Category Archives: Dining

Recipes

Lobster-Crab Shells and Cheese

2 4oz lobster tails
4oz fontina cheese
4oz gruyere
4-6oz aged white cheddar
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of milk
16oz medium pasta shells
2-4oz butter
2-4 tablespoons flour
6oz white crab meat (usually shredded but chunk okay)
1 tablespoons of fresh or dried basil (optional)
garlic powder
pepper (white pepper optimal)

Cut lobster tails in half and let marinade in melted butter for 10-20 minutes. Fire up the grill and heat until flames burn down, and coals are grey and hot. Place tails meat side down and grill for 2-3 minutes. Turn over tails, drizzle any remaining butter into the meat, and grill for another 2-3 minutes. Lobster tails should be a nice opaque white/pink to indicate doneness.

Boil pasta shells until al dente, about 9-10 minutes, drain. Prepare the butter-flour roux in a sauce pan, mixing over medium heat, keeping the roux at a pale, creamy color. Add the cream until heated through. Meanwhile, chop into cubes or shred all cheeses (easier to shred if cheese is hardened). Stir in cheese slowly in batches, making sure that each batch is melted and incorporated thoroughly before adding the next batch. Add milk to thin the cheese sauce if necessary. Reduce heat to medium-low, continue to stir so that cheese sauce doesn’t burn. Season with garlic powder and pepper to taste.

Transfer pasta to bowl. Pour cheese sauce over pasta. Mix crab meat into pasta, fold until shells are coated with sauce and crab meat.

Remove lobster from tails and chop into chunks, then use as a topping on the pasta. Sprinkle chopped basil leaves for color and flavoring over the pasta.

Dining, Recipes

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

Being trapped indoors for nearly a week after one of Texas’ fiercest ice storms of the last decade, I had a craving for something sweet and spicy. With the larder about half empty, I was minded to whip up my own batch of spicy Thai peanut sauce–and hoped it would turn out as good as Banana Leaf’s rendition.

1 14oz can of coconut cream
1-2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil
1-2 tablespoons of curry powder
several cloves of chopped garlic
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1-2 teaspoons of sriracha hot sauce to taste

The key to cooking this peanut sauce is low and slow. Start by frying up the garlic in oil over low-medium heat until a light golden brown. Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Then add peanut butter and coconut cream, making sure to constantly stir so mixture doesn’t burn. Once the mixture reaches a creamy consistency, drizzle in hot sauce according to taste.

Serve over steamed broccoli and grilled/stir fry chicken. Makes a great dipping sauce and salad dressing too!

Dining, Reviews

Food finds part 1

SmashBurger

975 W John Carpenter Fwy
Irving, TX 75039
(214) 302-2681

Smashburger is like a movie that you’ve seen before and recognize as having a plot similar to a ripoff of a remake of a great original concept. The novelty of a Smashburger lasted only 5 seconds, then I realized I’ve made a much better burger with modest production values and a smaller budget in my own kitchen.

I spied this newest location on my way to a nearby restaurant and ducked in for a menu. I had Smashburger on my wishlist to try out for to-go and when the time came, I was almost surprised but largely disappointed.

Almost surprised to see that care went into their to-go packaging. I had to give them points for dispensing with paper bags and styrofoam and approved the use of cartons. However, any lead that Smashburger gained in the packaging department disappeared in the taste category.

Largely disappointing: for someone who likes fries with their sodium chloride, I found the Smashburger too salty and too dry (i.e. overcooked). In stark contrast I found their sides (fries and onion rings) strangely bland (and not travel-worthy). I applauded the option of VeggieFrites (I like asparagus)…though no less healthier than their other fried goods. One glaring omission was the sweet potato fries which had been billed on our receipt but was nowhere to be found.

I really wanted to like Smashburger; but the disappointing food, the steep price and the “newbie” ordering mistake means that we are unlikely to give this blockbuster bomb another review.

Rating by epicureasian: 2.0 stars
**

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

6440 N MacArthur Blvd Ste 110
Irving, TX 75039
(972) 409-7230

If one measured a burger’s success based on the number of banners, citations and awards wallpapering their dining room wall, then Five Guys Burgers and Fries must be the king of all burgers.

Mark Five Guys as another of those self-absorbed, gourmet burger-ants that’s been taking the media by storm lately. But don’t write them off completely.

Once you make it past the self-validation screaming at you from every wall in the house (it doesn’t help that Five Guys is done up in fire engine red and enamel white), you approach the register and deliver your order to the folks behind the counter, then shuffle over to a table while you wait for your food–sound familiar? Nothing new here, except that you get to snack on dry roasted shelled peanuts (not a place for those with peanut allergies) while you wait.

And still you wait when you order your food online…’coz Five Guys proudly declares their fries aren’t cooked until you get there. As painless as the online ordering process was, I found this aspect flawed. Isn’t the whole point of “ordering ahead” supposed to be “less waiting”?

