Yet Another Pinkberry!

Consolidated in master Pinkberry post.

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Amazing Dinner by Chef Batson, Munchery

You've heard me rave about the local meal delivery service, Munchery, before.  I've been using it for more than a year now, for everything from simple comfort food dinners, to a fun play on a Heston Blumenthal's Chocolate and Cauliflower Risotto, to my entire Thanksgiving feast.  I've even used Munchery to get breakfast baked goods.  My absolute favorite Munchery order, perhaps not shocking if you know me, was the pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert.  Well, my favorite before today that is.

Munchery meals are prepared by individual chefs, so there is some variance in the quality and style of food, depending on the chef whose dishes you choose.  But one chef I've had my eye on since she joined a few months ago is Chef Bridget Batson, previously executive chef at Gitane and Claudine.  Her menus always sound really appealing to me, very vegetable forward, focusing on seasonality and lighter dishes.  A few months ago, right when she joined Munchery, I tried her winter salad and shrimp cocktail, but I really wasn't impressed.

I've wanted to try her cuisine again to give her another chance, but, Munchery only operates on weekdays, for dinner only, and I am provided rather spectacular dinner at work during the week.  I really wish Munchery was available on weekends or at lunch time!

I recently had a realization though - although their primary service is dinner the evening you receive it, there are some styles of food that can keep well for a day, and since the food is delivered cold and designed to be finished by you at home, this can work reasonably well.  So when I saw Chef Batson offering a baked pasta dish on a Friday night, I speculated that it would still be fine for dinner on Saturday, and quickly sent the chef a message using Munchery's "Ask the Chef" feature to see if she agreed.  I had a response minutes later, and, as I expected, she assured me it would make for an excellent Saturday night dinner.

Everything about ordering from Munchery was easy as ever, from viewing the menus, to seeing the gorgeous photos of the dishes, complete with descriptions of each dish and what additional preparation would be required at home.  My order arrived at the start of my selected delivery window, which, since I wasn't planning to eat it that night wasn't necessary, but was very re-assuring.  When is the last time a delivery order ever arrived on time?

But the best part?  This was my favorite meal from Munchery so far.  I'd order it again in a heartbeat.  You should too :)  If you are interested in Munchery, use my invite link, you'll even get $20 off your first order!

Stuffed Pasta Shells: greens, ricotta cheese, cauliflower "cream".  $10.95.

"Large pasta shells stuffed with kale and Swiss chard braised with garlic and a pinch of chili, folded into ricotta cheese with lemon zest baked in a rich puree of cauliflower and Parmesan cheese."

I've been really craving pasta lately.  I'm not quite sure what it is, but something about a big bowl of warm pasta seems so appealing.  Perfect comfort food.

I was particularly interested in the stuffed shells from Chef Batson, because I know she likes to incorporate a lot of vegetables, and takes a healthier spin on dishes.  This sounded like it would still tick all the boxes of cheesy comfort food, but sneak in some serious vegetables and perhaps not be too heavy?

I opened the package the moment I received it, just to check them out.  The dish didn't actually look that great.  Shells in a kinda thick white sauce.  Herbs sprinkled on top, along with unmelted cheese.  I know the idea with Munchery is that I finish the cooking at home, so the cheese would melt then, but it still didn't look all that appealing.  I re-packaged the shells into a plastic container, since I wasn't sure about leaving them in cardboard for the next day, and hoped for the best.

The instructions said to reheat at 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes.  I was skeptical.  How would they possibly warm up that fast?  And, indeed, they didn't.  I heated them for at least 10 minutes, and then finished them under the broiler.  The aroma coming from my toaster oven was incredible.  As I pulled the casserole dish out, and all thoughts I originally had about them not looking impressive vanished.  They cooked up beautifully, I wish I had taken a photo of the finished product.  Piping hot and bubbly.  The cheese that made contact with the edges of my casserole dish was crispy, and the edges of the shells got a bit crunchy, exactly what I was aiming for with the broiler.

