Friday, January 22, 2016

Organic Prairie Mighty Bars

By jewree Friday, January 22, 2016 , ,
Organic Prairie is a retailer of organic, farm raised meats, ranging from chicken and turkey, to pork and beef.  Their selections span from items like steaks and burgers, to bratwurst and hotdogs, to sausage and bacon, to even items like spiral cut ham and ribs, along with ground meat of all varieties (turkey, chicken, pork, beef, etc).

But those aren't really the type of foods I review, are they?  No, but snack foods are.  The only shelf-stable product Organic Prairie makes is "Mighty Bars", basically, really fancy Slim Jims, available in two varieties.  I've tried both.
Uncured Bacon & Apple Packaging.
"Organic Prairie Mighty Bars are hearty, delicious, protein-rich meat bar snacks made from 100% grassfed, organic beef. These wholesome, healthy pick-me-ups are conveniently packaged for busy, on-the-go lifestyles."

Meat bars.  Like I said, basically fancy Slim Jims.  Except not slim.  Hmm.

They are individually packaged, with labels boasting all the buzz words (grass fed, organic, yadda yadda).  The bars are shelf-stable, no refrigeration required.
Uncured Bacon & Apple - Back.
The back of the packaging is clear, so you can see the product.  Don't mind the bite taken out of this one, I took a bite, not really expecting to write a review of these, because I don't really review meat sticks, but, uh, it was really good, so I changed my mind.

Yes, it was a dried meat stick.  No, this isn't the sort of snack I normally gravitate towards, but, sometimes you just need some protein, and want something savory.  And this  totally fit the bill.

I keep describing these as like Slim Jims, but, the form factor is more like a slice out of a sausage, rather than a Slim Jim, as it is much wider, flat, and fairly thin.

The texture was good, just a bit of a chew to it, not enough to require gnawing.  The meat seemed quality, no gristle.  The flavor was great, you could certainly pick out the bacon, some garlic, and a touch of sweetness from molasses, in addition to the apple.

I was quite satisfied with this, and would gladly eat another, when the mood strikes to just eat some grab-n-go meat.
Cranberry & Sunflower Seed.
Next I tried the second flavor, cranberry and sunflower seed.  It was far less successful.

I didn't really like the chew to it, it had a bit too much casing.  And, I didn't like the flavor, which I guess makes sense, as I don't actually like cranberry or sunflower seeds much. I couldn't pick them out as distinct flavors, but, there was a bitterness and just strangeness to the flavor that I didn't like.

So, I definitely didn't want another of these, but I'd gladly go for another bacon one.  Another example of bacon does make just about everything better.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Waffling Leftovers: The Master Guide

By jewree Wednesday, January 20, 2016 , , , , ,
Dear Readers, it is time for something entirely new.  Until now, I've never written about any of my own culinary creations.  You've read about chain restaurants and takeout on Mondays, travel experiences on Tuesdays, real restaurants on Wednesdays, bakeries and ice cream on Thursdays, snack foods on Fridays, and chocolates on Sundays.  I've covered a lot of material.

But, you might be wondering, what do I eat the rest of the time (besides all the incredible food at work all week long, of course)?  Now, I could actually subsist all weekend on just the snack products I get sent to review, but I worry about the long term consequences of that kind of "diet".  I do indeed  eat some "real" food on weekends too.  And generally ... it is in the form of leftovers.  But, not just any leftovers, I transform leftovers.  Into waffles.

Let me back up a little.  As you've heard me mention many times, I'm incredibly fortunate to work somewhere that provides me amazing food all week long, not only for breakfast and lunch, but also for dinner.  Dinner is catered for my group, and we often have leftovers that will be thrown out if they go unfinished.  So, particularly on Fridays, when we always have comfort foods, if something is delicious and seems like it will reheat well, I bring leftovers home with me (only once I'm sure everyone else has gotten their fill!).

But of course, I'm still a snob, and I don't really want dried out or soggy leftovers.  And don't get me started on microwaves.  Besides making popcorn, a microwave has no place in my life.  So what do I do?  I waffle my leftovers.

