Yes, More Chips Please

One of the things I have yet to mention with all of my foodiness is that my husband, while a lover of good food, is vegetarian.

This can make things a little difficult sometimes when I am planning meals (or dreaming of giant beef roasts). At first, I was pretty terrible with the fake meats. Mostly the fake meats would just make me angry. I sort of had to learn the hard way that there was nothing to actually cook in the meat substitutes. You just had to defrost and/or heat. At this point, I’m fairly well versent in the varietals of fake meat brands and flavors and have (mostly) given up on trying to cook them.

Tonight, I was making organic meat n’ potatoes burritos and so I decided to try something a little different. I made a little onion, garlic, oregano, chile, and cilantro collection in some vegetable oil and then let that cook until thick. At that point, I split off some of the batch and put it into a different pan. Into the primary pan, I put some more of the delicious grass fed beef and let that begin to cook. In the other pan, I threw in some meatless ground and mixed it up, sort of letting it sit and hopefully soak in some of the juices.

While these were cooking, I cut the mixed (red, white, purple, yellow?) fingerling potatoes from McClendons and threw them in some hot oil with a dash of California Pepper from Penzey’s and a pinch of salt. I grated some cheese, cut an avocado and a little more roasted green chile as garnishes.

As the meats finished (essentially at the same time), I set things out, all prepped for yumminess.

I had stopped at Mango’s on Main Street and splurged and some fresh tortillas and chips and salsa. Despite it being burro night, I was more interested in the chips, and slathering a fresh tortilla in butter, my meat and potatoes carefully arranged on the side of the plate.

I feel like making the onion/garlic mix first was really useful in helping to make me feel like I was actually cooking my husband’s meal. I’ve often felt that the fake meats were just sort of a cheat. He tells me that the flavor was essentially the same (last time I had actually cheated and used *gasp* Trader Joe’s taco spice mix to flavor his meatless ground.) Still, though, while more time consuming, I feel like the added step was worth it in that it helped me to better judge how to make the fake meat seem like part of a dish rather than a weird vegetable condiment.

The more I cook, the more I like making more dishes, and that has gone a long way in making extra entrees fun. As I’m still battling my sinuses and hiding from the unusual cold and wind outside, it’s time to say goodnight as my day and my dinner is done. Have a good night and a fabulous bowl of chips of your own.

Restaurant Review: Los Favoritos

First you have the chips smothered with beans

Then you add the carne asada and sour cream

Red or Green are available

The red had a sweetness I wasn’t expecting

While I didn’t like the styrofoam, I liked the image.

This past week, in my food adventures, I forgot to mention an excursion to local Gilbert fast-food Mexican joint, Los Favoritos. I was immediately struck by the interior of the restaurant, because that’s what it felt like to me, a restaurant. The tables and chairs were real and so were the decorations and the paintings on the walls. It seemed legit, but just happened to serve your classic Filibertos-style Mexican food. I had gone, not having brought lunch, thinking I would try my signature menu item at places like this: 3 rolled tacos with cheese and guacamole.

The interior gave me new hope, however, and so I sprung for the Super Nachos. Super Nachos, are a sort of conglomeration of flavors, each usually made better by it’s proximity to the next. I can’t say that Los Favoritos had a spectacular version. Each layer was placed directly on top of the other, creating a layer of uber-topped chips while the rest remained dry and without topping. I think the chips, while hot, were fried in oil that had been going for a while (or the weekend) because while it wasn’t bad, there was a flavor to them that wasn’t purely chips. The meat was average, if not good, but not amazing, and I did like the guacamole quite a bit.

Really, the whole dish was decent, but not fantastic, and while I would go back to try other things, I don’t think I would go back for the Super Nachos. I will note that I was disappointed to see the Horchata coming out of a soda fountain rather than a jar, or something. I understand the juegos mexicanos are a pain, but I’d rather just have regular soda available that sub-par juices and horchata. The salsas were pretty good, though not too hot and a little sweet.

While I wasn’t thrilled with my meal, I got the feeling that I hadn’t ordered the right thing. In Counter Intelligence, Jonathan Gold talks about being sure to order the specialty or to account for the regional flavors and skills of the cooks. Obviously the Super Nachos was neither. So, I think I’ll try again – another lunch perhaps – and see what there is to offer – this time being more real and more honest about what I expect from them and what they expect from me as a member of the suburban Gilbert lunch crowd. Also, I’ll eat in instead of getting take-out. Crunchiness is a valuable commodity in fast Mexican foods. Here’s to spicing things up and giving a new restaurant a second chance.