Food Blips from Texas

A long overdue and unfortunately truncated post, this is a picture recap of some food-related things I pursued during my internship in Texas.

Sundried tomato risotto (Lundberg) with Blue Baker Olive Focaccia,
made for an intern dinner I planned.

Bourbon Bread Pudding from Bell Ranch Steakhouse,
in the Hilton Hotel.  Very very sweet and very large portion.

Pho Bo Tai - rare sliced beef pho - from Rosie's pho. This was so good.
I never realized pho could rival or exceed my mom's homemade pho.

Japan vs US cake made for the Women's FIFA Final game.

Cream cheese frosting....Japan or US. Who would win?....

Hard to celebrate after, since most of my friends were rooting for
America, so they didn't feel like eating cake. Cake was like a cinnamon
muffin texture and flavor.

Failed attempt at beer bread (made it bland this time around), and
surprisingly delectable cornmeal cookies. Easy to snack on.

Like crisper, but still light and airy, corn bread in bite sized pieces,
lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Secret menu item at McDonalds: Strawberry Pie McFlurry.
Only $1 in Texas. So good! Not overtly sweet like DQ Blizzards.

La Bodega crab enchiladas. Decent. Their tomato sauce is like
a strange pasta sauce.

Fish burrito. Green sauce is okay. Too much creamy topping. Red
sauce also like pasta sauce. Innards do not have enough fish >:(

Potbelly's Berry Smoothie. So many seeds, so you know
it's real fruit. Good taste, good price. So cute with the
cookies on top!

My last baking in Texas. Had to make Texas "chicken in a chive biscuit"
with my Texas cookie cutter. ^_^

That pretty much recaps my food adventures in Texas. Sorry for the lack of recipes of some of the things I made. The result of these recipes I think were only all right, not anything spectacular. I was mostly proud of the presentation for my FIFA cake and my Texas-shaped biscuits. And I had to share the Pie McFlurry with you all. Everyone has to definitely try this at least once. The saltiness of the pie crust complements the sweetness of the filling and the sweet milkiness of the ice cream.

Hope you have enjoyed my (partial) itinerary of Texas!

Texas Fourth Week Part 2

Thursday June 23
At lunchtime, I went to Joy Luck Delivery Chinese restaurant with S. This place was one of the few Chinese restaurants around College Station with really good reviews. I checked the menu out, and it looked pleasing, with an enticing lunch menu to boot. The place is really cheap too. $5.55 lunch specials? $6.50 seafood and combo meat? Yeah yeah! It comes with soup (egg drop or hot and sour) and a vegetable eggroll.

Egg drop soup - why so yellow?

The egg drop soup tasted so much like eggs, a little TOO much like eggs. It was okay.

I got the Yu shan shrimp, which is some sweet and sour gravy with shrimp, water chestnuts and mushrooms. This was good, a little salty if you ate all the sauce, and there a was a bit too much sauce. Good spiciness. Glad I didn't get the spicier Hunan shrimp. LOVED the eggroll. I must admit, though, I love a good Chinese eggroll, and this place was fried perfectly, crisp. Delicious cabbage and other veggie innards, with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Yushan shrimp with vegetable eggroll

This was enough for two meals. Very filling. Yup, those other Yelpers are right; this place is a good eat in College Station.

Afterward, I wandered around and went shopping around World Market. Man, this place has some awesome stuff! Their image is that of the exotic and eclectic from around the world. Check out the randomness below:

They have New Orleans King Cake Mix and Cafe Du Monde Beignet mix too! My two Louisiana friends here told me about these and maybe we'll make these one day!

Spotted dick = British dessert. Such a funny name.

I had so much fun going around World Market, eying things to put in my fantasy house in the future. They even have clearance shelves where I bought a bunch of chocolate and some cute, sturdy paper boxes for pastry and confection giving!