Yes, you read that right. I waffle ... anything and everything.  My waffling obsession began nearly two years ago, and I haven't looked back since.  No, I don't incorporate ingredients from my leftovers into classic waffle batter.  I literally waffle the leftovers themselves.  Sometimes I have to crust them, but besides that, I do very little.

Sometimes, my endeavors crazy successful, and I've found items that I absolutely can't imagine reheating in any other way (like pizza!).  Other times, I wind up with something that lacks all structural integrity and I can't extract it from the waffle iron (doh! You have to crust mac and cheese before you waffle it!).  Or, worse, I've had my share of burnt messes, resulting in nothing salvageable to eat (oops, 400 degrees is too hot!).  But always, no matter the results, I have fun with it.  Obsessed?  A bit.  But, I promise, if you do it once, you will be too.

So now, dear readers, I share that fun with you.  Starting next week, Wednesdays will be devoted to waffling.  Waffling Wednesdays.  I'll link each review from this master list below. I promise you, there are some great winners in here.
Waffled Leftover Glazed Donut Sundae.

Breakfast / Baked Goods

Waffling Leftover Pizza.

Italian

Waffled Mashed Taro.

Side Dishes

Waffled Quesadilla!

Waffling Plantains.

Fruits & Vegetables

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, DFW Airport

By jewree Tuesday, January 19, 2016 , , , , ,
I recently had a layover at DFW.  By now, you probably know how I operate when I visit a new airport: I figure out what terminal I'll likely land in, and which I'll depart from.  I research the food options.  I have a plan of attack ready long before I hit the ground.

In this case, I was flying on American Airlines, and expected to both land and take off from Terminal A, which was great, as it seemed to have the best food options.  I also had ample time between my flights to sit down and have a real meal.  I planned to go to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Terminal A, for a full, sit down meal.  The restaurant gets 4.5 stars on Yelp, with hundreds of reviews ... yes, for an airport location.  That seemed unfathomable, and, even better, they serve seafood, one of my favorite cuisines.  I was excited, and had a great plan.  Or ... so I thought.  Then, strike 1: My inbound flight was delayed for nearly two hours, cutting my connection time short.  Strike 2: My outgoing flight was moved to Terminal C.  Doh.  Original plans out the window.

Of course, I found this all out while I was en route, with wifi on board, so I had time to do some quick research to come up with a new plan.  I'd just pick somewhere in Terminal C instead of my original, sit down, full dinner plan in Terminal A.  But ... the pickings in Terminal C were slim.  McDonald's.  Wendy's.  Pizza Hut Express.  Etc.  There was basically nothing I wanted.  And obviously nothing that compared to my plan to go to Pappadeaux.

I started scheming, and came up with a plan B.  We'd walk right by Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen on our way to the next terminal, so, what if I called in my order as we landed, and grabbed it on the way by?  If I ordered cold food, and, they prepared it fast, this might just work.  Sure, I couldn't get the same items I'd get for dine-in, but, compared to the other options in the terminals, it sounded like a far better option.

And indeed it was.  The plan worked like a charm, as they had their togo menu published online, along with their phone number, and even a banner invitation to call an order in.  They encouraged me to do this!

Anyway,  Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is actually a chain, although I had never encountered it before.  They do have a full restaurant at DFW, but, I can't comment much on that, nor on any of their other locations.  What I can say, is that for airport takeout, it was a great choice, as I was happy with both my salad and my dessert, and I'd gladly return (although, hopefully this time for a real meal).

Salad

Since we were getting food to go, and hoping to eat it about 20-30 minutes later, we opted to just get cold food, which was a shame, since I really wanted the crab cakes.  And the parmesan crusted flounder.  And the baked Icelandic cod with lemon garlic butter.  And the blackened catfish.  And the seafood platter with crab cakes, scallops, and fried seafood.  Omg.  Alas, we didn't have much time, so getting our order to go was a necessity, and we opted for cold food only.

Our options for cold dishes were several cold apps, like crab or shrimp cocktail, or crusted ahi, plus a bunch of salads.  While I was disappointed by not getting the hot seafood options, the salad line up was actually quite tempting too.

