Diet Hansen's - It's Diet, But Try It!

I am an anti-diet soda (and anti-diet any food, really) person, so I avoid Diet Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, WHATEVER like the plague. All those weird chemicals, especially aspartame, scare me. More scary is the appetite-stimulation effect which I believe comes from aspartame, from my personal experience only. I'm sure science will confirm soon. I think there are some articles out there that back up the idea that this could be true. Anyway, all I know is that when I used to drink diet stuff, I was always thinking about eating and constantly craving snacks, and once I stopped a few years ago I had a lot more control.

Also, diet soda tastes gross, no matter what you tell yourself. There is nothing like the real thing. I feel the same way about low-fat or no-fat stuff. I'd much rather have a real piece of cheese or a real little dollop of sour cream than fake stuff.

However, one "diet" product I do like is Diet Hansen's soda. It uses Splenda, which while not nearly as tasty as sugar, doesn't give me that same drinking-liquid-metal feeling as aspartame. And the flavors are lovely. I usually stock up on the Black Cherry, Tangerine Lime, Ginger Ale, and Creamy Root Beer.

For photos, go to: www.hansens.com

The Black Cherry is very sweet but with lots of good cherry flavor (plus that overly fake sugary taste, but what can you do.) It's a really nice mixer. I have used a splash of it in my pomegranate martinis to great success. (That's vodka, pomegranate juice, a sugar rim, and a splash of the Hansen's.)

The Creamy Root Beer is actually the most normal tasting of them all. It doesn't have the bite of real root beer (though all of these sodas have a distinct sharpness to them because of the way they're carbonated) but the root beer flavor is right on with plenty of vanilla.

Tangerine Lime is basically a poor man's Sprite. Still, it's tart and yummy.

My absolute favorite though, is the Ginger Ale. Not only because I'm obsessed with gingerale, but because it is a particularly piquant one. Must be the ingredients they use to flavor it, and I quote: "African ginger, Mexican limes, Californian Lemons and Madascan Vanilla". Damn, that's like the United Nations of gingerale flavor! It is a bit lemony, but it works, and allows me to drink gingerale without having that teeth-going-soft-from-sugar feeling.

There are also Grapefruit, Kiwi Strawberry and Peach flavors. I bet the Peach has a lot of cocktail potential, too. Comment if you've tried 'em. Keep up the great work, Hansen's! (PS: I get mine at Trader Joe's but I have also seen it at Albertson's.)

:-P

Mamacita - un estomago muy feliz.

Yes, my stomach IS feliz after a truly delicious dinner at Mamacita. Two of my friends from Minnesota are in town, and they both love Mexican food, so I decided to take them to a high-end Mexican restaurant in the loud and fun marina district of SF. I have been to Mamacita a few times before, but overall this was my best experience!

The restaurant itself is in a cozy spot on Chestnut. It is a small but warm place, with Moroccan-esque lanterns and photos of Mexico everywhere. The one down-side to the layout of the place is that the bar is right in the middle of the restaurant. Sometimes when you are eating, especially on weekends, it feels like you are eating while a bunch of people drink around you.

Luckily the food and drinks are good enough to make up for the strange layout......

We started with some truly delicious margaritas. Limey and salty, we had a frosty pitcher (on the rocks of course!). This wet our taste buds for the oh-so-delicious meal that was to come.

Our first appetizer was fresh, creamy guacamole. This is one of the best guacamoles I have ever had - and that includes my own, which I think is pretty damn good. Mamacita uses the creamiest, most butter-like avocados. they are smooth but with the right amount of chunks, and a mild garlic flavor. I prefer mine with a little more heat but the flavors in this guac are first rate. It is served with perfect, fresh chips, and a smaller container of salsa. The salsa made the most of the great summer tomatoes - really delicious and fresh tasting. We had to ask for more chips to mop up that yummy stuff!

