Tag: food

not-so-good eats: sinbad’s

November 30, 2012 |

Y’know, maybe I’m starting to see what those one-percenters are always whining about: sometimes it’s tough to be spoiled. Now, I’m not saying I totally get it: I haven’t felt the pain of paying taxes on my $12 billion’s worth of assets, nor do I claim to know the moral agonizing that goes into the decision of: to insider trade or not? But… I’ve eaten a lot of good Arabic food.

The disappointing meal.

Okay, so the parallel between the experience of being filthy rich and having eaten a lot of food—no matter the cuisine—is a tenuous one. But in both instances someone ends up making a big deal about something that no one else imagined was even an issue. “Wait—my bonus is only two million dollars? It was supposed to be two point five! What a disappointment.” Or, in my case, “Really, this lentil soup just doesn’t have the right balance of spices to be perfectly complemented by a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. What a disappointment.”

What I’m getting to is: Sinbad’s was kind of a letdown. I got a minty yogurt drink, a yellow lentil soup, and an eggplant sandwich, and my dining companions and I shared appetizers of hummus, tabouleh, and baba ganoush. Let’s start with the positives: the tabouleh, baba ganoush, and yogurt drink were all pretty good. I’m easily pleased by baba ganoush, and Sinbad’s did theirs right: it had a rich, smoky flavor imparted by the eggplant and was made with plenty of olive oil, making for a rich appetizer. The tabouleh was well-made, too. It was fresh-tasting, with lots of parsley, small pieces of juicy tomato, and not too much bulgar. Finally, the yogurt beverage was yummy. I could barely taste the mint (unfortunately), but the tart, lemony flavor of the yogurt was well-complemented by the saltiness of the drink (if you think a salty beverage sounds like a weird thing, remember how good Bloody Marys are).

Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives of my mealtime experience. The falafel had a good texture, but was totally bland; ditto the hummus, which needed more tahini or possibly more salt—it was completely uninteresting. The soup was bland. The sandwich was bland. I have had fantastic yellow lentil soups before, and this version was completely forgettable. the sandwich was dominated by lettuce (yum!), with only a tiny bit of eggplant in it, and the flatbread was verging on stale. Also, as good as my yogurt beverage was, why couldn’t I taste any mint!?

I definitely didn’t dislike Sinbad’s enough not to go back, but if I I return to find my next meal similarly lacking in flavor and nuance, I’ll write it off completely.

good eats: maya quetzal

October 10, 2012 |

I try not to shy away from eating out solo, especially when a reticence to do so might stand in the way of me enjoying some damn good food. The other day I had an hour to kill before work, so I headed up the street to have lunch at Maya Quetzal, a spot I’d had my eye on practically since the day I’d arrived in Tucson.

A lot of entrees at Maya Quetzal are battered and fried. They have pupusas (only my favorite goddamn food ever) and chile rellenos, as well as this ridiculous-sounding appetizer, called rellenitos de platanos, consisting of plantains stuffed with cheese, deep-fried, and served with chipotle mayonnaise oh my god does that not sound amazing!? I resisted it all and went with an option that wasn’t fried, or covered in cream, or stuffed with cheese: the chile rostizado. Was it healthy? Meh. Was it delicious? Most definitely. The chile rostizado is an Anaheim chile stuffed with a mixture of potato, onion, garlic, mushroom, and tomato; the whole thing is topped with a mild melted cheese and a smooth tomato sauce. Rounding out my plate at Maya Quetzal were black beans, short-grain rice, and a small salad of shredded green and purple cabbage.

I was surprised that the chile retained a bright flavor even after being cooked until it was soft and pulpy. The flavor of the chile was rounded out nicely by the earthy, fuller flavors of the mushrooms and cheese. The mushrooms also added a mouthy—almost meaty—texture and flavor to the filling. The potatoes were cooked until they were incredibly soft, and they were well-seasoned with garlic and onions. The tomato sauce was little more than a watered-down paste, but as a tangy complement to the flavors of the stuffed chile it worked well.

Like the tomato sauce, the sides were unremarkable. I hadn’t eaten much of the chips and salsa that had been delivered to my table as I’d sat down (not because they weren’t delicious—the salsa was spicy and the chips were crunchy—but rather to save room for the main course), and I was glad to have the salsa to pour over my beans—literally spicing them up. The beans and rice, once augmented by the addition of the salsa, were decent. The cabbage salad was bland, but its crunch and freshness offered a nice complement to the softer, richer textures and flavors of the rest of the meal.

I got the impression that the woman waiting my table was also the dishwasher and the chef; accordingly, the service at Maya Quetzal was brusque. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant was less cozy than I would have liked—the high ceilings and the cool, lime-green walls didn’t work for me. Perhaps at dinner time, when I assume the place is fuller with patrons, the space might seem more intimate and welcoming.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Maya Quetzal, and I’ll be back in the future to try out another one of their intriguing dishes (probably the rellenitos de platanos…).

foooooood: no need to knead!

September 28, 2012 |
The easiest bread you’ll ever make, or, if you’re like me, probably more or less the only bread you’ll ever make. (I make a damn good pizza crust, though. We’ll get to that another time.) The great thing about this stupid easy bread recipe (no kneading!!!), though, is that, well… It’s also f’ing delicious. So instead of talking about it, let’s get down to the business at hand: the recipe. (Sidenote, per usual: the recipe may seem long, but that’s because I’m verbose as balls. It’s actually a super short, easy recipe. Don’t be intimidated!)