There were simple salads, like a dinner salad, Caesar, or Greek, all of which could have shrimp or lump crab added on top.  Then there was a very tempting classic iceberg wedge salad, with blue cheese dressing, bacon, tomatoes, carrots, and green onion (to which I'd obviously add seafood).  Don't judge, it is a classic for a reason!  But, for some reason, Ojan, who I was planning to share with, didn't want a wedge.  Continuing through the menu was a lobster and shrimp salad, served atop a mix of greens with mango and cashews, with a creamy citrus dressing, but neither of us really love lobster.  There were a few more options, but we pretty easily settled on the Seafood Cobb, as it featured crab, and it also had bacon like I wanted from the wedge.  We both love crab.
Seafood Cobb Salad, Medium, $16.99.
"Jumbo lump crabmeat & shrimp over an iceberg & spinach mix with Applewood bacon,
bleu cheese, avocado, tomato & chopped egg, drizzled with vinaigrette."

The presentation of the salad wasn't amazing, but, hey, it was takeout.

We opted to have the dressing on the side for two reasons - one, I didn't want it to get soggy, or come overdressed.  But also, the Cobb salad normally comes with a Greek-ish vinaigrette, but that is just not my style.  I'm all about creamy, indulgent dressing.  Salad can't be healthy! (Yes, I fully realize, that even with a healthier dressing, a salad with loads of bacon, blue cheese, and avocado is not exactly a healthy choice ... )  But Ojan loves Greek salad, so I asked if we could get both that dressing that was meant to come with it, plus an additional side of ranch for me.  My request was easily accommodated, and we were provided with full containers of each.

Our bag also came with some crackers in it.  Random?

Anyway, the salad.  The greens were fresh and crisp, a mix of iceberg and baby spinach, as promised.  Nothing fancy, but I have to say, sometimes, iceberg and ranch just really hits the spot.  And this really did hit the spot.

Also in the mix was red onion for some bite, carrots, and thin slices of zucchini.  The zucchini was really quite good, nicely seasoned, and, although a bit random in the salad, I loved it.  The tomatoes were bright red and juicy, and actually had some flavor ... in December.  I was really impressed with the veggies in the salad, and quite enjoyed dunking them all in my ranch.  Oh, and I did love the ranch, super creamy, horrible for me, and delicious.

There was a generous amount of protein in the salad too.  The bacon was a bit oily, but nicely crispy, and in great size chunks, not just little bits.  The bacon went great with the dressing, as did the egg, hard boiled, chopped into chunks.

And ... the seafood.  The chilled, lightly poached, shrimp was well cooked, not fishy, deveined, fine.  Shrimp isn't ever all that exciting to me, but, this was clearly fresh and decent quality.  The crab was lump meat, and again, nicely cooked, fresh seeming, not fishy.

Overall, this was quite good, and very satisfying.  Fresh, crispy veggies, quality ingredients.  Far, far superior to the takeout crab salad we got from Legal Seafoods at the airport in Philadelphia.

The salad was available in two sizes, medium for $16.99 or large for $23.89.  I read many reviews of how large the salads were, so, we opted for the medium option.  It was a generous salad, but, $16.99 did seem a bit high, even with the seafood.

Dessert

We limited ourselves to cold food, but, that can still include dessert, right?  Of course!

For dessert we had several options, including a key lime pie with graham cracker pecan crust (meh, lime), vanilla cheesecake with strawberries (tempting, but not that original), a fudge brownie sundae (never my thing), or .... sweet potato pecan pie.  Omg.
Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. $7.35.
Our visit to DFW was on our return from the east coast, where we had been visiting for Christmas.  This means that I spent the previous two weeks eating tons of sweets, and in particular, pies, basically every single day.  My mother goes a bit crazy with the sweets when I am in town, and I can't even tell you how many slices of pie, sticky buns, decadent bread puddings, etc I had while I was there.  You'd think I would have been crazy sick of sweets, and pies in particular, but ... you know me, I can't ever resist a dessert!  Plus, this sounded interesting.  Sweet potato and pecan, in one pie?

I took my first bite, and ... it wasn't love at first bite.  The top layer was pecans, toasted, like a classic pecan pie.  Under that was a thick, gooey layer, somewhat like a classic pecan pie, but thicker, and not quite as cloyingly sweet.  Somehow I expected something more like pumpkin pie, just, sweet potato, not something as sticky as this.  I didn't dislike it, but, it took a few bites for it all to sync in.