Our second appetizer was the best thing we had all night. Mamacita's chilaquiles are BY FAR the best I have ever had. More fresh tortilla chips are tossed with chipotle crema, roasted shredded chicken, gypsy pepper rajas and queso fresco. Here was the heat!!! The chips become soggy but still a bit crisp under the extremely tasty creamy sauce. These things were ridiculously good. I could eat these for dinner every night of the week - they were THAT good. If you go here, get these. You will not regret it!

For our entree we split two dishes - the carnitas tacos with grilled corn, salsa verde, crema latina (I think they made this up, but its just crema, which is basically watery sour cream), avocado, and questo cotija. These were good, very good. However I thought the meat itself could have had more flavor and fat. I have had the carne asada tacos here and the meat was VERY flavorful, I would get those next time. But the toppings on the carnitas tacos were great and all in all the taste was really good.

The second dish we split was my second favorite of the night - chicken enchiladas with guajillo chile sauce, crema, cheese, and more of that delicious guac. These were hot hot hot. The sauce was delicious, the chicken tender, the cheese melty and tasty, and the enchiladas were good-sized. Really freaking good. I am looking forward to trying the beef enchiladas next time I am there.

The last thing we had is something I always get here - a side dish of sweet yellow corn sauteed with red mole. Tonight there were fresh tomatoes in the dish as well. It was really good - the corn is never overcooked, and always has a nice crunch to it. The mole sauce is sweet. It is really tasty and every time I eat this I think, I should try making this because I could eat it every day.

I know I have an extreme love for Mexican food, but honestly this is one of the few restaurants of any cuisine where I want to order absolutely everything on the menu. I have tried the fish tacos and ceviche on other trips and they were also great. All of the salads and appetizers look fabulous. It is always hard for me to decide what to get here, so I love the family-style sharing aspect of the restaurant. I could eat everything on this menu. Nothing looks bad to me.

Some things to remember about Mamacita - make a reservation! They keep some tables open for walk-ins but the wait is LONG and the restaurant is small and it is not worth it. Call ahead. Also I would avoid going here on the weekends if you can, because it is literally the loudest restaurant I have ever been in. It is hard to hear yourself think in here on a Wednesday - on a Friday or Saturday it is nearly unbearable. Another thing to remember is that this place, while family style, is ideal for groups of two or in multiples of three. All of their entrees are served in threes - three tacos, three enchiladas, etc. If you have four people you end up cutting things up into little pieces which is annoying. Or you end up having to order way too much food. Maybe this is a marketing tactic - I don't know. But for two or three people, or even five or six where you can get away with ordering more food, it works out ok.

I really love this restaurant. I think the food is excellent. I know I need to try Maya and Mexico-DF to compare the other high-end Mexican options in SF, but for now, for Mexican food made with the highest quality of ingredients, Mamacita takes the.....pastel. Or the torta. Lo que sea!

Food - (4)
Experience - (3.5)
Overall - (3.75)

For an explanation of our ratings system, CLICK HERE!

For yelp reviews of Mamacita, CLICK HERE!

Now I am going to bed with a food coma.....the only thing that puts me to sleep more than a giant meal at mamacita is a giant meal at mamacita followed up by cupcakes from citizen cake!

adios mis amigos!

Emilia

Lack of Posts from your Hosts

Hello all. Em and I have been quite busy in the last couple of days, so we have not had a chance to post. For this we apologize. Rest assured that we are still eating (not wasting away yet!) and delighting in things that will soon make their way onto these virtual pages. Emilia has many excellent forthcoming reviews on delectable restaurants in the Bay Area, and I am planning a super not secret dinner party extraordinaire with my Bittman-chosen dishes. (First step is finding out which of my friends like squid. So far, so good!)

Thinking of you,
Patch

Summertime Food

I love eating in the summer. Hell, I love eating during each and every season, but the fresh produce and the warm air of summertime lend themselves to good eating weather. Last weekend I headed up to Inverness to spend the night at a beach house rented by my good friends, J. and E. The house was amazing and they didn't ask me to chip any money in for my stay, so I decided to repay them in fine food. I packed up the car with a cooler, some bags, and three bottles of wine, and headed for the ocean.