They were too hot to dive immediately into, but I enjoyed waiting for them to cool for moment, as they smelt incredible.  I was honestly happy just sitting there inhaling the garlic aroma.  I had even almost convinced myself, in my mind at least, that I was about to sit down to a home cooked meal, the smell so permeated my apartment.

My happiness grew as soon as I took my first bite.

Inside the shells was, as promised, a mixture of kale and Swiss chard, finely chopped, braised with garlic and chili, along with ricotta cheese.  As I was hoping, there was a plentiful amount of the greens.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't just filled with greens, there was plenty of ricotta as well.  The balance between the ingredients was just right.  You could taste the ricotta, it was a creamy filling, but the flavor of the greens was the amazing part.  The garlic that I could smell was evident in the filling, but didn't overwhelm.  Little hints of chili made the flavors pop even more, but again, didn't overwhelm.  And the acidity from lemon zest just accented the flavor of the greens.  Seriously delicious filling, and the shells were a great vessel for it, but it could easily be used in any form of stuffed pasta, or in layers of a lasagna.

The shells themselves were standard large size pasta shells, well cooked, and did not get mushy waiting a day to consume.  I liked how I crisped them up a bit when I heated the dish, but if you just heated them without the broiler, I think they would have been fine too.

The final element was the one I was most skeptical of: the sauce.  I love sauces.  I'm such a sauce girl.  I like cauliflower, I've even had my share of cauliflower mac and cheese or mashed faux-potatoes using cauliflower, but I wasn't exactly excited about a cauliflower sauce.  In my head, stuffed shells really should have a red sauce.  Or, if it was going to be a white sauce, it really should be a very rich alfredo.  Cauliflower puree?  Hmm.

I needed not worry.  Like everything else in the dish, it totally delivered.  It was creamy, and yes, it did taste like cauliflower, but, it did so in a way that just worked.  I think because you could taste the greens so dominantly in the filling, it made sense to also taste a vegetable in the sauce.  And, just like the filling, the sauce did clearly have cheese, in this case parmesan, so it was still comfort food.

Everything about this dish was just spot on.  It was an example of how you can lighten up a classic dish like stuffed shells to incorporate vegetables, yet still keep it feeling fairly decadent, but simultaneously not weight you down.  It was a demonstration of ingredients in perfect harmony - just enough cheese to satisfy a comfort food craving, balanced by the right amount veggies to feel healthy, enough chili pepper, garlic, and lemon zest to make all the flavors pop, but nothing dominating.  I have a hard time imagining anyone this dish wouldn't please.  Even if the ingredients don't sound amazing to you, the way they all balance out creates a truly phenomenal dish.  While not high end cuisine, I'd gladly order this at an Italian restaurant any day.

I'd obviously order this again.  It worked perfectly for a next day meal, which is very encouraging for me, since I don't normally order from Munchery since I don't need weeknight meals.  If you managed not to eat it all, or perhaps ordered an extra, I'm guessing it would freeze well too.  If you wanted to impress your friends, you could order a big batch and serve it at a dinner party.  It is "simple" enough home cook food that no one would doubt you prepared it, but they'd be blown away by the skilled application of flavor.

When I placed the order, $10.95 seemed maybe a bit high for "just pasta", but the serving size was very generous.  Ojan and I were able to split it for dinner, with a salad on the side, and a half serving was perfect.  And, while you can probably get cheaper stuffed shells at some Italian restaurants, I guarantee they would not be this good.  Order this dish.  Now.

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More Godiva Chocolates

Merged into my main Godiva review.

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Chantal Guillon Macarons

I eat a surprising number of macarons, for someone who doesn't really like them.  It isn't like I've never tried good macarons.  I've had the ones from Top Chef: Just Dessert's winner Yigit Pura, at Tout Sweet.  I've had the famous Luxemburgerli from Zurich.  Not that I think macarons taste bad, but in the realm of sweet treats, I would just never pick them.

Well, unless we are talking about foie gras macarons, like the black sesame and foie mousse filled ones I had at a special dinner at Alexander's.  And for regular, sweet macarons, Sugarie does an incredible job.  They showed me that I am actually capable of liking macarons.