The crust also wasn't amazing.  It was fine, but not a flaky, amazing pie crust like you'd get a great bakery, or  homemade.  It was a bit hard, but not burnt.  Not exciting, and clearly not super fresh.

After a few bites, I stopped, disappointed.  I decided to try whatever was in the little container on the side.  When served at the restaurant, the pie comes with vanilla ice cream on the side, and, the takeout menu also said it came with vanilla ice cream.  I was glad to see that they didn't serve it with ice cream, since we didn't eat it immediately.  Instead, it was served with what tasted like boozy crème anglaise.  I won't ever say no to crème anglaise, and the boozy (bourbon?) flavor went nicely with the pecans.

The crème anglaise, plus my renewed expectations, transformed my experience of polishing the pie off.  I dunked every single bite into the crème anglaise.  I broke off the back crust, thinking I wasn't going to eat it since it wasn't great, and then realized I did want it ... if I could dunk it in the crème anglaise too.  The pecans never grew on me, perhaps because I just had way too much pecan pie and pecan sticky buns over the course of the previous week, but the sweet potato filling, crust, and crème anglaise did turn out to be pretty satisfying.

The shocker though was the fruit served alongside.  The strawberry wasn't very ripe and I didn't try it, but the raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, like the tomato, were shockingly ripe and flavorful, particularly for December.

So in the end, I was happy with my dessert.  The fruit was tasty, I enjoyed my pie, and literally licked the crème anglaise container clean at the end.  Far more successful than other airport dessert takeout options I've had, like the lackluster cheesecake from Romano's Macaroni Grill at ORD or the Boston Cream Pie from Legal Seafood in PHL.
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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Psycho Donuts

By jewree Thursday, January 14, 2016 , , ,
Donuts.  Glorious, glorious, donuts.

I love my baked goods, and I love sweet carbs that masquerade as "breakfast".  Thus, I obviously love donuts.  But so many fail to impress, and I don't just mean Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme.  What I really dislike are trendy donut shops, you know the type that load their donuts up with all sorts of toppings, or crazy fillings, yet are never actually good (I'm looking at you Dynamo Donuts).  The sort of places that put bacon on their donuts, just to be cool (not that I'm against bacon!).  Really, the only decent donuts that also are gimmicky that I've enjoyed came from  Fill 'R Up Gasto Garage in Los Angeles, with their made-to-order ridiculous filled and topped donuts.

Pyscho Donuts is one of those places that sounds way too trendy to be good.  Our admin brought in 4 boxes of donuts one day at our office.  I took one look at the boxes of donuts, and immediately made all kinds of assumptions.  I saw donuts topped with giant chunks of Oreo.  I saw Rice Krispies.  I saw Fruity Pebbles.  I saw bacon.  Sigh.  I read the names of the donuts, all crazy sounding, plays on mental illness.  I looked up the establishment, to find that they call the people who work in their shops "pyscho nurses".  Double sigh.

And then I tried one.  And another.

These are damn good donuts.  I am not going admit how many I had.  Woah.

I can't tell you anything about the donut shop, with locations in Campbell and San Jose.  But if you ever get a chance to try these, do it.  I tried about ... 12 different varieties, and honestly, enjoyed them all.  Yes, I tried at least 12, which sounds insane, I know.  But these were too awesome to not try as many as possible.  The fact that I didn't try all 30 or so is a testament to my willpower!

I skipped all the basic looking ones (not that any are really basic, but I skipped all the buttermilk bars, the ones that looked like they were just regular donuts with icing or glaze, and all the ones topped with cereals).  I focused on the crazy (pyscho?) looking ones.

After reading the Pyscho Donuts website, I have my eyes on a few more varieties I'd love to try, all the "premium" donuts that were not included in the offerings we had.  Perhaps I'll have to take a journey some day to Campbell, just for the donuts ...
Four Dozen Assorted Donuts. $22.95 / Dozen.
Like I said, I uh, tried a lot of these.  I did have only chunks of some of them, once others started bringing over knives to cut off portions.  But yes, I had ... a lot of full size donuts in the end.  Ooph.  I do it for you, dear readers?  (Well that is true, sometimes, who am I kidding?  I did this for me.  All for me!)