I decided to make my olive tapenade, which is actually Thomas Keller's tapenade, but it is the best one I have ever tasted. I love it because the flavors are so fresh, and if you use good quality olive oil it is so delicious. This is great as a sandwich spread, on crackers or veggies, or on fresh bread with cheese. I don't want to post the entire recipe here since I'm sure it is copyrighted - but if you want to shoot us an email at lawyereats@gmail.com I might be persuaded to send it to you ;). The big difference between this tapenade and others I have made is that he makes a garlic confit first - he boils garlic in canola oil for about 40 minutes, at just a tiny boil, until the garlic is soft and infused with the oil. Then he mixes a tablespoon of that, chopped up, in with pitted nicoise olives, some anchovy (I use paste), a little dijon, and olive oil, processes it, and then stirs in more olive oil along with fresh parsley and chives. I use less olive oil then he asks for. It is simple and OH so delicious.

Next I made one of my favorite appetizers, suggest to me by someone over on the Cooks Illustrated board (though it is not a CI recipe). The recipe is Spicy Shrimp Remoulade on Molasses-Buttered Toasts, from Epicurious. The key to this recipe is finding the westphalian style pumpernickel bread, not spreading too much butter on them, and not baking them too long. If you cook them too long they become SUPER toasted and they are inedible - I have made this mistake once. I made the toasts ahead of time, along with the sauce, and mixed fresh beautiful shrimp into the sauce day of before I left for the ocean. I just cooked my shrimp in a little hot water in skillet until it was pink. I think this recipe would taste almost better with lobster but I've never tried it......

Spicy Shrimp Remoulade on Molasses-Buttered Toasts
Bon Appétit July 2005

Molasses butter
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons light molasses
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Remoulade sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
2 1/2 teaspoons drained prepared white horseradish
2 teaspoons minced shallot2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

24 1 1/2-inch rounds or squares cut from Westphalian-style pumpernickel bread slices

8 ounces cooked peeled medium shrimp, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

For molasses butter: Using fork, mix all ingredients in small bowl to blend.
For remoulade sauce: Mix first 12 ingredients in medium bowl.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread molasses butter lightly over bread; arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Bake until bread begins to firm up, about 10 minutes. Cool.
Mix shrimp into remoulade sauce. Top toasts with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with chives. Place toasts on platter.
-----

Next I made a family recipe, roasted peppers with olive oil and parmesan. I buy bags of small sweet peppers at Costco, though I've seen them as well (for an INSANE price) at whole foods. Basically they look like little red, orange, and yellow jalapenos but they aren't hot at all. The secret to this recipe is to buy as many orange/yellow peppers, and as few red peppers, as you possibly can. For some reason the orange/yellow peppers roast MUCH better than the red ones. I find that the red ones are almost impossible to peel. Get them home and spread them on a cookie sheet. Turn the oven up to 350/400 - and roast them until they are soft and the skin begins to blister. Then throw them all into a paper bag for about a half hour, with the top closed. This will help the skins to release and will make them easier to peel.

Peeling the peppers is really the most painful part of this recipe - but it is so worth it. I get a bowl and a spoon and pour the peppers back onto the baking sheet. I find the easiest way to peel them is to get your thumb inbetween the skin and the pepper in one area and work your way over the whole pepper, then pop the skin off in one piece. Getting the little peels off one at a time is too much of a pain. Use the spoon to scrape the seeds out of the inside of the pepper, as they are bitter. Once you have them all peeled, run a knife and fork through the bowl a few times to get them all into bite-sized pieces.

