz Persian Cuisine – Persian food, belly dancing, Clarke Quay, how can you go wrong?

Tan Chin Lee Sea Fresh – Some great seafood and BBQ ostrich

Back to Little India – Some of the best pictures I took in Singapore’s Little India

Newton Food Center – Some great food and beer at this hawker’s stand

Marina Bay / Kinki - Singapore’s high-end Marina Bay and Kinki

Bugis Street Market - My day at Singapore’s largest outdoor street market

Singapore’s Chinatown - Food, cuban cigars and fine cognac in chinatown. What quaility city does not have a chinatown? 

Things You Shouldnt Do in Singapore – self-explanatory

Tiger Beer – YUM

One of the best parts of going to sea is actually being at sea and after a year in the shipyard it was nice to finally be getting underway. I was amazed at how  busy the Port of Singapore and the Straits of Singapore were. The voyage would take us west through the Straits of Singapore, through the Straits of Malacca and out into the Indian Ocean.

It was a bummer being at sea for the holidays but the catering department stepped their game up with this piggy piggy and some other tasties.

Sure going to sea back in the day was more mysterious and dangerous, you didn’t have ships of steel, GPS, or connection with home for years at a time. One thing that will never change is the day ends with the same sunsets early sailors saw everyday and the same sky full of stars follows.

Like most people, there are times when I can’t stand my job. Times that I hate having to pack a bag and say goodbye to everything that makes me comfortable for 4 weeks. Sometimes after 25 hours of flying to get to work I long for a  rush hour traffic crosstown trip. Some of the same reasons I hate going to sea are the very reason I couldn’t do anything else. There is a part of me that loves having a job that most people don’t and cant understand. The 25 hours of flying lands me in places that most only get to gaze at in magazines. The sun will never be able to set at home the way it does in the middle of the ocean where there is nothing else in sight. There is no better reminder to be thankful for the things and people at home than to have them all temporarily stripped away for 4 weeks and then handed back after stepping off a plane.