Dinner Tonight: Spicy Chicken Sliders

I've been longing to write in this blog for a long time. Every time I cook or eat I think, at least briefly, damn, I want to write about this.

So, you know, I should.

I tried making chicken sliders tonight for the first time, and I loved how they came out. They were a great blend of sweet and spicy.

But before I get into sharing what I did and how I did it, I want to share my approach to cooking. Basically, I make it up as I go along. Unless it's something particularly complicated or something utterly foreign to me (and even then, I make some embellishments), I tend to use recipes as a guideline. I've never met a recipe I don't think I can improve upon.

Usually, I'll spend the day thinking on and off about what I'm cooking (namely, a protein), and I'll just let ideas float around until I think of something that sounds yummy. Sometimes I'm obsessing about a particular ingredient (capers is a common one), so I'll craft a meal around that. I'll look up recipes and read articles, too, if I feel I need a little inspiration.

So, for tonight's dish, I had these organic chicken sliders that I'd been wanting to use, and I thought it'd be fun to cook them up for my son. I'd been thinking since yesterday that I'd grill them and use King's Hawaiian sweet rolls (I wanted the honey wheat ones but couldn't find them, so I went with the original ones). But when I started cooking today, I realized I wanted a kick to counterbalance the bread's sweetness. I very quickly came up with the following:

The sliders are labeled "classic seasoning," whatever that is. I figure it might contain salt and decide not to add any more. With the chicken on the grill, I season both sides with cayenne pepper and oregano leaves, and nothing else. I let it cook through, get some brown on both sides, then add shredded mozzarella cheese on top of each one and let it melt. As it was melting, I poured on some hot sauce. After a couple of minutes, they were done and ready.

I was happy with how they came out. They had a good kick that complemented the bread's sweetness. The patties themselves were tasty and substantial (two sliders and I was full). We had them with a side of Terra chips, and all was good.

Now, I should have taken some pictures, but I didn't even think about it until I was done and the sliders were gone. Given that I once used to photograph everything I ate, this is inexcusable, but well, nothing I can do about it now.

Just take my word for it: they were yummy and you should totally try it yourself.

Looking at it this Way, We're Pigs

I've been meaning to write here because lately, my boyfriend and I have been trying out a bunch of restaurants (some new to us, others new to one of us, others revisits to old favorites), and I wanted to run down the list of places and see if any of them are favorites of yours.

It all began the weekend that everything changed between us (if that story is what interests you, I vaguely discuss it here). Well, you know, not really. When we were still just friends, we ate out a lot and tried some places together, the standout from that time being Red Light (wow wow wow; we've been talking about going back soon). What can I say? We're both foodies.

Anyway. There was a Sunday morning where, at his suggestion, we headed out to Wagons West, because he liked it and I had never been. Great breakfast - it was pretty standard stuff - eggs, bacon, home fries; I tried cornbeef hash for the first time, and it was different, but tasty.

From there, in no particular order, we've had a steady diet of Sir Pizza, Taqueria El Mexicano, Casola's, Bella Italia, Randazzo's Little Italy, Shibui, Matsuri, La Moon, Einstein Bagels, Big Pink, Cheeseburger Baby, Swensen's, and Red Koi. Plus, of course, my own home cooking.

Keep in mind, we're together just every other weekend, when my son is with his father. And this list covers just the last couple of months. That's a whole lot of restaurants; I didn't realize till now we'd been dining out so much. (Note to self: save money and stop eating out so much).

Still, we've got some more places we've already made plans to check out, starting this Sunday with brunch at Michael's Genuine. Also on deck: Osteria del Teatro, a yet-to-be-picked Mexican joint in Homestead, Por Fin, and a Thai place near his house we're both very curious about.

All in all, I've had some really good, sometimes really, really great meals lately, and I'm excited about the places left to try.

Thoughts on any of these places? Please share!

These Mariquitas are Killing Me

I haven't been this obsessed with a particular food in so long. I remember that I bought a pack of sweet plantain chips because I'd never seen those before (not to be confused with regular plantain chips, which are all over the place, made by a bunch of different brands, and made from green plantains) and I thought it'd b fun to try.

But not being much of a chip person, I left them in my cupboard for weeks before I busted them out for a little birthday gathering I recently had. I nibbled on one as I poured the bag into a bowl, and my life changed forever.