Next I mix in the tasty ingredients. I just guess on this until it tastes right, so these are estimates - I would say for one cereal bowl of peppers, add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 1/4 a cup of olive oil, a tiny clove of garlic crushed or minced, three tablespoons of grated/shredded parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. You can add more olive oil if you think it needs it. You can also make this with your favorite jarred roasted peppers, but really nothing tastes as good as the freshly roasted sweet peppers.

To go along with all of this I made a quick crostini - a big loaf of Acme bread, sliced thin, with garlic infused olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan on top. I stuck them in the oven until crisp and then put them all in a big ziplock bag. I also brought along two hunks of good cheese - humbodlt fog goat (my favorite!) and a super-sharp gouda. Lastly, I threw in a salami and a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans into the mix.

Needeless to say we all ate and drank well that night, and I've been munching on the leftovers all week. Three cheers to summer time eating!!

Emilia

Sushi 101 - What is Fresh Sushi?

As some of you may know from reading my posts, I am a sushi FIEND and aspiring sushi connoisseur. I have been a fan for a few years now, but my obsession was sealed by my trip to Japan last fall- ten days in Tokyo and Kyoto which included a visit to Daiwa at the Tsukiji fish market in the wee hours of the morning, the highlight of my sushi life (and even better than the $250-a-head omakase we had at a very fancy sushi place at the New Otani hotel in Tokyo, which I will write about at another time). As my Sasabune review shows, though, I have very little tolerance for bad sushi. I find it very depressing and sad that many sushi fans lavish praise on places (and therefore, lead me to go drop bank on these establishments) that have crappy, soft, unfresh, unyummy sushi that is way overpriced and way overrated. (When people say the sushi somewhere is awesome because it is buttery, soft, melts in your mouth, or similar descriptions, I get very suspicious that they are talking about such a place-- and very often, they are!)


A photo from my visit to Daiwa.

So, I am on a mission to spread the word on what makes sushi good, how you can tell when it's fresh and high quality or not, and where to go to find the best options in LA and wherever else I have occasion to eat my beloved sush. I don't have all the answers-- I am a student, not a master. But I hope that as I continue to learn and explore you can come along for the ride.

Part of the mission includes scouring Yelp to find promising options. Upon reading reviews of The Hump, a place in Santa Monica one of my Japanese sushi maven friends swears by and which I am filling my piggy bank for, I happened upon an incredibly knowledgeable review (excerpts of which are posted below) and immediately contacted the author to ask his permission to share it with all of you. His name is Michael, and by some strange coincidence he, too, is a lawyer. He became a fish expert when he used to work at the Tokyo Fish Market in Berkeley, California, where he cut, bought and sold fish professionally. He is also a fisherman.

A few weeks ago Michael and I got into an email conversation about fish that has continued to this day. Michael also went to Daiwa in the fish market in Tokyo in the early hours of the morning and agrees that it's the gold standard. He has also given me a tip-- tell sushi chefs at nice places you've been to Daiwa, and they give you a respectful nod (and extra attentive bites, perhaps?). Oh yeah, and he totally agrees with me about Sasabune- which was a relief since I thought I was the only nut who didn't like it. I hope to continue to ask his opinion, which is much more expert than mine, on sushi places I frequent and share his thoughts with all of you on an ongoing basis.

Educational Excerpts from Michael's Review of The Hump (from Yelp)

"So, I went to the Hump...Coincidentally, Brian, the owner, had just come back from Japan, bringing a huge purple chunk of Himalayan rock salt (Japanese chefs love weird salts) and would be sitting for dinner. We chatted briefly - because we were there by ourselves - and Melanie [the hostess] said that we would be sitting next to each other.Over the course of the evening, I discussed with Melanie and Brian the following:
1. Proper handling of fish is of paramount importance to fish
2. Fresh, unfortunately, does not equal properly handled
3. Live fish that is quickly killed is best
4. Fish that has not gone into rigor mortis is not firm, and thus gummy and rubbery
5. Tsukiji's Bluefin Tuna Auction (been there and it is an amazing thing to see)
6. Daiwa Sushi, considered by some to be one of the best places to eat sushi in Japan because it's IN Tsukiji, (and sushi in general in Japan) is not served with overly warm rice or loosely packed rice
7. There are a lot of mediocre sushi bars now
8. Most Bluefin Tuna is coming from Spain because they're harvesting spawning tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and pen raising them off the coast of Spain
9. The Hump pays for top quality, carefully handled fish
10. The Hump keeps a number of its fish live in tanks