Yet somehow, I've wound up at Chantal Guillon Macarons several times.  If you look at the Yelp reviews, these are pretty much the best macarons you can get in San Francisco.  They have ~700 reviews, and still average 4.5 stars.  That must be saying something.

The store is located in Hayes Valley, and sells pretty much exclusively macarons.  You can order coffee or tea to go with your macarons, and they also have bite sized ice creams, but basically, macarons, in more flavors and colors than you can imagine.  A beautiful shop, for sure, but I'd only go back if looking for a gift.

Raspberry-Lychee, Pumpkin Spice. $1.80 each.

No, they didn't look like this when I picked them up.  I tried so hard to be careful so they would not get crushed on my journey home but ... alas, macarons are such delicate creations!

I started with the raspberry-lychee.  When I was trying to decide which type to get at the store, the worker told me that this was more on the lychee side of things, and very sweet.  He was correct.  I did enjoy the strong lychee flavor, and the subtle raspberry combined nicely.  It was intensely sweet, as he warned.  Overall, nice flavors, but still, just a macaron.

I moved on to the seasonal pumpkin spice variety.  The filling was creamy, pumpkin-y, and well spiced.  But again, just a macaron.  If I wanted pumpkin pie flavors, I'd just have a slice of pie.

Overall, these were good for macarons.  The exterior shell was crisp, the cookie light and fluffy.  The fillings were flavorful.  I liked them more than most macarons, but at the end of the day, I still would not pick them over another type of dessert.

$1.80 each seems about normal for macarons.

Coconut - Milk Chocolate. $1.80.

I was in the area again, and decided to give Chantal Guillon another try.  They get such rave reviews!

I went for the coconut milk chocolate.  The cookie did have a nice coconut flavor, and it was delicate and light.  I'd prefer it to have a bit more of a crispy exterior, but it was decent.

The filling however was just sweet overload.  I guess there was milk chocolate in there, but mostly it was just sweet, sweet, sweet.  I'm a girl who likes my sweets, and this was too much, as it overwhelmed the coconut flavor that I liked in the cookie.

I wouldn't get this again.

2 Piece Gift Box.  $4.50.

A good friend of mine loves macarons, and she was having a bad week, so I decided to surprise her with a little treat.  Individual macarons are $1.80, but they just come in a little bag, and even if you are crazy careful, they get easily smushed, as you can see above.  So I splurged for the gift box, which protected them well, was sealed with a fancy label, and had a little ribbon on top.  If you are gifting macarons to anyone, I recommend going this route.

I selected the green tea and the dark chocolate for her, and she enjoyed them far more than I would have.  The chocolate was her favorite, and she said it reminded her of molten chocolate cake.  That sounds like an endorsement to me!

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Taqueria Mana

Ojan has been talking about wanting a burrito for a while now, and although I don't like burritos, his constant mentioning of Mexican food got me craving a fish taco.  But I was too lazy to go all the way to the Mission, so I went somewhere a bit different for Mexican cuisine: Union Square, to Taqueria Mana.  It is really not the sort of place I normally visit, but it it fun to mix it up a bit.  And you never know when you'll discover a hidden gem.

I placed my order at the register, and saw that they accept mobile PayPal.  I’ve been a big fan of using it lately, as it is so much easier than many of the other more cumbersome mobile payment systems.  The cashier however didn’t know how to use it, so the chef came over and showed her how.  He used his hands to touch the register, the computer, etc, and then went right back to cooking.  Ahh.  (On all subsequent visits, the cashier knew how to use PayPal with no problem, so perhaps the system was still new on that first visit).

Cleanliness is not their strong point.  I went to use the bathroom to wash my hands while I waited for my food to be prepared on my first visit, and somewhat regretted it.  The bathroom was fairly dirty, and had no toilet paper.  But, I wasn’t there for the bathroom …

I waited patiently at a table, for what seemed like much longer than I’d expect for a simple fish taco, but at least that implied it was being made fresh.  I had ample time to check out the inside of the restaurant, which featured a counter with single stools along one wall, and several tables for 2-4 diners.  It was very loud inside, partially because there was a family with very, um, spirited children, but partially due to the general acoustics of the place.  Not really a comfortable place to wait.  I was never asked if my order was for there or to go, which I didn’t realize until my order was finally called out, and I saw it was packaged to go.  Whoops.  I planned to eat there.