I should say that platanos maduros, or sweet plantains, are among my top 3 favorite foods ever. This is a staple in a Cuban home, and I can't ever get enough of them. So that the chip version of these would blow me away so completely is not much of a surprise, but I'm fascinated by how freakishly obsessed I've become with them.

How obsessed, you wonder? I eat about 3/4 of a bag every day. Seriously. Every single day for some weeks now. Thank g-d they're trans-fat free and that the bags are small. I can't believe it took me this long to discover them, though I'd swear they weren't in my local markets until recently.

People, they're so good. So, so, so good. They're sweet and crunchy and a perfect snack version of the traditional platano maduro. You have to try them. You have to keep an eye out for the word "sweet" on the bag (or maduros or maduritos), otherwise you'll just be getting the regular salty kind.

Seriously, go try these now.

Restaurant Review - Moonchine Asian Bistro

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a girl I had never met asking me if I had ever been to Moonchine Asian Bistro in the MiMo district (MiMo refers to the Miami Modern style of architecture that became popular in the post-war era). When I replied that I hadn’t and that I hadn’t even heard of it, Kelley - their Marketing Coordinator - invited me to check it out. After a couple of messages back and forth we agreed that my husband and I would go the following Sunday for brunch.

So Sunday morning Hubby and I were there at 11:00 a.m. We parked in the attended parking lot behind the restaurant on the corner of Biscayne and 71st street and walked towards the back door. Well, the “back” is where the restaurant has their Garden 71 Lounge, which is really nice and open for the brunch - in fact except for August there’s live music for the brunch between 1 and 3 p.m. - but it was way too hot for eating outdoors so we made our way inside.

The space is small and a bit crowded, but not uncomfortable. It has a funky, quasi-industrial look with a sushi bar and a full liquor bar and both regular tables as well as table and couch combos. Service, while friendly, was spotty with staff not really knowledgeable about what was available and what was included with the brunch. Later, however, the Manager and Co-Owner who everyone calls Apple came by to introduce herself and explained the menu a bit more. I even got to meet the chef who everyone calls Chef Moo! They were both very nice and answered all my silly questions - that's them in the picture.

The price for the brunch, officially called “Brunch and Beats” (except for August which is “beatless”), is $15.95 and does not include any beverages. The food however is varied, unique and plentiful. We started with what can be considered appetizers. Between my husband and I we tried them all - tuna and salmon sushi which were good and fresh; Gyoza or dumplings - both steamed and fried - the fried were fine, but the steamed were fantastic; fried spring rolls which were good and Vietnamese spring rolls with all kinds of good stuff wrapped in rice paper which were amazing; and what they called Sushi Salad that tasted like a really good and tangy ceviche. They mentioned that soup was available, but it was too hot to even look for it. I’ll check it out next time.

There weren’t really any breakfast items, except maybe the omelet, but the entrée options were great. I tried them all - the sacrifices I make for you people! In order to get a taste of everything I placed a scoop of white rice in the center of the plate and proceeded to put a bit of each item around the rice making little rice barriers between them - a veritable feat of food engineering.

I started off with the Pad Prig Kingfish - the fish was perfectly tender with a slightly spicy sauce and a hint of citrus that I later found out was lime leaf. Then I had the Cashew Chicken which was very good, not too spicy. As soon as I saw the Vegetable Pad Thai I went for it - I love Pad Thai and I’ve eaten it everywhere I could - this may be the best I’ve had. The chopped peanuts contrasted beautifully with the slightly sweet flavor and the veggies were fresh and crisp. But then…I tried the Green Curry Chicken. OH. MY. GOD. I could eat a bucket of this stuff - seriously one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The dish consists of tender pieces of chicken, not overdone at all, chunked Chinese eggplant, pieces of green bell pepper in coconut milk with a generous amount of fresh basil. The smell was amazing but that taste was sublime. For the brunch they only had chicken, but the menu indicates you can get the Green Curry with your choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu and for an additional charge, shrimp. The Green Curry alone is worth the trip.

After I got over my green curry bliss I had to focus on dessert. There were only three options: fresh fruit, Greek-style yogurt to which you could add fresh fruit and cereal or a Thai dessert called Sakoo which is a tapioca and coconut milk pudding. The sakoo was good, but I had to deal with the consistency of the tapioca pearls - once I got over that I really liked it. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been chilled, but it is correct to serve it room temperature as well. Of course “room temperature” in Miami in August is probably warmer than what the recipe considers.

Apple joined us again after our meal and offered us their house-made Ginger liqueur served in chilled shot glasses. She explained that she takes ginger root and lets it sit in vodka for 45 days and then chills it. It was so smooth, no strong flavor just nice and refreshing. She explained that the ginger helps after dinner when you feel full and just helps digestion in general. She calls the liqueur Moonchine like the restaurant but pronounces it “moonshyne” - and it actually looks like moonshine - but it sure doesn’t hurt like moonshine! The bar makes a Moonchine Martini with it which sounds delicious…

We will definitely return to Moonchine to try the regular menu, but I’m going to wait till it gets cooler so we can sit outside. I must have more of that Green Curry!

It's that time again...

Yes boys and girls, it's time for Miami Spice! Lunch is $22 and Dinner is $35.

Go to I Love Miami Spice.com to check out the participating restaurants. A lot of the old stand-bys are there, but there are some new additions - among them some of the brand new restaurants at the billion-dollared remodeled Fontainebleau Hotel.

Enjoy!

Restaurant Review - Ta-Zin Restaurant

Last week, two friends and I had dinner at Ta-Zin Restaurant on Jefferson Avenue in Miami Beach. The place is beautiful inside - and outside there's fake camel at the door! Needless to say a picture had to be taken. When we arrived we were seated at a big, beautiful booth - decorated with pillows and fringe and candles and Moroccan knick-knacks.

Our server came right over with water and delicious Moroccan home-made bread with seasoned olive oil and a small bowl of amazing potato salad. For appetizers we followed our server’s recommendation and ordered the Salad Sampler which turned out to be a great idea! It was a beautiful tray with many small dishes containing all the salads and dips they make. It included hummus, tahini, baba ganoush, olives, more of the yummy potato salad, tomatoes with cilantro and peppers, a stewed tomato dish, and several other items - one of which we were warned was very hot, and it was. The salad/appetizer platter was accompanied by warm pita bread. We also ordered a Chicken Pastilla, which is phyllo pastry stuffed with chicken, spices, almonds and saffron and topped with sugar and cinnamon - delicious! Our server came by several times asking us if we wanted more bread - we got more Moroccan bread. We accompanied the meal with Moroccan wine, two of us had Rosé and the other had Red - perfect!

The Web site said they had a couple of price fixe options, but they weren’t offered and we didn’t ask, so we ordered a la carte. For entrees, the menu is basically divided into four sections: On the Grill which are primarily kebabs; Fish and Sea with a nice selection that can be grilled, fried or baked; Couscous which you can get with a variety of toppings: meats, vegetables and fish; and finally Ta-zins, which we all ordered.

The server explained that a ta-zin is the clay pot in which all the items of the dish are cooked together directly on the fire or the oven. The ta-zins are also offered with a variety of toppings - I had the Sweet Lamb which was amazing! It was juicy, fall off the bone tender and covered with dates, almonds and a delicious sauce combining the meat juices with honey. One of my friends had the Vegetarian ta-zin with squash, carrots, peppers, onions, spices…also delicious. And my other friend ordered the Chicken Lemon ta-zin - again, the chicken was juicy and tender with a subtle but flavorful sauce. We all ordered a side dish of Couscous which, to be honest, we could have done with just one order for the three of us. It was very good, and clearly home-made.

For dessert they had two options: what our server called Moroccan Cookies - which he strongly recommended and something involving crepes which he wasn’t wild about. He also gushed about the Moroccan Tea. So we followed his advice once again and ordered the cookie sampler and the tea. Once again he was right! The cookie sampler turned out to be different pastries including biscotti, a type of sesame brittle, date balls, coconut balls, as well as several types of cookies. The sesame brittle and date ball were my favorites, but we all tried everything. The tea turned out to be a fantastic mint tea with other spices which was served in a beautiful Moroccan pitcher and small colored glasses.

We went on an early Sunday evening and there were several groups enjoying their dinner. Apparently later on some evenings there is a show with belly dancers and on the weekends after the show, the place turns into a club. The place is pretty big, nicely distributed and has a full bar, so I can only imagine it’s a good party spot.

For dinner I can definitely say that the service was spot on and the food, all of it, was delicious - there were no problems or complaints. We will definitely be back!

Restaurant Review - Fleming's Prime Steak House

Hubby and I went to Fleming's in Coral Gables last Saturday to celebrate my birthday (YAY me!). When we made the reservation, they asked and we advised them we were celebrating my birthday.

Because they have a Happy Hour special called 5 for $6 'til 7 we made our reservation for earlier than usual. It was worth it. We each ordered the appetizer we would have ordered anyway and paid less than half the price for each - and I had the cocktail I was planning to order - the deliciously refreshing Basil Lemon Drop - for only $6! Can you imagine? A cocktail made with a name brand vodka (Ciroc) in Coral Gables for $6 - unheard of!

For appetizers I had the Tenderloin Carpaccio which was beautifully presented, with a light horseradish drizzle, a fresh basil chiffonade and tiny chopped hard boiled egg and onions - perfect! My husband had the Seared Ahi Tuna served over a crunchy slaw with a spicy wasabi-mustard sauce, it was prepared perfectly - thick slices of tuna seared brown on the outside while cool and ruby-red on the inside.

I didn't order the wine from the 5-6-7 menu, instead I ordered a well priced, tasty Malbec to accompany my steak. Both my husband and I ordered the Main Filet Mignon, he had it with Madeira sauce on the side and I had it with the peppercorn sauce on the side. Sadly, my peppercorn sauce remained on the side, it just wasn't good, with nary a peppercorn to be seen. I tried the Madeira sauce and while my husband was OK with it, I was underwhelmed with it as well, though it was better than mine.

The steaks themselves were prepared perfectly as ordered, mine very rare with a cool center and Hubby's medium rare with a pink center. My piece, perhaps because it was so rare I noticed it where others may have missed it, had some gristle and a little fat neither of which I expect to find on a filet mignon at this caliber of restaurant and at their prices. Granted, it was a small piece of a generously sized portion, so I didn't comment on it to the waiter.

I had been advised by a friend to order the Creamed Spinach as a side dish - and he was right. It was to die for! Lots of melted cheese on a perfectly balanced mix of sauce and spinach. If you go you must order this! We also shared a side of Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese which was also very good. Personally I am a straight-up mac and cheese fiend, so for me the less done to tamper with orange cheesiness the better - but the chipotle added a really good smoky quality to the dish.

For dessert we shared the Chocolate Lava Cake. Oh. My. God! Of all the chocolate lava cakes I've had (and needless to say,I've had lots of them) this was by far the best one. Despite being packed with hot liquid chocolate goodness, the cake itself didn't get soggy it was perfectly crunchy. It's served with vanilla-pistachio ice cream in a pastry cup and with a small bowl of chantilly cream which compliments the dark chocolate deliciously.

And then, because it was my birthday, our server presented me with a little box with four home-made dark chocolate truffles. A lovely touch and they were divine.

As for the ambiance, while the service was wonderful, efficient and friendly - it was a little too casual in my opinion for a restaurant of this caliber. I also found the restaurant to be too loud, mostly due to the open kitchen and I think there are too many tables in a relatively small space. However, when my friends went, they were seated on the bar's side of the restaurant and said it was nice and quiet.

All in all I'm glad I went but, despite the sublime spinach and the decadent lava cake, I don't need to go again.

Restaurant Review - 8 oz Burger Bar

Summertime and the livin’ is easy...What could be easier than hamburgers cooked by someone else? So, a couple of weekends ago a group of friends and I went to Miami Beach’s 8 oz. Burger Bar on the corner of Alton Road and 11th street. We made reservations for 6:30 p.m. which turned out to be a good thing, because at around 7 p.m. it started getting crowded with a line at the door.

The place is very nice with an easy, casual vibe and the wait staff is for the most part South Beach young and pretty. Our server while very nice was a little flighty…but hey, she’s young and pretty and it was Sunday so we rolled with it.

A big plus with my friends was the beer selection, particularly the specialty beers - both on tap and by the bottle. I’m not a beer drinker so I was pleased to see that they had an Irish hard cider. They also offer wines by the glass for $8 - 8 reds and 8 whites - are you seeing a trend here? They also have a nice list of cocktails at $8 a pop, but none of us had one.

For appetizers we ordered from the Small Snacks menu, and we had a nice sampling of most of what was offered. There were seven of us and one order of each was enough for all to get a taste.

We had the Fried Olives Stuffed with Chorizo which were a delicious taste blend of smoky chorizo and tangy olive - this was the favorite among the appetizers. We also had Fried Green Tomatoes which I liked but everyone agreed were lacking flavor; next we had the Truffled Potato Skins with Parmesan Cheese, again I thought they were very good, but everyone else thought they weren’t truffled enough and found them rather plain - one of the guys actually said he could’ve gotten better potato skins at TGI Fridays (gasp!). The Deviled Eggs were good but they were deviled eggs…deviled eggs are always good.

For entrees there were salads (Yeah, right - like that’s gonna happen!) and other stuff, but we were there for burgers, so we really didn’t focus too much on the other choices. In addition to several pre-designed burgers there’s a “Build Your Own” option. All of us went with one of the menu burgers, sometimes adding or changing toppings a bit. There's also a good variety of side dishes.

Two of us had the Grass-Fed Beef burger which consists of an 8 oz. patty, heirloom tomatoes, garlic aioli sauce, grilled onions, pickles and charred spinach. I had mine with white cheddar cheese and my friend had it with American. I loved my burger - probably because they made the burger the way I like it: bloody rare! It is difficult to find restaurants that will do that anymore, so I was in red meat heaven! For my side dish I had the Fried Pickles with purple mustard which were fantastic! My friend ordered Sweet Potato Fries to split, but they were out of them so she ordered the Kennebec French Fries (fancy fries) - and they were good French fries.

Three others had the Melrose Burger which comes with baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes and a fantastic red onion marmalade. Two of them didn’t add cheese and the third had it with Bel Paese cheese which is mild and semi-soft. All three of them liked them very much. For their sides one of them shared half of the Kennebec fries, and the others ordered Stout Battered Onion Rings and Roasted Baby Broccoli. Both of them loved their sides, but of the two I liked the broccoli a lot, but frankly I found the onion rings to be regular old onion rings.

The two guys in the group decided to go old school and just ordered the 8 oz. Burger - straight up lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle with the restaurant’s special sauce, which is like a ketchupy, mayonnaisey thing which tastes much better than it sounds; neither of them added cheese. One of them had the fries and the other had the onion rings - they rated the burgers good to excellent. In fact in an unscientific poll - everyone rated their burgers good, very good or excellent. We also ordered a side of off-the-menu macaroni and cheese which was not of the yellow-orange variety, it was a lighter creamier version, very good but too mild for some.

Sadly, dessert was a bust. They offer a small variety to begin with and they were out of most of what they offer! So a couple of us (one of which was me) had to settle for splitting a Chocolate Malt. Of all the chocolate malts I've ever had, this was definitely one of them - there are much better chocolate malts out there.

All in all though, everyone was happy, the prices were reasonable for South Beach and most said they would return. That’s a good thing…

Those Cheetos Are Not For Me (wink, wink)

I'd forgotten how damn tasty puff Cheetos are. Walking down the chips aisle at the grocery store the other day, I saw a bag and got this sudden, crazy craving.

The thing is, even though I try to keep the junk to a minimum, my house is not junk-free. Besides the fact that I have blood sugar issues and have to avoid refined products (and I'm not always good about that!), and I don't want my son to constantly be eating crap, I know it's not good to have cookies and such around. It's enough that my parents keep him well-fed on chocolate whenever he's over there.

But, I buy snack anyway. Pretzels, goldfish crackers, cereal bars. Guilty, guilty, guilty. I've become a sucker for those 100-calorie products, figuring that at least that way, it's a measured amount that controls intake. And Max, he's become quite the fan of "circle cookies" (fudge stripes, to you and me), which drives me crazy. I see those as special treats; he considers them his birthright and asks for them every single day.

So, the Cheetos. I hated that all of a sudden, I needed them. I stood there, looking at the big bags, willing myself to keep walking. You know how you try to talk yourself out of something you know is not good for you? "Maybe I can use these as a snack for school and not eat them all myself." "Well, maybe I can get one bag, and Max and I can share it over the next couple of weeks." "Come on, that bag is too big, you'll never finish it!" "You don't want Maxi hooked on Cheetos, do you?"

I finally walked away. And then, at the end of the aisle, I saw them: a box of 100-calorie Cheetos. Oh hell. How could I resist that? Here was yet another product conveniently packaged in small, managable doses that would assauge the guilt brought on by daring to want to eat neon puffy goodness coated in yellow dye no. 5.

I got them. I've shared them with Max. He loves them. I love them.

Sigh.

Bring on the cheesy goodness.

Homemade Fritas!

Seriously, who doesn't love Cuban Fritas? Go check out how to make them yourself at Cuban Home Cooking.

Enjoy!