While Brian disappeared for a bit, I was seated at the end of the bar. What followed next, I can only describe as a revelation. Most fish sold to sushi bars are sold dead. That's not news to most of the world. And all the talk of eating "live" sushi? It's straight BS unless the fish is still breathing (the Hump serves that here too - I saw a breathing okoze (sculpin) cleanly filleted for live sashimi).

What is news is how poorly fish is treated once it's caught (like the news about how Chinese fish oftentimes does not pass USDA standards because it's filthy). Fish, like all living animals, goes into rigor mortis soon after it's dead. As time passes, the meat will relax and become softer. However, when the fish is well taken care of, and not handled like junk, the meat will stay firm for several days. Handle it like crap, and it will become soft very quickly. (At almost all sushi bars, you're most likely not getting fish that's so fresh it hasn't gone into rigor mortis. So, if you're wondering why a piece of fish is soft, it's because it's OLD.)

The Hump's fish is REALLY fresh. It's rigor mortis fresh. It's so fresh, that the texture of some of the fish, I can almost describe as "crunchy." I primarily had Shiromi. I started off with Tai and Hirame, then had Sujiara, Nodoguro, Managatsuo, Konbujime Ayu, Sanma, Tairagai and Uni. The Tai (with lemon juice and salt) was very good. It was rich and fatty; very rich for a summer fish. The Hirame (with ponzu, momiji oroshi and green onions) was an indicator of things to come. The flesh was firm, much more firm, sweet and substantial. The Sujiara (aka Kue, or Coral Grouper), had a rich, strong, flavor. The flavor got stronger as you chewed on it and it was so firm, it felt so much more substantial than your ordinary white fish sushi. Some people would consider the flesh "hard." But it really is a sign of true freshness. And the flavor was tremendous. The Nodoguro (a perch), also had firm texture, mild sweetness and excellent flavor. The Sanma was rich and oily and firm. (Get the picture?) The Tairagai was simply the best ever. So firm, sweet, and rich. It was amazing.

These fish were so firm and meaty, they were completely different than any place that I've had sushi in LA. I wish I tried more. Brian came back, asked for one of the chefs to use the rock salt he brought back for something. Well, the chef served him up some usuzukuri sujiara, with the salt shaved onto it. It looked fantastic. I thanked him for a great meal and great fresh fish. Brian's a warm and charming owner, who takes real pride in what the restaurant is doing. This shows everywhere. The staff is well trained and very attentive. The chefs care about the work they do and take great care.

So F serious sushi bars. F anyone who claims to know what "truly fresh fish" or who is a "expert on sushi" who hasn't gone fishing, can't fillet, doesn't know that freshly caught fish that hasn't gone into rigor mortis is going to be like chewing something with only slightly better texture than rubber. Stop the BS. Stop the trendiness. Eat really fresh sushi. Eat at the Hump. (It'll be #1 on my list if it's this good all the time.)"

Thanks, Michael! :-P

Goat Hill Pizza - Sourdough Crust and City Views!

Goat Hill Pizza is another great place in my neighborhood, but it is also somewhat of a San Francisco institution. Its been around for....a long time. The original location is near me on Potrero Hill, but there is also a newer location in SOMA, which delivers.

There are so so many things I love about Goat Hill. First off, the pizza is delicious. I am crazy about sourdough, and their crust is sourdough, so its a match made in sourdough heaven. The crust is not too thin but not too thick - just right, crispy, with lots of flavor. Second - the toppings are terrific. They have pretty much everything you expect from a pizza place, plus some varied meat toppings and different sausages. I love that they have red and green onions. My roommate and I also adore the pesto pizza, where they swirl regular marinara with pesto. I like mine with sausage, feta, sundried tomatoes, red onions, and olives - yum.