Friday June 24
The next day, I got out early again, and decided to go to the mall. Post Oak Mall is the closest one nearby, and houses JC Penny, Dillard's, Hot Topic, Aeropostale, A&M stores, shoes stores, a legit comic book store, and others. I walked through the entire place and enjoyed the store selection. The food court has Chick'fil'A, Taste of the Tropics (smoothies), Sonic, Toll House Cookies, Japanese, and Chinese. I got a mango smoothie from Taste of the Tropics. It tasted weird at first but it grows on you. Only $1.60 for a small too. Cheaper than McDonald's. The smell of Auntie Anne's pretzels was such a temptation, I forced myself to not buy one.

The Puppy Store only sells cute puppies, like these baby Chihuahas

Antoine Dodson: Bread Intruder Video and song:
http://youtu.be/y54yESyq6Io
http://youtu.be/hMtZfW2z9dw
Tribute to ma' sister!

I ended up buying boots, a raccoon beanie, and a moustache purse from Hot Topic, all on sale. The boots were only $10! Come on; tell me who can buy boots for only $10?


For dinner, we went to Layne's of College Station, a fried chicken finger place. Almost right next door is Raising Cane's chicken fingers, so these two have a rivalry. So, we came, we ate, we left.

What a deal! lol

I really didn't like it.

Maybe fried chicken fingers isn't my thing, but the chicken was dry, the black pepper sauce was weird but you get used to it. I like the thick and wavy shape of the fries, but they're just a little too thick and starchy for me to eat much of it. The Texas toast was yummy with its lathering of butter, but a bit salty. Meh, I don't think I'll come back every. The cole slaw was the one redeeming factor, but not amazing either. A bit much on the mayo.

I think we went dancing again this night. If it was Daisy Duke's or the Social Lounge or Luxe or something, it was really fun.

Chicken Tikka Masala and Stitches

Forgive me for not posting in so long. I've been quite busy (*cough* and lazy) with school. I just finished my physics and organic chemistry midterm this week, so now I just have catchup reading to do in my other classes and to get ready for finals. I've been busy, also, with club events. I just did an acting audition for Cal VSA's Spring Culture Show! Pretty excited to see if I get a spot, although I am a little anxious about how busy I will be next semester with my tentative schedule: Biology, Physics, Engineering, Undergrad research apprenticeship, Culture show choreographer and actress. Whew! Time management will be key.

Anyways...on to what this post is supposed to be about:

Chicken Tikka Masala.

Or, at least, my attempt at making it. Granted, this tastes very good, but I doubt any Indian would say it's authentic. I used what I had on hand and threw in as I saw fit. This dish also occurred around the slashing of my finger by a glass cup, the finger which proceeded to bleed for an hour before I went to the ER to get it stiched up. While it was cut, I applied paper and pressure to it while still on and off cooking this tikka masala. Such an eventful Friday night!

So, I looked up a recipe for chicken tikka masala and proceeded to add ingredients as stated, not measuring anything and crushing whole coriander and cumin seeds with the back of a wooden spoon. This was very much a "whatever's-on-hand" kind of endeavor.

I marinated cubed chicken in yogurt, lime juice, cumin, coriander, paprika, black pepper, chili powder, and ground ginger the day before. I then somewhat followed this recipe with the change in marinating the chicken.

First, I stir fried some chopped onion with ground ginger and garlic. I added cumin, coriander, curry powder, turmeric powder, paprika, and more chili powder and sauteed some more. I then added some chopped tomatoes that I blended. Simmer a bit, adjust flavors to taste. Then, I added the whole shebang of marinated chicken, with the yogurt marinade and all. Since I wouldn't be thickening the sauce with any cream or the like, I figured the yogurt would be a fine substitute. It was all right, but cooked yogurt tends to become grainy in the final product. I let this simmer until the chicken was cooked through. ^Above, I served it with brown rice - no basmati, I know :'( - and mixed field greens. Haha, soooo not Indian. Lets say it's Indian fusion or something wild like that. In all, it was pretty good. Next time, cream or whole milk would make the texture better and more curry and turmeric powder.

And finale!

Came out of the ER with a splint. Looks like I broke my finger,

but it's just 6 stitches! :P