Ladyheat @ Rudyard's

Went out last night to see an old friend play in his band before they depart H-town for LA. Started out at Maria Selma's for some Mexican fare, and had the ceviche (very yummy) and duck flautas, which were basically glorified taquitos, but the mole' sauce was good, and I normally can't stand mole'.

Rudyard's was not completely crowded, but close to it, and they seriously need to do something about their parking situation (unfortunately that applies to MANY places in town as well). It's a total dive, as many good places in town are. The bar was open downstairs with a good crowd on the patio (ah, the weather here in April - you can't beat it!). The bands were playing upstairs, and there was a $12 cover - a bit high I thought, but as it turns out there were three bands instead of two. The first band either did not announce themselves very loudly, or I simply did not catch it, and they weren't advertised to be there so I'm at a loss for identifying them. They had a very eclectic range, with some of the faster songs bordering on a punk sound. When they slowed it down it was somewhat reminicent of '80s Prince and The Cure. They had a very interesting set, to say the least.

Ladyheat took the stage and woke the crowd up. Blake on lead vocals has the punk swagger down perfectly, and didn't miss a beat between hanging from the rafters, writhing on the floor, grinding with the ladies, and playing jump rope with his mic cable. The punk influence on their sound is apparent, but with a modern, more melodic spin much like Jet. They do not disappoint a live crowd, nor do they skimp on audience participation. There is a fantastic energy to their show, and by the end of the first song they had the whole room on their feet.

Because I'm old like that, and because it was a freaking Tuesday night, I didn't stay for all of the Mike Watt set. His influence on the Chili Peppers is widely known, and he had the crowd jumping as I made my way out. I love a night full of good music and good food.

Greek Pasta Salad

When I visited Arizona recently, we made a fabulous pasta salad at my aunt's house with a bunch of stuff we found in her fridge. I wanted to try to recreate the recipe, and I think I came fairly close, with a few additions/changes of my own. It made a HUGE bowl full, so I'm glad it's good because I'll be eating it for a while. Good thing pasta salad is even better after it's been refrigerated!

Greek Pasta Salad

1 lb. penne pasta
1 bellpepper (I prefer the colored ones instead of green - less tangy taste)
1 pkg. baby portobella mushrooms (sliced)
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts
3 oz. pitted Kalamata olives (about 24 olives)
2 Tbsp. non-pareil capers
10 oz. feta cheese
1/4 cup black beans (canned/cooked)
1/4 cup yellow corn (canned fresh)
1/4 cup pico de gallo
salt
pepper
olive oil
garlic/garlic powder

boil pasta, drain
saute mushrooms and diced bellpepper in olive oil and garlic until slightly tender
mix all ingredients in large bowl with drained pasta
add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste

Apple Dump Cake

This was an easy recipe I got from a coworker, and it makes a yummy dessert or coffee cake. The main prep work is peeling apples. The rest is a breeze, and mostly stuff you probably already have in your cabinets:

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4-5 cups apples, peeled and sliced fairly thin

Sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix everything except apples in a large bowl until even. Stir in apples. Add nuts or raisins if desired.

Spread mixture into a greased 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

I used 6 honeycrisp apples because I like their sweetness, and it was just enough. I was also able to fit the cake into an 11x8 inch pan (2 inches deep) and it turned out fine. It is wonderful reheated!

Dim Sum for Lunch

Although my favorite place for dim sum is Ocean Palace (lunch only), I wanted to try to make some myself. I went for pork siu mai for my first try, and they turned out really good! I followed this recipe, but cut it in half since I didn't need so much food for me alone:

3 dried Chinese black or Shiitake mushrooms
6 ounces peeled deveined large shrimp
1 green onion
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3/4 cup ground pork
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
about 20 gyoza wrappers (or won ton wrappers cut into circles).
Preparation:
Soften the mushrooms by soaking in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Squeeze out any excess water. Cut off the stems.

Soak the shrimp in warm, lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Pat dry. Mince the mushrooms, shrimp, and green onion. Combine with the ginger and pork. Stir in the seasonings. Mix the filling ingredients thoroughly.

Lay a gyoza wrapper in front of you. Wet the edges. Put 2 to 3 teaspoons of filling in the middle, taking care not to get too close to the edges. Gather up the edges of the wrapper and gently pleat so that it forms a basket shape, with the top of the filling exposed.

Steam over boiling water until the filling is cooked through (5 to 10 minutes).