You’ll need flour, yeast, salt, and water. A pan of some sort (it could be a cookie sheet or a cast iron skillet or whatever you have on hand that has no plastic bits that’ll melt in the oven—no need for a legit bread pan) and something to grease the pan with (unless it’s nonstick). And then a big plastic container, a tablespoon, a measuring cup, and a mixing spoon. Das it. Donezo.

Lots of complicated ingredients.

Okay.

STEP ONE: Get three (3) cups of warm water, pour ‘em in your big plastic container, add a tablespoon (1 tbsp) of salt and tablespoon and a half (1.5 tbsps) of yeast. I’ve heard different opinions on whether you let this mixture sit for a couple of minutes to give the yeast time to get happy. I let it sit while I measure out the flour ‘cuz I figure it can’t hurt. (A sidenote here: I recommend you get a big-ish container of yeast instead of the little packets for two reasons: first, those packets have about two and quarter teaspoons in them. It’s a good amount for a lot of other recipes, but impractical for the recipe at hand. Second, you’re gonna want a lot of yeast because as soon as you make this bread you’re gonna want to make it again. And again.)

STEP TWO: Measure out sevenish (7ish) cups of flour. I do this in a seperate bowl to give the yeast (the aforementioned) time to get all bub’ly in the warm water, ‘cuz it takes all of two seconds to rinse out a bowl that only had flour in it. (Another sidenote: what’s up with the sevenish cups, huh? Well if you dip the measuring cup into the flour and then level it off, you’ll probably only need about six and a half (6.5) cups of flour. If you do what I do, which is use a spoon to scoop the flour out of the bag and into the measuring cup, the flour’s not packed down as much so you’ll need seven (7) cups. And that’s what’s up.)

STEP THREE: Dump the flour into the water/salt/yeast mixture. Mix it up thoroughly until there are no clumps of flour. The dough will be pretty wet.

STEP FOUR: Put the lid loosely on your container and let it rise at room temp for an hour and a half or two hours. Then transfer it to the fridge and let it hang out there for at least a couple of hours… Or overnight… Or for a few days. Whatever. Basically, for some science-y reason, the dough is just getting tastier and tastier the longer you let it sit. When you can’t stand it any longer… Move on to step cinco.

Mad dough.

STEP FIVE: Preheat yr oven to 450°. Grease yr pan. Grease yr handz. Grab a fatty chunk of the dough (probably about half of it) and plop it in the aforementioned pan. Shape the dough a lil if you feel so inclined, or don’t. Score it with a knife if you want to, makes it look profesh.

STEP SIX: Put the dough in the oven. Bake it for 25 minutes at 450° and 5-10 minutes at 500°. The extra heat at the end there gives the bread a prettier golden crust, but if you’re lazy, like I sometimes am, you can just bake it for 30-35 minutes at 450° and it’ll still be awesome. Then take your bread out of the oven, dump it out onto a cookie rack or your stovetop, let it cool for maybe five minutes or more if you can bear it, and then… Eat the shit out of the bread. You can thank me later!!! (Oh and by the way, you still have a whole loaf’s worth of dough still chillin’ in your fridge, waiting to be baked. Best. News. Ever.)

Holy yum! (Cute cutting boards make everything taste better, too. FYI.)

good eats: tucson tamale company

September 26, 2012 |

 

I’ve always been a big tamale person (I’m going to take this moment to ask: does anyone else picture a giant, anthropomorphized tamale when I write “tamale person”? That happens to me with “fan,” too, like, “I’m a big hot dog fan,” and then I have this mental image of a big ceiling fan made of hot dogs. A mental image, incidentally, that makes me kind of uncomfortable. But I digress) — so when my friend and I passed Tucson Tamale Company the other day, we decided to stop in and give it a try. My impressions:

Efficient service. Not overly friendly, and vaguely distracted, but I tend to give the people behind the counter a break — great attitude is a bonus for me, not a requirement, especially at a busy spot like Tucson Tamale.

Bright! I loved the orange walls and the array of colorful hot sauces on the counter. The design was warm, inviting, and completely unpretentious.

Bad choice (mine). I was starving when I ordered, so I barely glanced at the menu — I noticed something that sounded good and got it without taking the time to consider all my options. I got the tamale salad with a Sonora tamale (chicken with green chile sauce). If I did it again, I’d get a more adventuresome tamale and pair it with beans or chips and guacamole instead of a salad. (A salad? Really? At a tamale place? I don’t know what I was thinking.)

I’ll be back. I’m intrigued. Like I said, I’d like to try some of Tuscon Tamale Company’s more adventuresome tamales — if I’m sticking to the basics, I’d be happy to get my tamales homemade from someone wandering around selling them at 11 p.m. at a bar. At Tucson Tamale, I’m looking forward to trying the — well, the Tucson Tamale! “Lots and lots of cheese in grilled jalepeño masa” gets a big ol’ “Yes, please,” from me. I’m thinking I might buy a selection of frozen tamales and keep them around the house for lazy dinners. What’s your favorite tamale at Tucson Tamale, or where’s your favorite spot to eat tamales in Tucson? Tweet me @hannahzocalo.