Goat Hill also has pasta and sandwiches and salads. I have sampled the salads and they are basic pizza-place salads, with antipasti on top - nothing wrong with that. My dad had a big baked sub once and he seemed to enjoy it. The garlic bread is good and soggy and crispy all at the same time. Also Goat Hill has great, slightly cinnamony, iced tea. And rootbeer!!

The thing I really really love about Goat Hill is Neighborhood Night. Every monday evening from 5 until close is all-you-can-eat neighborhood night. You come in and sit down, order a drink, and then head over to a make-shift salad bar for a big salad with all the fixings. Then you sit and eat while waiters bring around many many varieties of pizzas - maybe a new pizza every five minutes or so. You take a piece when you want one and don't take one when you don't, and you can take more than once piece of a favorite if you like. My roommate and I are big fans of neighborhood night and go often. One thing I love about it is that the pieces they bring around are really small, so you can try quite a few different things. Its only about 10 dollars per person and I think it is soooo worth it. Just expect to wait in line if you get there after 6 - by 7:30 there will be a huge crowd and a long wait.

All in all, Goat Hill is a great neighborhood pizza place. And as all good pizza should, it almost tastes better cold the next day.

Food - (3.25)
Experience - (3.25)
Overall - (3.25)

For an explanation or our ratings system, CLICK HERE!

For yelp reviews of Goat Hill - CLICK HERE!

Emilia

Badda Bing - Squid Vicious!!!

So two Fridays ago I went to the Badda Bing class at Hip Cooks. As usual, it was totally fun and I had a great time making conversation with my classmates and perfecting my knife skills. The menu was not my favorite, though. The first course, watermelon, feta, cilantro and olive salad, was fabulous. It's super easy too. Just cut watermelon into chunks, sprinkle on the feta (or just put chunks of it on top), add fresh cilantro, fresh mint and a few pitted olives on there in an artful fashion, and then put a bit of salt and a dash of olive oil and/or balsamic reduction which you can buy at TJ's. It was really delicious and very pretty.

The squid stuffed with squid ink risotto in roasted pepper marinara sauce was not as great, largely because it was a case of "too many cooks spoil the broth". Risotto takes a lot of patience, and by the time we started on it we all had a glass of wine and were chatting and making conversation, and three people took turns stirring the risotto over each pass of adding liquid, and I think the focus risotto requires just wasn't there. So it wasn't very creamy or dreamy like the risotto I had at Farfalla last week. The squid ink was interesting though and I am now not afraid to make squid. It's really easy if you buy it pre-cleaned and poach it in any sauce you like, and you can easily stuff it with rice or whatever, too. The reason I went to this class was to learn how to cook squid since I'm such a fan of it, so that mission was accomplished. And the main course was not unedible by any means-- it was tasty, I just think the texture of the risotto could have been better.


The dessert was also not my cup of tea- a chocolate polenta cake. I am not a big polenta person and the grittiness of the polenta was unappetizing to me.


For wine, we drank Pinot Grigio as I had predicted. It was nice and went well with all the food.


All in all, another great time at Hip Cooks and a great learning experience. I now feel empowered that I can easily go buy some squid at Fish King or Whole Foods, whip up a delicious marinara sauce, poach the heck out of those squids, and serve a delicious and impressive dish-- all without looking at a recipe. I love that feeling-- empowered to just use ingredients and make good food in a no-stress fashion. One of these days though I'll have to suck it up and buy a good knife. Sigh!


By the way, I heard that Hip Cooks is opening a new site on the Westside, so all of you West L.A. folks will be able to gain easier access to my favorite cooking school.


Really excited to hit up Thrill of the Grill 2 with Emilia in a couple of weeks!



:-P