I used fresh mushrooms instead of dried so I wouldn't have to go through the soaking process. Shiitake worked really well for me. I also have a bamboo steamer for my wok, so the steaming process took longer, but I think they turned out better for it. The baskets are fairly inexpensive and can be found all over like Cost Plus or Bed Bath & Beyond, or even Target. I lined my steamer with lettuce leaves (cabbage leaves are typically used). My steamer is two-tiered, so I let the bottom tier steam for 30 minutes, and then ate while the top tier steamed for about another 8 to 10 minutes or so. I sliced some fresh cucumber with peppercorn ranch dressing as a side, and had some loose-leaf Jasmine tea with my lunch. The loose tea is best with more fragrant teas like chamomile, jasmine, or any flower teas. My favorite is the Republic of Tea Jasmine Jazz.

Counting Calories

I decided to get a little more serious about my dietary intake, so after doing a bit more internet surfing, I entered my information in the handy little calculators on the MSN health and fitness page. This will tell you how many calories you are currently burning as well as calculating your calorie target in accordance with how much weight you want to lose, and how long it will take to lose it.

The best results seem to come from people who keep a food journal, and I know this is a common practice in most of the major diet programs, so the most detailed (and free) one I found is My Calorie Counter.com. You can keep track of all your meals, and enter the information yourself if your food isn't listed in their vast cache.

Top Chef Finale

Well, I was wrong about the outcome of this season for the first time since the show aired. I was expecting Richard to take the prize home, but it seems he lost momentum in the end, and the win was for Stephanie - a first for Top Chef to have a female winner. Still, it was a great season and I enjoyed it - yum!

And the Penguins win it!

Last night's Top Chef episode had them in groups for the first time. The quickfire challenge asked them to spend $25 on only five items from the farmer's market, and Mark won with his steak dish despite the fact he had left one of his items behind at the market. The groups were formed for the elimination challenge for a zoo event. Each group had an animal that they had to create a menu using items from those animals' actual diets. I was surprised the vulture team did so well, but it was Andrew and his penguin team that eventually won, with both his fun glacier gelee and tasty squid ceviche. I'm a huge fan of ceviche, but have yet to try it with squid. I'll bet it comes out less chewy than when it is cooked or raw. So this time the chef that was sent packing was Valerie, who did her olive blinis ahead of time making them less palatable. Unlike the other two in the bottom, she did not have a second menu item to redeem herself. I couldn't help but make the comparison between her and Rachel Dratch from SNL - I wonder if they are related???

Top Chef begins!

The new season of Top Chef began last night, and I have so far been able to pick the winner from the first episode with each season. This season's group seems to have a bit more pedigree, but we'll have to see if that translates onto the plate. The quickfire pizza challenge was a little predictable seeing that they met in a pizza place - any of the contestants that were surprised by this should have studied the last few seasons a bit more carefully. The elimination challenge was interesting in that they immediately paired up some rivals. I couldn't help but laugh when Richard chose Andrew and then proceeded to show him up in every way. I can tell Andrew is going to be fun to watch. I felt bad for the two that had to make souffle' but as Tom said, you should be prepared to compete with at least the basics of food preparation, and souffle' is one that every culinary school graduate should be able to make. The challenge ended with Stephanie as the winner with her take on duck l'orange. The judges always seem to favor wild game that is well-prepared, and the color of the duck looked perfect. The eliminated party was Nimma, who presented a very boring-looking shrimp scampi which consisted of two shrimp and a puddle of cauliflower goo. Plus it was apparently really salty too - ick. Maybe she should have loosened up with the others and drank a little champagne, since she was only there for the one night.

I think they put a little too much emphasis on the lesbian couple - I don't really think it should effect the others much. I am expecting big things from Dale, Jennifer, Lisa and Stephanie, but my pick for season winner is Richard, who seems to have an impressive wealth of knowledge, an ability to remain cool under pressure, a sense of good sportsmanship, and he doesn't come across as cocky, just confident. We'll see...

Food, food, food...

Perhaps in anticipation of the newest season of Top Chef starting this week, it was most definitely the weekend of eating out for me. Starting out on Friday night with a very filling dinner at El Rodeo Mexican restaurant in north Houston, I had a smothered snapper (everything is good covered in cheesy sauce!) and a very interesting drink that seemed like a cross between a margarita and a spicy bloody mary.

On Saturday night we had a lovely (but pricey) dinner at Smith & Wollensky. The atmosphere is nice, the service is excellent, and the food is good, but not nearly good enough to demand the high prices they do. I'm sure a lot of the price has to do with the name of the restaurant, but inflating wine prices and charging $40 for a bland cut of beef with no sides included is a bit much.

We rounded out the weekend with a bit of Korean barbeque at Seoul Garden in the Little Korea part of town. With a couple of appetizers and the thin-sliced marinated beef for two, we were stuffed! Great end to a weekend of eating... now, off to the treadmill!