Fung Shui
"Green tea icing with dark choco chips and a hint of vanilla drizzle. Find your bittersweet balance!"

I started with this one, as it had green topping, and that just looked cool.  This was the bar shaped donut, bottom right of the front box.  I hadn't read the descriptions yet, so I had no idea what to expect.  Would it have filling?  Did the green taste like anything?  Who knew.

It was a standard raised donut, in bar form.  Light, fluffy, not too fried tasting.  Decent.  The matcha icing was fantastic, not too sweet, a little bit bitter, and the vanilla drizzle on top of that complimented it perfectly.  I loved the crunch from the tiny little chocolate chips.  Wow.  So far, so good.

[ Side note: I went back later in the day, and had another chunk of this variety.  Still quite good, my second favorite overall. ]

Vegan Donut
Inspired by the green, I went for the next green donut, the ring shaped green donut you see in the two boxes on the right hand side.  It didn't seem very interesting to me, had no real flavor, and I only learned later that it was the vegan selection.  It wasn't bad, but, it just wasn't very interesting.

Raspberry Road Rash
"Don’t fall off the donut wagon! This donut will bring you back from the skids with cheesecake icing and real raspberry dust!"

I continued my theme of being drawn in by colors.  I still hadn't read the descriptions of any of them yet.  This one had little unidentifiable red bits all over the top (top left corner round donut, front right box).  The bits were ... raspberry dust?  I think this was freeze dried raspberry?  Either way, tons of flavor, strange texture.  I didn't taste the cheesecake icing.  I wasn't really into this one.

Strawberry Fields
"Something to get hung about! Strawberry icing, freeze-dried strawberries & a Pocky stick. Deliciousness forever!"

Continuing on the red/pink theme, I went for the Strawberry Fields.  It is in the top box on the right, left hand side, behind the green donut.  This one was a square shape, glazed raised donut, not filled, with strawberry icing, bits of freeze dried strawberry, with a strawberry Pocky sticking out of it.  It was a looker, for sure.  Again, a good glazed raised donut, flavorful strawberry icing, and tasty bits of actually identifiable freeze dried strawberry.  The Pocky stick was perhaps a bit excessive.  Great for strawberry lovers.

Kooky Monster
"A customer favorite, topped with crushed Oreo cookies and blue drizzle. It will leave you all googly-eyed & wantin’ MORE !!"

Getting braver, I moved on to the Kooky Monster, topped with massive chunks of Oreo cookie (center, front box).  It was again a nice raised donut, but this one was definitely a sugar rush.  Sweet icing, massive chunks of Oreo.  Turns out, Oreo bits drizzled with even more icing are delicious.  Do they make icing glazed Oreos?  If not, they should.

Headbanger
"Death metal knocked this guy off his rocker! If raspberry jelly filling gives you a head rush, he's your head slammin’ trauma man!"

Ok, now I was ready to move on to filled donuts.  I didn't know what would be in any of them, but hey, I'm brave.  I went for the Headbanger, front box, second on the left.

It was a classic jelly donut, again, good raised donut as the base.  The jelly wasn't really my style, it was thick and gloopy.  The icing however I didn't care for ... it was just too much sweet.  I prefer my jelly donuts just dusted in sugar.  Also, perhaps I was just getting a bit sick of sweet donuts at this point.

Unnamed
This as the one in the top left box, 2nd donut up on the right.  I had no idea what it was, and it was not listed on the website either.  It looked like it was coated in cinnamon and sugar though, always a winning combination for me!

It turned out to be jelly filled, with the same jelly as the Headbanger that I didn't like.  I did like the cinnamon and sugar more than the icing though, but, this jelly just wasn't for me.

German Chocolate Cake
"A dark chocolate cake donut crowned with our house made caramel coconut concoction! Ich bin ein addicted!"

Eventually I moved on to a chocolate donut, the German Chocolate Cake.  I don't really like chocolate donuts, but, I do like coconut and caramel, so, I went for it.  This is the one on the bottom right corner of the top left box.

It was a standard chocolate cake donut, with a nice chocolate flavor, but not really my thing as expected.  The center was loaded with caramel and coconut, tasty, but, not as gooey as I'd like.  I think this was fine, just not the style that I prefer.