The staff were friendly on all of my visits, pointing out the condiments in the fridge that I could grab when I picked up my order, and generally being cheerful.

I've returned many times, however, not for the food.  For ... the horchata!  And, I'll continue to swing by for a horchata whenever I'm in the area on a warm day, but I'll likely continue to skip the actual food.

Catfish Taco.  $4.

I had the classic fish taco: deep fried catfish, with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.

It was impossible to eat as a taco, the filling spilling out everywhere.  I guess I'm complaining that the piece of fish was far too large.

The shell was a flour tortilla, somehow both a bit too crispy on the edges and soggy at the same time.  It seemed rather stale.

The catfish was a large chunk, clearly freshly fried to order.  They get points for that, and I liked how crispy it was, but it was heavily battered and tasted way too oily.  Not as oily as the fish from Nick's Crispy Tacos, but still unpleasant.  Much crispier than the fish from Tropisueño, although I liked Tropisueños fish more, as the tilapia was more mild and less fishy than the catfish Taqueria Mana uses.

I appreciated the wedge of lime I could squeeze over it, but the rest of the garnish failed to impress.  The tomato cubes were flavorless, out of season tomato.  The lettuce and sour cream were both very generic.  Nothing else to add any zing.  It made me wish for Rubio’s with all their flavored creams rather than simple sour cream.  And their non-fried seafood tacos.  Mmm, Rubio's.

$4 is a fine price for a fresh fish taco, but I certainly wouldn’t get another.

Salsa on the table.

There was a single variety of salsa on the table, a red salsa, very watery.  No additional salsa bar.  Interestingly, for those with takeout orders, there was a fridge with two types of salsa, red and green.  Both very watery and flavorless.

Horchata. $2.

The horchata on the other hand was really quite good.  It did not have any ice in it, and it was a rather large cup, even though I ordered the small, so at first I thought that even this size was going to be too much.  And then ... I literally drank the entire thing in about 2 minutes.  It was gone before I knew it.  I wanted the large!

It was sweet but not too sweet, it was creamy but not too thick so it was still refreshing, it was well spiced ... it was really the best horchata I've found in the city.  Much better than the version from Nick's Crispy Tacos that is too rice-y, not sweet enough, and not well spiced.  Far more spicing than the one from Toma.

On each visit, I was even asked if I wanted it topped with cinnamon, and they sprinkled some on before handing it over, which adds additional spicing, and a lovely aroma.

I enjoyed this quite a bit, and I swing by regularly for horchata now when I'm in the area and want something refreshing.  Or something sweet.  Or, just because.  Great horchata.

And $2 is a reasonable price for a very large small!

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Thintastic Bagels from Noah's

This review has been merged into my master Noah's post.

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Vosges Chocolates

For Christmas, I received a large selection of chocolate from assorted relatives, who knew I was into trying and reviewing chocolate.  Unfortunately, they mostly got me Hershey, Lindt, and Russell Stover.  My mom however did get me a large variety of assorted Vosges bars.

A few months later, one of my officemates received a HUGE gift box full of Vosges caramels and truffles, and generously shared the loot.

Vosges produces bars, truffles, caramels, bon bons, toffee, even covered marshmallows and drinking chocolate.  They use a slew of different chocolates for the base of their confections, ranging from 41% milk up to 70% darks.  The most interesting aspect of their offerings are the unique flavors, which I admit, always do sound intriguing.  But at this point, I've tried a large variety of Vosges products, and although the flavors are very unique, I haven't been impressed by any.  The flavors are usually the highlight, but I haven't really liked the chocolate itself, so no amount of curry powder, bacon, or exotic spices can really mask the mediocre chocolate base.  I wouldn't seek out more, no matter how interesting they sound.