Sushi Nite!

As we had cause for some celebrating last night, we decided to go out for some sushi. I tend to overlook the Miyako chain since I like frequenting the smaller out-of-the-way places, but I have to rave about our experience last night. It was very quiet, probably typical for a Monday. We sat on the Japanese-style side, taking our shoes off and the whole bit. They had a few choices of unfiltered sake, which is sometimes unavailable at many places. We decided to go with the sui mai, seared ahi tuna special, a crunch roll and some assorted sushi. Everything was wonderful, especially the tuna and crunch roll. We were stuffed, and the price was fairly reasonable considering the quality of the food and the fact that we had sake with dinner as well. Next time we're going out for sushi, I won't be so quick to dismiss Miyako's!

Finally saw the Toadies...

After my last final of the semester last night, I joined a group at Hard Rock Cafe for some drinks and appetizers before the Toadies concert at Verizon Theater. Our waiter was very nice, but it does seem like they purposefully hire people who look like they are in a band to wait tables there, and whomever the bartender was - he was awful. The drinks were poorly mixed, took forever (the food came out before the drinks did) and one of them came out in a glass so cracked we were afraid it would shatter at the table.

As for the show, I was glad to have the opportunity to see them live, since I missed them prior to their break-up, and also the farewell tour earlier this year. They do play a very good live show, and the fans were eating it up. Lots of moshing, lots of crowd-surfing; some songs incited some lighter-waving, and LOTS of people were singing along. It was good to see the fan appreciation - hopefully it will encourage them to work together again in the future. Anyway - a really good show, but it seemed like the two brief encores were a little forced. I would go see them again - if they manage to get back together.

Caught a couple of new flicks this weekend. On Friday we took in a fabulous steak dinner at Texas Land & Cattle, and then headed over to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to watch American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Although the movie was very good, we made the mistake of going to the late show, and this film is LONG. We were falling asleep by the end of it, and didn't leave the theater until after 1:00 am. It seems they tried to make it a little of everything: cop movie, action movie, drama, love story, etc. It ends up feeling a little like overkill by the end, and you end up just waiting for it to end. It also didn't help that the movie cut off twice and we had to wait for them to turn it back on, but we did get free movie passes out of the situation.

While there, we discovered they were showing a sneak peek of The Golden Compass the following night, so we decided to come back. This time we ate in the movie, and it was yummy. Watching this film reminded me of Stardust, Narnia and Eragon. It seems like they are searching for the next Harry Potter with this new crop of fantasy movies derived from popular children's novels. It also doesn't help that it is being touted as an athiest movie because of the author's beliefs. Children are smarter than we give them credit for, and if you attach your agendas to something to try to make them swallow it, they will resent you for it. That being said, and looking at the movie in a strictly objective way, it fell short for me. The girl was very good in her role, and the scenery was fantastic, but sometimes the CG animals were way too CG, and they could have made the story feel more complete rather than preparing you for the inevitable trilogy that MUST follow any moderately successful movie nowadays. Frankly, it makes me as weary to wait for the next installment as it did to watch the end of Eragon.

Happy Thanksgiving and all that stuff...

Wow, long weekend, lots of stuff happening. Started out with the holiday, of course. Lots and lots of food and hanging out with the family. Probably put on a few pounds, but whatevs. Friday we headed over to the Marq'E to see Beowulf in 3-D, and the early show was sold out, so we killed some time at the Dave & Buster's that used to be Jillian's. The entire shopping center over there looks like a cemetary of shops that once were. It's disappointing that they put so much money into that center, and it seems that nothing can stay open except Cafe Adobe and the Cinema.

Let me start off by talking about the Dave & Buster's. It is not located very far from the other, bigger, and better location on Richmond. You would think they would provide excellent service to ensure they will remain open. However, each employee we came across was rude and indifferent. I'd rather drive to the other location and get a better experience. It is nice that they have lowered the price on the games, and the tickets you win on some of the midway games can be conveniently counted and put on the same card you have for gameplay.

Next we headed to Cafe Adobe, a place that I have had bad experiences at before, but usually at the other Westheimer location. This time was fine, but I can't figure out how they run their service. Our waiter seemed to be overloaded with tables, and he had a team of lesser-experienced people running food out for him. Why not train everyone equally, and have good service for each table without the long wait? We only ordered drinks and an appetizer, and we were there over an hour and a half.

Now for the movie: I was very pleasantly surprised. I was skeptical because previous all-CG movies I have seen have left me wanting, but this one, perhaps partially because it was in 3-D format, worked beautifully. The characters were not as wooden as I expected, and the creatures were extremely intense. The Grendel character was a surprise, and you really feel for him as you do for Gollum in the LOTR movies. If you are debating on seeing this movie, go see it in 3-D before it is gone from the theaters. You won't be disappointed.

On Saturday morning we headed out to the Renaissance Festival once more on the last weekend, but it was very cold, very wet, very muddy, and not very fun. The folks that work there were doing their best to put on a cheerful face for the few that showed up, but it wasn't working to keep the crowd there.

Yesterday evening was full of merrymaking for our friends Betsey and Mandy who were having a dual birthday celebration. We started off the night at Chuy's Tex-Mex restaurant on Westheimer, and it was crowded as usual. The service was good, but the poor girl was so overworked that she kept forgetting drinks and such. It took a very long time to order, but the food came out in a reasonable amount of time, and it was good. They do need more servers for their busy nights, though.

After dinner, it was on to the Mezzanine Lounge, a sports bar that has numerous large flat-panel TVs, and several lounge areas. Our group settled in an upstairs lounge, and we were so very Texan and boisterous that we offended some Kansas fans who were trying to watch a football game in peace and quiet... at a sports bar. Well, I can't say we felt very sorry for them, and they looked a little silly waving their stalks of wheat around anyway. Since our group was large, we were treated to some free drinks, and the birthday girls got some huge fishbowl birthday drinks. I actually got one too because the bartender made an extra, and they handed it to me since my birthday had been fairly recent. We had jello shots and cupcakes courtesy of the birthday girls, and watched Kansas and Missouri battle a close game.

Finally we ended the night at Etro Lounge, a bar just off Montrose that specializes in retro music. The club is decked out very cool, and it isn't too big or too small, and if you like 80's music, the DJ is terrific. We had a great time dancing, drinking and hanging out. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Greek Fest

I was able to take in the food at the annual Greek Festival this weekend. In case you missed it, the food was fabulous, when you could get it. They run out quick, so my advice if you plan to attend next year: go early. Don't wait until Sunday.

Ziggy's Sunday Brunch - not so nice

I will NOT be sampling the fare of Ziggy's "Healthy" Grill again. Whether this was the fault of new management, new cook, or a combination of the two, our experience on Sunday was not a pleasant one, and might have been ugly if we'd have stayed any longer. We had a party of about ten people, seated ourselves and then ordered our food at the counter after all our party arrived. Although we all ordered at about the same time, the three people who had salads and/or sandwiches got their food in about 20 minutes. I got my burger after waiting 40 minutes, and the rest of the group had to wait over an hour for their burgers. We tried to laugh it off and enjoy ourselves, but we also wanted the management to know about the inconvenience, so we reported it to our waiter and asked what he could do to remedy the situation. He gave us a list of excuses, the topmost one being that they have a new cook, and the best he can do is to tell him to hurry. This is when the agitation began. After a few more complaints, we asked to speak to the manager, at which we were told that the whiny little dude who was supposed to be our waiter was also the manager. He then proceeded to argue with our group and tell us he was putting his ass on the line for us. Wha???? Anyway, the scene began to get ugly as some of our group began demanding free desserts, and then refusing to eat them after the whiny pseudo-manager brought them out. (I was not about to eat one for fear of what was being done to them in the kitchen - nor did I ask for one.) Finally, the scene turned into an all-out argument, at which I could no longer hold my tongue, and I told the whiny dude rather loudly that he was only making it worse with his piss-poor attitude. At which I excused myself and left with a rather unsettled stomach. Final summary - too much trouble for cold food. I can eat healthy at home.

Cafe Adobe - bad night out

Normally I really enjoy Cafe Adobe, but my most recent trip (Thursday the 7th) left much to be desired. Our group was abnormally large (at least 30 people), and though we tried to warn them in advance, they not only insisted that they do not accept reservations, but they seemed very annoyed that we overran their bar area until they could find suitable seating for us. It took forever to get drinks at the bar - I know I waited at least 30 minutes for a freaking margarita. Then they closed the tab without telling anyone because they claimed our table was ready - a lie, I tell you... LIE!!! It was another 20 minutes before we were seated... all at one long table. We were given ONE waiter for the entire group, and the dude came by three times trying to take drink orders before we had to explain to him that WE WERE HUNGRY and wanted to order dinner, not drinks!! Naturally, one end of the table was served before the other, so people on the far ends were alternately getting served and getting up to leave all at the same time. Oh, and my food was cold when I got it. Top it off that the window was leaking rain water all over the floor, and it was an eventful dinner. Hint for big groups - go elsewhere!