Taste Like Chicken

The Hierarchy Films Studio complete with state of the art security system:

Chiles Rellenos

I generously lubed my crock pot with not-so-virgin olive oil. (That's as fun as it sounds.)
I smeared a ton of crushed garlic around in the bottom with the oil.
I put a pound of "miscellaneous meat for stew" (I LOVE that meat for the slow cooker...it's often REALLY nice cuts of beef) on top of that and loosened up the pieces.
I dusted liberally with dried ground chipotle pepper, ground cumin, and dried diced jalapeno peppers.
Threw on a can of diced green chiles.
Chopped up nearly a whole onion and threw it on top.
Cooked it for four hours on the "high" setting.

Meanwhile...a few beers into the cooking...

I started a boil of some leftover beef stock and a little water.
Threw in four ancho chiles (dried poblanos). I put a steam basket on top to keep them submerged, and turned off the heat. I left it there, covered, for about 30 minutes...which made them too soft and they came apart too easily when trying to stuff them. No problem. It's just food. They smelled awesome...it smelled like I was brewing some kind of amazing tea.

I drained a can of petite diced tomatoes and another can of diced green chiles...seasoned all with kosher salt/fresh ground pepper.

For the side dish: I lined a couple of ramekins with olive oil, and filled them about halfway...just around the WALLS with generic canned refried beans...leaving a well in the center. I filled the well with layers of: diced green chiles, shredded "quesadilla cheese", diced tomatoes, more cheese, and more chiles...or something like that.

Despite all the spices, my meat stuffing came out a little bland, so I added a little kosher salt, pepper, and a some Valentina sauce. I could eat a dirty old shoe with Valentina sauce on it.

I tried "gutting" the Anchos...didn't do a great job...but a few seeds never killed anyone. I stuffed them with the meat mix, and carefully put them on the NS foil lined baking sheet along with the ramekins-o-refritos.

I topped the chiles with some more diced tomatoes and green chiles. Then cooked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes...until the tips of the tomatoes were starting to char.

I plated the grub by turning a ramekin upside down...and praying for the contents to come out in one piece. After a few drinks of Bud, it happened. Added a stuffed chile to the plate, and put a little "quesadilla cheese" (whatever that is...it was Kroger generic bagged/shredded stuff) on top of the chile and the bean-stack...which looked like canned cat food. I added a splat of Valentina to the plate, because it's what makes most of my Mexican food edible. Valentina is the reason I eat taco. Well, not the only reason.

Third wok's a charm...

Old school frozen vegetables, salmon, and jasmine rice....all cooked in my wok!

Another Friday at Cafe Shoppe

It takes a rare aligning of the planets when I have both a weekday off, AND a little change in my pocket. Today was one of those days...but instead of hopping in my hooptie and going out for some serious eats, I walked back across the street to Cafe Shoppe. I went there last week for their grand opening, and was excited that I now have "fast food"...that actually doesn't suck...within walking distance.

It looks like they're really getting things together there...the steam table was full of "entrees" and barbecued meats. But today I wanted another sandwich...and they didn't disappoint.

I ordered a "Grilled Lemon Grass Beef" sandwich. The beef was REALLY nice! Of course, like every Vietnamese style sandwich I've ever had, anywhere, it still had the apparently obligatory chewy piece of meat in it. But like usual, I deal with it and move on. The beef had such an amazing flavor, I didn't put any additional Sriracha or hoisin sauce on it, like I normally do with Banh Mi.

The spring rolls were good. They were rolled big with lots of noodles and vegetables inside, with shrimp and Vietnamese pork roll slices.

The "soup of the day" was again Wonton Soup...and this time they served it up in a large container...but still filled with lots of large wontons.

This was all enough food to easily feed two people for lunch...for only $9.22! Since I don't get out on weekdays for lunch very often, I don't mind going a little overboard. Not to mention, I now have soup and a spring roll for a snack later. Check this place out if you find yourself over in Eado around lunch!


All for $9.22:


Lemon Grass Beef Sandwich:


Spring Rolls and Sauces:

Another suicide in Downtown Houston

I tell ya, my pictures must be a bad omen. I took this picture on December 15, 2009, while out riding my bike.