Suicide Squeeze
"Designed by our favorite little league team – The Psycho Donuts. They went all or nothing with Oreo dust and dark chocolate filling! "

I went for this last, just to try one that looked much different from the others.  This was the one in the top left box, second donut on the left.

It was also my hands down favorite.  The dark chocolate filling was incredible, basically, chocolate pudding.  Sweet, creamy, delicious.  The Oreo topping this one was actually crumbs, not giant chunks, and it combined great with the pudding.  It sorta reminded me of the Dirt Cake my mom used to make.  Really, chocolate pudding and oreo crumbs is just hard to resist.  So tasty.
Boston Scream Pie.
"A donut so good that it will make you scream! Skull adorned, choco frosted, and vanilla custard filling! You’ll come a-screamin’ back!"

Ok, I lied.  I obviously tried more donuts.  For Ojan, I grabbed the Boston Scream Pie, as Boston Cream is his favorite.  If you look closely, you'll see that there is a scull on this donut, sideways since I didn't realize it when I took the photo.

Oh, and I uh, took a bite before passing it off.  It was a decent donut, again, good raised donut, filled full of vanilla cream filling.  I appreciated how fully filled it was, so many places skimp on the filling.  The chocolate icing was as expected.

Good, but not my favorite donut.
Dead Elvis. $3.75.
"You’ll think you died on the throne! Cream filled, bananas, bacon, peanut butter and jelly. It’s a hunka hunka donut love!"

The final one I grabbed was because it just looked so insane.  I didn't know what it was, but I saw a raspberry swirl, I saw what looked like peanut butter topping, and slices of bacon.  It seemed like it would be filled too.  I was pretty sold into Pyscho Donuts at this point, so, why not go big?

Sadly, this one didn't quite live up.  The donut itself was good, a nice glazed raised donut.  I did like the peanut butter drizzle. The jelly drizzle however was just goo, but, it complimented the peanut butter well.  The bacon ... was soggy, and not crispy.  I liked that it had full strips though, the other bacon donuts on the menu only have bits or chunks.  Under the bacon was ... marshmallows, a bit odd, I think perhaps to hold the bacon off the donut itself?

Anyway, my real disappointment was the filling.  I expected peanut butter and/or jelly filling, and ... it was just cream filled, like Ojan's Boston Scream.  Doh.
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Location: 2006 S Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008, USA

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Bread & Cocoa

By jewree Wednesday, January 13, 2016 , , , ,
Bread & Cocoa is a cafe near Union Square.  They serve basic cafe fare such as soups, salads, sandwiches, espresso beverages, and some baked goods.  They try to provide a healthy option for shoppers in the area, and do make some of their baked goods in-house.  Reviews aren't great, but at one point they were listed on LevelUp, and I had some credits to burn, so I swung in.

Service was friendly enough, although the lines were confusing, seemingly for both patrons and the staff, as there were two registers, and no one really seemed to know who to serve next.  I tried two items, neither of which impressed.  I doubt I'll return ...
Orecchiette with Pesto Pasta Salad.  $4.75.
I read a lot of glowing reviews of Bread & Cocoa's chicken pesto sandwich, but I don't like chicken, or sandwiches really, so I wasn't actually interested in that.  But then I saw a pesto pasta salad, already packaged up, near the register.  Sometimes I can really like pesto, and pasta salad sounded perfect for the hot day.

The first container I picked up was really oily.  I'm glad I looked inside, the bottom was a huge pool of oil.  But the oil level was very inconsistent between the containers, and I found one that didn't have as much oil.

The one I picked also was much less full than the others, but since I didn't necessarily want a larger portion I was okay with that, although they really could work on the consistency here.

Also, even if it were full, $4.75 seems really pricey for such a small side dish.  This was most certainly a side, not an entree.
Inside the container.
Described as "orecchiette pasta cocked al dente, roasted red pepper, and black olives tossed in a rich pesto sauce".

I didn't like it.  The black olives were the same slices you can get in a can.  The red peppers were incredibly mushy.  And the pesto was the style of pesto that I don't like.

The only redeeming quality was the orecchiette, as it was actually cooked perfectly al dente, and was a great shape for holding in some pesto ... if I'd liked the pesto.