Bars

• Black Salt Caramel: "70% cacao dark chocolate surrounds the molten, salt-spiked, soft caramel center".  Tasting notes: I am not sure why, but I just didn't like this.  Dark chocolate shell, very liquid salty caramel filling.  Should be something I love but I don’t.
• Mo's Bacon Bar: "45% Deep Milk Chocolate with Hickory Smoked Uncured Bacon + Alderwood Salt".  Tasting notes: The milk chocolate is milky, but has a strange mouthfeel. The bacon flavor itself is really nice, and the saltyness of the bar is also really nice.  The bacon flavor is very prevalent.  But ... such a horrible aftertaste, my mouth was left with very strange bacon/chocolate thing going on.  Would not purchase again. [ Agreed on subsequent tasting ]
• Mo’s Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar: "62% Dark Chocolate with Hickory Smoked Uncured Bacon + Alderwood Salt". Tasting notes: I liked this a lot more than the milk chocolate version.  The bacon flavor and saltiness combined better with the more bitter chocolate.  Like the milk version, the bacon itself tasted nice and I liked the texture added by the little nibbles of it.  But overall, not my thing.
• Gingerbread Toffee Bar: "65% dark chocolate., spiced with allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg".  Tasting notes: crunchy toffee bits give good texture and sweetness.  Nice quality dark chocolate.  Gingerbread is very subtle.  Slight salty highlights as well.  Better than the others.
• Naga Bar: "Sweet Indian curry + coconut + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao".  Tasting notes: Smells like curry!  Mediocre milk chocolate base, but good curry flavor, slight crunch from coconut.
• Peppermint Candy Cane Bar: "62% dark chocolate with peppermint bits".  Tasting notes: Serious peppermint aroma!  This SMELLS like mint.  But the chocolate was a little chalky, bitter.  Candy cane bits are nice crunch.
• Bapchi’s Caramel Toffee Bar: "45% cacoa + sweet butter toffee, walnuts + pecans".  Tasting notes: Little bits of crunchy stuff, sorta sweet, milk chocolate.  One of their better bars.

Truffles

Wink of the Rabbit®, Chef Pescal, Absinthe, Gianduia.

Visually, I liked the truffles.  I appreciated how the topping helped determine which variety of truffle it was.  However, I expect that element to be carried through the truffles, and in most cases, they were.  They seemed to mostly be plain truffles, with a little decoration on top.

• Wink of the Rabbit®: “soft caramel + 41% deep milk chocolate + organic New Mexican pecan”. Tasting notes:  The pecan was only on top, I didn’t detect any inside.  Inside was smooth chocolate, and then a thin layer of caramel on the bottom.  The caramel was more gooey than the type used in the actual caramels.  I didn’t care for the flavor of the chocolate, either the shell or the truffle filling, it tasted stale or something.
• Chef Pascal: “kirsch + 65% dark chocolate + dried Traverse City Michigan cherry“. Tasting notes: Snappy dark chocolate shell, but didn’t really taste the kirsch in the filling.  The filling wasn’t remarkable in any way.  The dried cherry on top was tart and a nice compliment to the dark chocolate.
• Absinthe: “Chinese star anise + fennel + absinthe + 65% dark chocolate + cocoa powder”.  Tasting notes: I had to look this one up, as I had absolutely no idea what type it was.  I read all the descriptions, and nothing matched.  I had to resort to the visual guide.  At that point, it was clear, but I still was surprised.  This was my absolute favorite of the truffles.  I loved the flavor of both of the chocolates components, and it was the perfect experience biting it, the shell had a bit of snap, the filling was sooo smooth and creamy.  I didn’t taste star anise, fennel, or absinthe however, which is shocking, as those are all very strong flavors, and, ones I do enjoy.  I guess they tried to keep it subtle, but it was far too subtle for me!  Regardless, I really enjoyed this piece.
• Gianduia: “crunchy hazelnut praline + 41% deep milk chocolate + praline bits”.  Tasting notes: The milk chocolate shell was smooth and creamy, and not bad.  But, just like the Wink of the Rabbit, I really didn’t like the flavor of the milk chocolate inside.  The praline bits were crunchy and slightly sweet, but, like many of the others, appeared only on top.  I would have loved some crunch inside as well

Caramels

Crema, Verde, Maple, Leaf.