Yesterday, Chron.com reports a dude tried to drive his car off the garage, failed, so he jumped over the edge to his death instead..



Back in May, I shot this picture while out riding my bike:



Four days later, it burned to the ground!



On September 27, 2005, I took these pictures of the Houston House where I lived:





Then on June 27, 2007, a dude rammed his car THROUGH the cinder block wall of the parking garage, and landed upside down on the roof of another building. He was dead.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/13486487/detail.html

I took these pictures after they patched the hole up in the wall of the garage:

"Cafe Shoppe" at the Kim Hung Mall in Eado

The one thing I miss since leaving downtown, is being able to step out of your home or office and having a vast selection of lunch options. Over here in Eado, we've got a few of the city's absolute best restaurants...but they're scattered around the otherwise barren landscape and limited in the number of options.

That's why I was so happy to read Katharine Shilcutt's news in the Houston Press yesterday, telling us about the grand opening of a new sandwich shop in the former Hoang Son shop at the Kim Hung Mall on St. Emanuel, about two blocks directly behind the George R. Brown. Seeing as how I live and work essentially across the street, I was happy to hear we'd once again have a bánh mì option so close! I'm also happy that the nice owner of the Kim Hung mall is doing things to revitalize not only his supermarket, but it's bringing new tenants like Cafe Shoppe to our struggling neighborhood.

So I went in for the grand opening today, with my mind set on char-grilled banh mi, springs rolls, and whatever else interesting I could find on the menu.

Well, I got there before Noon, so they still seemed to be scrambling to get things going. The "entrees" looked pretty limited at the time, and nothing really jumped out at me, so I passed. As for the chargrilled pork sandwich and spring rolls, they said they would be a bit of a wait if I ordered that. If you've been in the Kim Hung Market during the summer in the past couple of years, you know you don't want to hang around long...the air conditioning is lacking to say the least. No doubt due to the industrious copper pirates that work the area. So I opted for the BBQ pork sandwich, an egg roll, and the "soup of the day."

The wait wasn't too long, especially considering it was in the first hour of their official grand opening. There was a steady stream of customers coming in, but no waiting line. All of the staff were super friendly, and like a lot of small cafes around here, it seemed to be very much a family operation. I really like to eat at places like this!

I double-timed it back home, anxious to tear open my new presents. Like any Yelper I suppose, the hardest part is taking time to snap a few pictures, when you really just want to dive into your exciting new eats!

The banh mi was great. It was loaded pretty well with BBQ pork, which was not too dry, and not too fatty. (Every banh mi I've ever had has probably had at least one bit of fat in it, that pushed my limits as to whether I'd eat it or not. There were no "leftover bits" from this one, however.) It wasn't as big as a super-stuffed large sandwich from Kim Tai's, for example, but it was only $3...which to me is spot on for a medium sized banh mi.

The egg roll was good. I'm not a huge fan of greasy fried egg rolls...not since I discovered spring rolls. But, at 85 cents, this one went well with a medium sized sandwich. The filling was nice.

The "soup of the day" turned out to be wonton soup. I didn't ask when I ordered...sometimes I just like to be surprised. I was in fact surprised, at first, that it was $2.75 for a small Styrofoam cup of it. But when I got home and poured it into a real bowl, it turns out that it was actually packed full of wontons! NOT like the usual stuff you get at a Chinese takeaway joint, where they give you a huge plastic bucket of chicken broth with one lonely wonton swimming in it. This side order of soup could have easily been a meal by itself...there were like 10 or so wontons in it, and broth just enough to fill up the container. They were very good.

They had huge selection of fresh fruit smoothies, and teas, but I figure I'll save that for another trip.

Keep in mind, this is essentially a shopping mall "food court" type setting, and what I'm basing my rating/review on. The food was good, the prices were awesome for a lunch spot, and the folks running the place were super friendly. With sandwich shops like this available to us in Houston, it's hard to believe anyone would subject themselves to a Subway. I'm sure they'll have a few growing pains over the next few days, but come over here to Eado and check them out soon!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini and Indira

I just thought this was funny.