I certainly would not get it again, and can't believe the price for not only a small portion, but for something made with such low end ingredients.
Lavender Oatmeal Cookie.  $2.
Many of the baked goods at Bread & Cocoa come from other vendors, but they do bake the cookies in house.  I swung in one afternoon to get a drink, and decided a cookie to go with it would be a nice idea.  The other cookies all looked better, but had chocolate, which I was avoiding at the time, so I went for the interesting sounding lavender oatmeal cookie.

It wasn't the style of cookie I prefer, as the cookie was crisp, rather than soft.  It looked fluffy, so I thought it wouldn't be as crispy, but alas, crispy style.

The oatmeal base was good, and the lavender was a really interesting flavor (subtle, not too floral), but the style of the cookie made this not a winner for me.  I brought it home to Ojan, who also didn't want more than a single bite of it.

$2 for a fresh baked, large cookie seemed fine.
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Location: 199 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Catering Aboard Air Berlin, PMI-ZHR

By jewree Tuesday, January 12, 2016 , ,
Remember when I went to Mallorca almost two years ago?  You read all about my impressive First Class flight from SFO to London on British Airways (including really delicious waffles for breakfast), and the less impressive afternoon tea service on my business class flight from London to Barcelona.  And you heard about the cocktails on the beach at Playero, the epic trek across town to Club de Golf Alcanada, and even Michelin star dining at Jardín.

But somehow I forgot to publish one dining experience: the food served aboard my flight leaving Mallorca, bound for a work conference in Zurich, aboard Air Berlin.

We flew economy, because that was the only option.  The food was ... interesting.  Perhaps I didn't find this noteworthy enough to publish before?
Cheese Sandwich.
We were served one meal.

I was given the option: "Cheese or meat”.  No further description.  I didn't even know I was picking between types of sandwiches, let alone what type of "meat" or cheese it would be.  I went for cheese, having no real idea what I was getting.

It was a sandwich.  Served in a bag.

Oh boy.  The bread was a dark roll, a bit soggy, not exactly fresh, but shockingly, not horrible.
Inside the cheese sandwich.
Inside was sliced cheese, as expected given the name.  But it also had a really interesting spread, which seemed to be mayo based, plus a plethora of crunchy veggies.  There were bits of red peppers, shredded carrots, and many others that I couldn’t identify, but also things like corn kernels.  A random mix, for sure.

I didn’t hate this.  Sure, the bread part was pretty awful, but the inside was kinda like a egg salad sandwich, just without the egg ... only the mayo and tasty bits.  I did actually quasi enjoy this.
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Monday, January 11, 2016

North India Restaurant

By jewree Monday, January 11, 2016 , , , , ,
This is a story of a very poor delivery experience.

First, you know I rarely order delivery.  I have too many issues with wanting my food hot and fresh, so I'm generally just not willing to order food that I know will be sub-par.  But sometimes, it makes sense to get delivery, and in those cases, my cuisine of choice is usually Indian.  Curries hold their heat decently well, and, if they do get cold, are easy to reheat without sacrificing quality too much.  Naan can be revived decently in the toaster oven.  Rice microwaves well.  So, if you stick to the basics, indian food can be an ideal fit for delivery.

One lazy Sunday, we ordered dinner from North India Restaurant, via Delivery.com.  North India Restaurant is a fairly new place, located just a few blocks from my house.  I hadn't ever had the food before (not in person, nor delivery), but Yelp reviews seemed fairly positive, plus, its close proximity made me think the food had a chance of arriving hot.

Our order came at a time when Ojan had fairly strict requirements about when he ate (for health reasons), so I made the order in advance, at 3pm, for a 6pm scheduled delivery, to ensure it was there in time for dinner.  I was shocked to discover, at 5:30pm when I returned home, that the food had been dropped off sometime before 4pm, and just left sitting in my lobby.  Yes, it was obviously not hot at this point, and I could obviously heat it up, but I was concerned with food being  leftout for 2 hours at room temperature actually not being safe to eat.

So I called up Delivery.com and let them know what had happened, hoping they'd replace the order.  They put me on hold (for 15 minutes!) while they called the restaurant to figure out what was going on.  Finally I was told that they had pretty serious language barrier when speaking to the restaurant, but they *thought* that a new order would soon be delivered.  I was told that if nothing arrived by 6:30pm to call back, because she honestly wasn't certain that the communication had been clear, and a new order made.