However, Five Guys can be easily forgiven if judged on fries alone. I found their Cajun-seasoned fries snack-alicious–dangerous when you’re driving home, and depressing when you arrive home and discovered that you’ve snarfed down every fry in the bag–even the strays that sank to the bottom. Yes, those fries travel extremely well–if they make it home with you at all.

But a burger joint must be judged on the merit of their burgers–not their sides–and Five Guys does a passable job delivering a meaty burger. Their normal, double-patty burger is a hefty one (somewhat reminiscent of Kincaids, actually), though it suffers a little from the dryness of a “medium well-done” temperature that most places will cook to. However, I am a fan of the “one-price, any topping” concept here. With the exception of bacon and some cheeses, you can have your burger dressed in a variety of ways for the same flat price as a burger with all the fixins or plain ol’ patties sandwiched between two buns.

About those buns: on many occasions the bread threatened to fall apart with every bite. Something so flimsy shouldn’t be bookending such a beefy burger…I hope they rectify this soon.

So aside from some service snafus (mostly the long waits), Five Guys serves up a decent burger and better-than-average fries. On my burgers-to-go list, they are tops. Three point five stars when they get everything right.

Rating by epicureasian: 3.5 stars
***1/2

Dining

Blade shopping

We have a serious lack of good knives in our kitchen. While I possess a somewhat decent Chinese cleaver, I am still searching for the perfect santoku. With the holidays already here, I am aware that certain pieces of cutlery are missing from my collection.

For carving, I would like to find a decent electric knife, hopefully in a stainless steel or black finish. It’s an essential tool especially for carving turkeys and rib roasts. I’ve found a Hamilton Beach Classic Electric Knife with Case – Chrome (74275) available for sale at Target, which looks like it fits the bill.

I’m still shopping around for a santoku knife. Recently some conversations on Chowhound led me to discover a couple of sites for shopping fine santokus and other kitchen blade essentials: Sur La Table (which also has 2 locations in Dallas and Plano) and Japan Blades. At one point I had eyes only for the Shun knives, but there appears to be a world of Japanese knife makers to choose from. And the vast variety and utility of these Japanese knives have made me aware that no cook should be without a santoku, gyuto and a nakiri. (And how about converting those petty knives into steak knives?)

Even Henckels has their own line Japanese cutlery, called Miyabi. I found these while shopping for knife block sets…which would be an excellent value given that we are in dire need of some good steak knives.

If I had to settle, I found a decently priced, functional block set that I’m interested in purchasing made by J.A. Henckels International. While the International arm isn’t as revered as the German arm of Henckels (Zwilling), I believe the Forged Synergy 13-piece Knife Block set will satisfy any temporary needs for a kitchen knife set. It retails for around $140.

Dining, Reviews

Spicy lunching

Royal Sichuan

400 N Greenville Ave Ste 6
Richardson, TX 75081

I’m a fan of Sichuan cooking, having spent many a hot, sweaty mealtime hanging out at the Sichuanese on Coit Rd and Little Sichuan on Legacy in Plano. When I heard of Royal Sichuan’s opening, it went on my list of places to try.

My man and I finally made our way across town to dine there for a late lunch. At 2pm on a Saturday the place still seemed busy, all booths were occupied, as we were led to our table. The dining room was narrow, but not cramped, appointed in soothing shades of sage and tan, decorated with calm landscapes and warm woodwork. The place was comfortable and inviting, and I saw myself coming back here for this reason alone.

Our hostesses (it seemed we were beset by two or three at them at once) took our order and we were left pondering the surprises that lay in store for us.

As a starter we tried Chung’s dumplings, which came out hot and steaming along with the lamb with cumin we ordered. As we dug into the dumplings, the eggplant in garlic sauce arrived, followed by the Chongqing chicken and steamed rice. Like most authentic places, pacing of the different courses is non-existent; for this visit, we were starved and weren’t in the mood to wait for the next course.

The dumplings were slippery yet tasty, though I expected more heat and sweetness from the chili oil they swam in. Lamb and cumin had the typical flavor I’ve come to expect of this dish, except Royal Sichuan’s version was heavily garnished with cilantro–which tamed the strong flavors. The eggplant provided a perfect counterpoint to the lamb, neutral and soothing to the palate. Being both garlic fans, my companion and I heartily approved of this dish. The chicken dish was our adventurous gamble; a fiery golden mound of battered chicken arrived at our table, smothered in red chilis and green onions. The chicken had a dry salty-peppery seasoning which supplied a different texture from our previous dishes. I also enjoyed the red chilis which lent a papery texture to the dish; though my man abstained from it for the very same reason. Of course it took only one bite of the tiny sichuan peppers (huajiao?) garnishing this dish to induce a mouth-tingling explosion that is hard to erase. But the Chongqing chicken was addicting, so we carefully picked out the pepper flowers as we snarfed down the rest of the dish.

We skipped soft drinks and went with water this round; luckily our servers were extremely attentive and refilled our glasses. The damage came to nearly $40 total, and for that price, the experience at Royal Sichuan was well worth it. We’ll visit again to sample more of their menu.

Rating by epicureasian: 4.0 stars
****