Making more macarons

The macaron craze had hit our little circle of friends. One set of friends went to Cannes and came back raved about macaron, and the next thing you know it sparked another set of friends who went to Paris back in Winter reminiscing about their macaron adventure in Paris.

One thing led to another, they were inspired to make macaron. I, a macaron lover, was a tad hestiant, because it's more work than this perfect little cookie led on. These yummy delicious cookies, takes a longer prep time than a novice baker would expect.
I had to explained to them about the aged egg whites, and how to sift the flour and sugar first. After all, I think the trick lies in the fact that the egg whites led to perfect meringue. Then all the gear that helped along the way, not to mention the piping... yep, that takes practice. We went with a basic, no frills ganache recipe, and just did a dark chocolate and a durian flavor with white chocolate. (yes, you read correctly, durian)
I am happy to report that the Mad About Macaron recipe proportion did the trick. I used to do the TNT portion for my base, but the MAM portion has proven to work with different egg whites proportions couple times that I've tried. I am also thankful that my friend's oven was very reliable and did a good job.

One thing we learned, when we dab some water to 'flatten' the peak after piping. Watch how much water is on the cookie, because in the oven, it bubbles and looks like the cookie grew another head.

Give that a shot!

Sweet

Here we are at Sweet, admiring the macarons.




Patty says they are "nice and soft".

Location:Town And Country Way,Houston,United States

Toyama

Honestly, I think Toyama is the most overlooked, most understated restaurant situated at the best part of town. Located on Westheimer between Alabama and Shepherd. Of course, the challenge is that there are at least 4 restaurants that serves sushi that I can think of within a 3 miles radius.

Toyama is owned by the same owner that opened Osaka down on Westheimer & Montrose and another location on Holcomb and Stella Link. How you can tell is that when you sit down they immediate dazzle you with tons of freebies.

The first time I went there, I was sitting at the sushi bar. After I placed my order, they brought out a crispy fried yummy goodness (I think it's a stuffed bell pepper). And couple pieces of sushi du jour (see above). But because I was sitting there by myself, the sushi chef took pity and served me some pickled salad of sort. Not to mention, when I was paying my bill, they offered me ice cream w/ a slice of fried banana (the banana is not available at the other Osaka locations).

When I returned w/ family, they still served the crispy yummy-ness, the pieces of sushi and ice cream. So I now learned that when I order to take those into account. The first time, I ordered and ordered because my eyes were bigger than my stomach already, and on top of them serving their complimentary goodies, someone had to roll me out of there.

What I have here is an Osaka Roll for you to drool over. It is crab and mango rolled inside with eel and avocado on the outside. The mango was not so strong that you can't taste the other flavor. But seeing that it has eel and obviously eel sauce to follow, you know it'll be sweet already, so mango flavor got lost there a bit, but it's not all lost.

The other times I order their Lobster Tuna roll which was fresh. I've tried the Houston Roll too, which was spicy because I forgot it has jalapeno in it. Philly Roll you can tell the salmon is fresh. Like I said, understated by the masses. Similar items are served at both Osaka locations, and definitely have the complimentary items for sure!

Toyama

2802 S. Shepherd Dr.

Houston, TX 77098

(713) 528-8528

http://toyamahouston.com/

Quattro

Not too long ago, Groupon was doing a deal with Quattro. I am frankly very surprise because for a high class place like Quattro inside Four Seasons Hotel would do a deal w/ the masses. Honestly, I can understand from the stand point that 'normal' people don't make their way downtown, little to say go to a fancy high class hotel just to go eat there.

Anyway, we thought we'd make a night out of it. Here's the thing about the Groupon or the like for this restaurant. It doesn't matter almost any deal they offer is not going to help w/ the bill. Their price is high and not that they don't deserve it, but I don't feel like I'm getting the most bang for my buck.

I ordered the Anatra, which was roasted duck breast with this sweet and sour sauce. The plating was pretty, the orange slice is actually crispy. The duck has a bit of that crunchy on the sides too. Just wish that the breast was a tad bigger. Figured that I should get a side of veggie just to add a dose of healthy in there somewhere.

I ended up ordering a tiramisu for dessert, and sadly, that wasn't the best dessert I've ever had there. I've had a great creme brulee' there and I'd much recommend that. That bill, my friend teased that my 2 shirley temple was the same price as his Gin Tonic. Yeah, we find that ironic too.

We always tip the total amount of the original tab even if we redeem one of the coupons. In this case, the $30 deal didn't really make a dent. My recommendation, go to Quattro for what it is: a good Italian food w/ innovative cooking style to fuse alot of flavors together. If you wait for one of these coupon deals it's not worth your while. Just save up some dough and go and enjoy it, all 3 courses of it. Or for cheaper version, check out their wine tasting events, weekend brunch, or happy hour.