Shortly after 6pm, a new order did appear.  And they threw in rice pudding as a bonus, presumably to make up for the mistake.

The food was ... mixed.  I'm still searching for good indian cuisine in this city, and, just like with Thai, I welcome any recommendations!
Chutneys.
Our food came with two little containers of chutney, one was a basic tamarind and the other some sort of green chutney.

I was happy that the restaurant included these automatically.  The green chutney was fairly fresh tasting, loaded with herbs.  I liked having both to jazz up my food and dunk my naan in.
Garlic Naan: Naan studded with garlic & cilantro. $3.95.
The garlic naan came wrapped in foil, but was stone cold when it arrived, even the second time.  The restaurant is only a few blocks away!  They clearly didn't transport the food in a heat bag.

The naan was very thin.  I prefer a puffier naan, with some char, but Ojan said he liked this style.

We ordered garlic naan, but I honestly didn't taste any garlic.  It did have cilantro.

This was totally unremarkable, and $3.95 was actually a bit pricy for a small, thin naan, particularly when compared to other places.  I probably wouldn't get the naan again, although, since I don't like rice, I really do usually require naan for my indian meals.
Saag Paneer: Cubes of homemade cheese sautéed with spinach & spice. $11.95.
My pick of dishes was saag paneer, since I adore paneer, and wanted a dish with some veggies too.  I've been on a spinach kick lately, which, of all my random obsessions, seems like a pretty healthy one, but I'm sure it won't last.  Anyway, paneer and greens was exactly what I wanted.

As you can probably guess, it was also lukewarm, but I heated it back up easily in the microwave, which didn't seem to alter the texture of the paneer.

The dish was actually quite good.  The chunks of paneer were decently sized, and there were a reasonable number of them.  The paneer wasn't rubbery, and was quite moist.  Above average paneer.

The saag was fairly fresh tasting, not too oily, although it was clearly not a light dish, I'm sure it had plenty of cream in it.

The part that impressed me was the spicing; it had a bit of kick to it, and small chunks of tomato and onion for additional flavor.

This wasn't the best saag paneer I'd had, but it was pretty solid, better than most.  I'd get it again.

$11.95 is a bit high compared to other restaurants in the area, but it was a decent portion (2 people could easily split this).
Kashmiri Chicken: Clay Oven roasted chicken cooked in butter sauce with spinach. $13.95.
Ojan's favorite dish at indian restaurants is butter chicken.  The North India menu didn't have butter chicken, but it had something we thought was going to be similar to butter chicken: Kashmiri chicken.  The description said it was cooked in a butter sauce, but it said it also had spinach.  We weren't entirely sure what to expect.

However, we weren't expecting this.  In fact, I thought that both the containers were the same, and that we just got two saag paneer, until we dug in and found chicken in one.  I still somewhat think this was chicken saagwala, not kashmiri chicken,  as it honestly tasted exactly the same as my paneer dish, just with chunks of chicken instead.

Anyway, since I don't like chicken, I didn't try the meat itself, but Ojan (and my mom who was visiting) both thought the chicken was flavorful and good, except ... loaded with cartilage and tiny bones.  They both wound up with a pile of rubble on the side of their plates from the bits they would bite into and crunch down on.  They commented that one or two pieces showing up in the mix was one thing, but this really was a remarkable amount of cartilage, to the point where it turned them off, no matter how good the flavor was.

And again, price of $13.95 seemed a bit high.
Kheer: Traditional Indian rice pudding. $3.50.
I think to apologize for the food being delivered at the wrong time, they added kheer to our order.  Since I'm a dessert girl, and a pudding girl in particular, this was very welcome.  In fact, I'd almost ordered it myself, except that I had a freezer full of ice cream I was hoping to put a dent in that night.

Sadly, this was not good rice pudding.  Short grained rice, a bit too al dente.  Really runny.  There were strange dark bits that seemed burnt stirred in.  The flavor was rather bitter.

I really, really didn't like this, and didn't even bother take a third bite (of course I took two, just to be sure ...).  Clearly, would not get again.
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Location: 123 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA