Bite Me

What makes YOUR tastebuds dance?

What food is so out-of-this world amazing that you feel like you're having an out-of-body experience with every bite? 

I have to say, my most recent memory is the soft-shell crab appetizer at Hamachi Japanese Restaurant. 

What is your latest tastebud-dancing food memory? 

'Tis the season for tamales

You might be making 'em; you might be eating 'em. One way or another 'tis definitely the season for tamales.

We're just dying to know...

How many do you make? Who do you make them with?

Where do you buy them?

What makes yours different? Better?

Sweet or savory--what's your pick?

Red or green? Mole perhaps?

Big or small?

Cheese? Sauce? 

5 a day the tasty way: Purple monster smoothie

Let's face it, loving food is fun, but it wreak havoc on our bodies. For about two months, since my mid-thirties became more eminent, I decided to pump my diet with meaningful foods. Each day I have the goal of eating 5 cups of fruits and vegetables (2 of fruit and 3 of vegetables).

The problem? I'm not a fruit eater--I'll eat any vegetable on earth by the truckload, but fruits....eh. A few months ago, I found the inspiration I needed.

My friend Caroline Brownlow does this every morning as it is a great on-the-go fruit and protein packed smoothie. She inspired me to try her morning smoothie, which now I've named the Purple Monster:

1 banana (peeled)

1 small apple (skin on, no stems or seeds)

1/2 cup or so of frozen blueberries

1/2 cup or so of other frozen fruits like mango, peach, strawberry

2 cups of vanilla soy milk

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Blend. That's it. 2 people are set for the day! Instead of soy milk, Caroline uses hemp protein, flax seed, and water or milk. I have a little bit more time in the morning, so I get my fiber and protein from a flax seed English muffin and an egg.

Breakfast has never been more complete, flavorful, or easy. Not expensive either! Thank you Caroline for inspiring the Purple Monster--it's become hard to imagine life without it!

Duck, duck....wait, where's my duck?

As I was doing my usual blog, work, facebook dance, I was chatting with my friend Bianca. We were, of course, talking about food. We were discussing what makes a meal or a dish really, really good--to die for good--and she said: something that makes your taste buds dance. 

I loved the image, so I thought I'd post it on Bite Me--and I will. But then I asked her, "What makes YOUR taste buds dance?"

This is what she answered:

The crispy duck with a sweet glaze reduction and substituted risotto (I'm not a fan of sweet potato) that I ate at Landry's actually....the duck was JUST right...crispy but juicy...The glaze was a little too sweet for me....but the duck was good enough that it needed only a dollop of the glaze...

I said, "Bianca, I have to post this! I have to tell people...." You see, Bianca knows her duck. She goes to at least once a year NYC and eats duck at The Peking Duck, and she raves about it. She says that one is taste bud ecstasy. She gives the Peking Duck duck a 10 and the Landry's duck a 7.

"There's a catch," Bianca said. "They stopped serving it last week because it was part of a special menu. But maybe the manager will bring it back, or maybe you can special order it."

Well, can you? Does anyone know? Does the Landry's manager care to chime in?

The Tap secret: From the hose to the straw

If you haven't been to this El Paso landmark, please consider it. If you have, then you know. The Tap is a bar downtown on San Antonio Avenue with the kind of character that makes tourists love our town and local ex-pats miss it. It is a place for everyone. It is a force. 

In Tap humor, I ordered the carne seca preparada, which consists of thinly sliced beef jerky in a clamato concoction. I will let you know that if you didn't grow up with this stuff, and even if you did, you might cringe a little and well, you might not like it. I found it heavenly. I enjoy beef jerky, and in Juarez I used to eat it soaked in lime juice with a few squirts of chile sauce.

Even so, I had never had something quite like this.

My friend Mike and I fought it, ate it, gave it a rest, and then slurped the juice through the straw. What a simple yet strange thing. This is what Mike said when he e-mailed me the photos from our Tap visit:

You could say it was Nigerian Goat's Blood soup (served raw) and no one would know the difference. It looks evil, like something ladled from a bubbling cauldron by a witch like one of the three that told Macbeth he was gonna be the new boss man, chanting incantations and voice trailing off in madness. Tell me you can't visualize that transpiring in the tiny Tap kitchen. The red lighting at the Tap only adds to the malevolent look of the photos.

The best part though is that I could have sworn the concoction tasted like chamoy. You know, that savory sauce made of pickled fruit? Well, not so much. When I asked the server she said: Chamoy? No, no, es que el jugo de tomate es de manguera. 

Of course, how could I think anything else. The tomato juice is from the hose. The bar hose. That's why it's so good. What???

Hillarious, tasty, and unforgettable is The Tap. From the hose to the straw. 

               

What do I need to do to get some good service around here?

It seems the biggest complaint around the El Paso restaurant scene is the quality of the service, particularly at some of the "nicer" and more expensive establishments. I've heard this qualm at all levels of the food chain (from the restaurant owners and managers to the diners). Except, I haven't quite heard from the waitstaff. 

The complaint from the top is the difficulty getting knowledgeable, dependable, long-term staff. Diners complain that servers are too friendly, not friendly enough, not knowledgeable, not prepared for a higher quality dining experience, talk on their cell phones, etc. In other words, not well trained. But how can a manager train a staff that is here one day and not there the next? Sounds like a dilemma to me. 

My hypothesis is that we don't see waiting tables as a respectable profession. When I say "we," I mean everybody in general. In Mexico, i.e. Juarez, a server takes the profession seriously and makes a decent living from it. It is a life-long career. And in places like Chicago, it is the same deal. It is a career. 

What can we do so that more of us see waiting tables a professional, respected career? What do you think? Is service a problem? How do you propose we solve it?

2900 has a new chef: Adam Alper

Adam Alper, former Greenery chef, has joined the 2900 team. This is indeed good news, El Paso. After working at the Greenery, Alper went to Juarez to lead the Super Rapiditos Bip Bip food operations, and then he was a key player in the launching of Aroma in Juarez. 

A good friend of mine shared this news with me, and she said that the new menu at 2900 is looking very good. I am intrigued and looking forward to trying it. This prompts the question: will people re-visit the 2900 idea?

Upscale bakeries are not a dime a dozen

Recently, a reader wrote in with this question:

Jonathan Bowden the pastry chef of the Greenery left and the quality of the pastry in the shop is really not the same anymore! Do you know if he is affiliated with any other place in El Paso and where in general we can get good pastry in El Paso?

First, thank you for sending in your question--keep them coming!

I've done a little digging, and I don't know if Jonathan Bowden is still in El Paso. I do know that the Greenery has a baker, but I don't think they have a pastry chef per se. 

So here are some ideas. Apparently the owners of Cafe Italia on Mesa have opened up a bakery that is open for breakfast and lunch. It is also on Mesa, but I don't know the exact location. I think it is across the way near Savers and Tuesday Morning, but we'll need to verify. If you like their pizza (which I think is terrific), their bread and other baked goods are worth trying. 

Some people like the bread and pastries at International Bakery on Mesa or the Pastry Chef on Shadow Mountain. And others go to two German bakeries on the East side--Peter's on Viscount and Marina's on Trawood. I know there are a ton of Mexican bakeries throughout town. But I think that if you're looking for Greenery quality goods you might not get exactly what you want.

As for me, I generally I opt bake my own sweets. But sometimes I use shortcuts like buying phyllo dough or puff pastry from a good baker, and then just make my own fillings.

I wish we had an equally-upscale substitute, but we don't. Unless the Cafe Italia bakery takes us to new heights, I'm afraid we have a hodge podge of options to work with.... 

The one and only Borunda Park hot dog...

 Photo by reader Rene Lopez (submitted through Facebook)

Ahh, the famous Borunda Park hot dog in all of its splendor. What makes it so special? Where do you get this dog on this side of the river? 

The best salad under $8.00

A few weeks ago I posted one of my salad experiences. It was a bad experience where "all the leaves were brown" at the DFW airport's Au Bon Pain.

This got me thinking. We want our society to eat more vegetables, but we don't make it easy. And sometimes healthier choices entail having extra time and/or extra money. 

Still, somewhere deep inside, I refuse to believe this. There's got to be a way.

So I'm launching a bit of a test here. What's a reasonable price for a salad (or comparable food item) and a drink? $8.00?

I nominate...brace yourselves...McDonald's.

                    
This is my Southwest salad. I ordered it with crispy chicken so as to not get hungry in a matter of two hours. It was tasty, light (even with the crispy chicken and tortilla strips--I know what some of you are thinking!), and I only found four pieces of wilted lettuce in it. Got it at a west side Mickey D's. Oh, and I paid about $6.50 with a beverage.

What salad under $8.00 do YOU think gives you the most bang for the buck, and why (we'd love to see pictures)?

Monday, December 07, 2009 UPDATE

I'd like to add a picture of Wally Thompson's salad from La Casita:

                                                              

For $6.95, Wally, that looks great! Where is La Casita exactly?