Quattro (inside Four Seasons Hotel)

1300 Lamar Street

Houston, TX 77010

713-276-4700

http://www.quattrorestauranthouston.com/

Reservations is recommended (go on OpenTable and earn points)

They also validate parking

Eatsie Boys

If you ever decide to do your own food crawl on a Saturday. Westheimer is a great place to be. You can start w/ Melange for some crepe down on Taft. Make your way past Montrose, and head up to Agora and hang w/ the Eatsie Boys.

The deal is pretty sweet, you place your order, pay. You can grab a drink and a seat in Agora (in the A/C), and when your food is done, the boys will bring it to ya. How cool is that? You don't have to stand out there in the heat.

Alright, let's talk food. I had the No Sleep Til Philly, it is essentially thinly sliced ribeye (yum), cheese whiz, onion, chives, on a baguette. The combination of the ingredients came together nicely. Do I need to ingest anything w/ cheese whiz? Probably no, but it sure was good.

The only thing I have 'issue' on, was the baguette, it was too thick and didn't allow a good soaking of that cheese and grease into the bread, which is usually what made it so great. Come to find out they use Slow Dough, which I was just ranting about that yesterday.

Anyhoo, I've tried the Pork Snuggie and Pork Revere from them before. I would definitely recommend the Snuggie any chance I get. They do serve Frank the Preztel when they work the tents at the downtown City Hall Farmers Market on Wednesday. If you want to catch the market better go soon, they are taking a summer break starting June 29th and will not resume until after Labor Day. Also be on the look out for Truck #2 which will be an ice cream truck... can't wait!

Eatsie Boys (food truck)

http://eatsieboys.com/

Go to their site, follow them on FB & Twitter to locate them.

Revival Market

A friend from Austin came down to visit and since I had Wurst dog in Austin, I thought it'd be a good idea to take him to Revival Market.

If you've ever been there, it's like a mini farmers market in a store front situation w/ a wide array of meat and spices all from local vendors. As a matter of fact, that is their business model. To provide everything from local vendors, from meat to cleaning products.

That is actually a very good idea because I was watching this YouTube piece from the agriculture ministry of Japan, it resonate the idea that people should eat from their own environment because that is how it was done before and people have less allergies and illnesses which some led to diseases that are hard to treat, thus drive up the medical cost of the country.

The other principle on the-eat-local concept is that we used to get our food from farms, and now everything is machanized, what kind of process have you food been thru before it reach you? This way, from trusted source, get the supplies direct, cut out the middle man, and just go back to the theory of plain good food.

Alright, about the hot dogs, they were Revival Dogs. Here's my thing on the hot dogs. The sausage was awesome, you can taste the good meat that goes into the casing. The bread however left very little for desire.

It was made with Slow Dough. And the thing strange here is that for a loaf of their challah bread, while it's $8, it's great for sandwiches. Their pretzel bread used in the Revival Dog does nothing for the dog. The bread didn't soak up the little greasy bits most hot dogs do. And I'm not comparing it w/ the street vendors in LA. But the bread is just simply too thick to draw out the taste of the sausage.

The sides that goes w/ it is interesting. They offer you pork rind to go w/ the dog, and while the crunchy-ness does help add flavor; for me, that's just a novelty. The ginger slaw is to die for. It's light and not over-empowering by the ginger. As a matter of fact, I would recommend anybody to get this for your summer picnic of party. It's too good not to share. The other was the mixed vegetable. They were all pickled and the batch I got was super fresh and super sour. So much so that it has a kick that kicked my pants from Revival to 19th Street. So unless you're down with that type of flavor. Think twice before going for that.

Is it better than Wurst? No. If they replace the bun and try again, I'm sure that is a battle of the greats. For now, I think I'll keep looking. I would, however, go back for the sausage for home bbq. No thanks on the bun.

Revival Market
550 Heights Boulevard
Houston, TX 77007
(713) 880-8463
www.revivalmarket.com

Original House of Pancake

About twice a year, we drive up to see Dad, either for brithday/Father's Day/we still remember you type visits. Or Xmas/Chinese New Year/My Birthday/I'm getting a present type visit. We only make it up to Dallas about twice a year. It's a shame too because we've decided that Dallas has better chains than we do in Houston. I mean, think about it. Steak n' Shake, Taco Bueno, and now In and Out burger. Yes, that's our junk food heaven.

The other thing they have that we don't. The Original Pancake House, it's OPH not IHOP. And boy talk about difference in qualities. Their speciality, which has been featured on TV many times is the Dutch Baby. I've never had one because from what I understand it's big enough to share with at least 4-6 people. So, needless to say, haven't had that kind of opportunity.

Either way, it is a great diner type place. And weekend mornings are sure to have a line for a table. I got the peach crepe, wen the easy route. The lovely thing about it is that instead of the French style, you can tell there are eggs on the outside too. They wrapped the peaches inside the crepes, and powdered sugar up a storm, and top more fruit on top of it. It was delish! The juice from the fruit blend w/ sugar and the crepe so well that you don't need any extra syrup to top off the flavor.

Original Pancake House (there are 6 locations in Dallas, and one in Austin)
2301 N. Central Expwy.,
Suite 156
Plano, Texas 75075
972-423-2889
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com