• Crema: “Argentinean dulce de leche + Costa Rican cashews + 45% cacao deep milk chocolate“.  Tasting notes: Very light milk chocolate coating, caramel inside.  I couldn’t quite pinpoint what I didn’t like about the caramel.  The consistency was good, just the right level of thickness that it didn’t run out, but not too chewy.  But the flavor wasn’t quite right, not buttery enough, slightly burnt tasting, but not really … just, something was off for me.  The little bits of cashew were dusted only on top, not throughout.
• Verde: “Mexican guajillo chillies + licorice root + 65% cacao dark chocolate + organic pumpkin seeds“.  Tasting notes: Nice dark chocolate coating, and I liked the crunch of the pumpkin seeds inside the caramel.  But again, the caramel itself just really didn’t do it for me.
• Maple: “Canadian maple sugar + maple syrup + walnuts + 62% cacao dark chocolate“.  Tasting notes: The coating on this was quite tasty - sugary with a dusting of walnut.  The dark chocolate was good.  But again, I didn’t care for the caramel.
• Leaf: “Aboriginal anise myrtle + 65% cacao dark chocolate “.  Tasting notes: I’m pretty sure this was the leaf, which I figured out only based on process of elimination, as it didn’t seem to match any of the other descriptions of the “exotic” caramel line.   Dark chocolate coating, thick caramel inside, a bit too chewy, not really buttery, just there.  The outside was coated in flakes of green stuff, that honestly sorta tasted like sawdust.  I guess I don’t like anise myrtle?  It didn’t taste like anise until I ground it up in my teeth, then I got a hint of anise.  So, caramel that I didn’t like, covered in sawdust.  Clearly, not a favorite!

Toffee, Bonbons, Marshmallows

Bapchi's Caramel Toffee.

“Buttery toffee + deep milk chocolate + organic walnuts and pecans”.

I had the toffee previously inside the Caramel Toffee Bar, where I liked the crunch it added.  The crunch was again fine, but on its own, it was fairly mediocre toffee.  The toffee itself wasn’t that buttery or flavorful, and all the nuts on the outside made it all seem a bit chalky.  And a bit bitter.  Definitely not a favorite.

Organic Peanut Butter Bonbon.

“Rich organic peanut butter draped in milk chocolate and topped with a Maldon salt”

Wow, the salt on this was perfect.  Huge flakes, and they stayed with you on the finish.  When I first bit into this piece, I thought I had mis-identified it, as I didn’t see any peanut butter, and the inside filling looked more like milk chocolate.  Instead, it seemed to be a peanut butter infused chocolate?  Not as intense peanut butter as other similar styles of treat, but the chocolate was high quality, and the salt, so good!

Probably my favorite piece, but if you are expecting something peanutbuttery like a peanut butter cup, this is not it.

Caramel Marshmallow.

“Fluffy Madagascan vanilla bean marshmallows + French Guérande grey sea salt + bubbling sweet caramel + Bapchi's Caramel Toffee bits + dark chocolate”

Reading the description alone I was intrigued.  I could see the dark chocolate coating and the toffee bits on the outside, but where was the “bubbling sweet caramel” going to be?  When I bit in, would thin style caramel come pouring out?  Was it going to be stuffed inside the marshmallow?  Or just infused?

Inside the Caramel Marshmallow.

The answer: in a thick layer, above the marshmallow.  No it did not come pouring out, as it was thick and not runny, but it was also not chewy nor solid.  A nice consistency.  Studded throughout was more toffee bits for a bit of crunch.  I can’t say I tasted any sea salt, which was a shame, since salt really enhances chocolates, and they did such a nice job with the salt on the peanut butter bonbons.  The marshmallow itself was fluffy and fine, but just a marshmallow.  The dark chocolate coating was decent.

Overall, the components were all fine, but this didn’t come together for me as much as I wanted it to.

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