Subject: Food and Cooking

• Ceviche at El Sinaloense

  ​On the southwest side of Baytown, sandwiched between the giant ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery and the City Hall, is a neighborhood I call "old Baytown." It's an area of older shops and houses, with what appears to be a largely Hispanic population. Market Street runs through the middle of it. I came here one Saturday morning to visit a Mexican seafood restaurant I had heard about called El Sinaloense (3002 Market St.). Patronized by local Mexican Americans as well as blue- and white-collar w

  November 3, 2009

• Top 5 Restaurants in Sugar Land

  The suburbs don't have to be all about McMansions, box stores, and soul-crushing conformity, do they? Open your mind and head to the land of Tara Lipinski, Tom DeLay and sugar. Photo courtesy of Japaneiro's​5. Sushi Bistro and Latin Grill, 2168 Texas Dr. Like many so-called fusion places, Japaneiro's falls short by trying to be everything to everyone. Skip the paltry Latin dishes, though, and you've still got an above-average sushi joint. 4. Original Eats Old Fashioned Grill, 3135 Hwy. 6

  November 3, 2009

• 3rd Annual Chocolate Festival of Texas & Texas Wines

  November 5, 2009

• Looking for a Bull Market

  November 5, 2009

• Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs

  Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. The Ferm: Sir Ron may or may not blog drunk from time to time (see this entry on "How Not To Get a Job at the Houston Press"), but his latest entry on newly proclaimed city holiday Saint Arnold's Day is a loving ode to Houston's favorite microbrewery complete with a reassessment

  November 4, 2009

• Chicken Soup in Less than 30 Minutes

  Photo by Jane Catherine Collins​This is not a Rachel Ray recipe, so just wipe that thought out of your mind. We can't stand Rachel Ray and have banned her show from our house. We do all like a fast meal, though. So here's our version of a 30-minute dish: chicken soup:

  November 5, 2009

• Fiending for Berripop

  ​Berripop is the current designer drug in a long line of addictive frozen yogurts. The consistency is smooth and creamy, with surprisingly few calories. The locations at Greenway and Uptown Park rotate flavors rather haphazardly, keeping customers on their toes and checking in regularly for the occasional surprise. Staples include blueberry, raspberry pomegranate, mango, peach, black cherry and acai berry. On rare occasions, there's green tea.

  November 5, 2009

• Café Rabelais and Manon

  ​Since we were seeing Opera in the Heights's production of the French opera Manon, we decided to pay homage by writing about another amazing French feat going on here in Houston. Café Rabelais in the Village is dear to many a European's displaced heart - it's the focal point of casual French dining in our inner city. While everything here is really top-notch, and we do mean everything, there were a few points of special interest on our recent trip.

  November 6, 2009

• At La Plaza

  ​Machacada con huevo, the Northern Mexican dish of dried beef with scrambled eggs, makes a lovely Saturday morning breakfast. I ate a wonderful version last Saturday at of La Plaza restaurant on Bingle at Long Point. The interior of this place looks like an all-American diner. I was confused when I first looked at the menu because, although La Plaza appears to be a Mexican restaurant, all the breakfasts were standard American fare like bacon and eggs and pancakes. When I asked the waitre

  November 6, 2009

• Openings and Closings: October 2009

  ​If restaurant openings are an economic indicator, the last month would seem to signify that things are picking back up -- at least in Houston. Things we've learned from this month's openings and closings include: don't put a "z" in your name if you're trying to be taken seriously as a wine bar; Town & Country's new CityCentre development is the place to be; restaurants will never be deterred from opening in the accursed location at 2303 Richmond; and yes, things are still reopening i

  November 6, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  They run a great coffee shop, but the ambiance suffers a little from all the squished mushrooms and empty turtle shells lying around.​ Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we have a lovely bouquet and notes of walnut and oak in our boldly earthy flavor. Effervescent, but never insistent. Robb Walsh started us off with some foreign mustard favorites. Sadly, French's did not make the list. They're French, right? No? Okay, we're totally lost. Luckily, Robb ca

  November 6, 2009

• Taco Truck Gourmet: Arcelia Taco Bus

  ​The barbacoa taco from the Arcelia taco bus is truly amazing. It consists of two lightly fried tortillas and lots of barbacoa meat, plus soft-cooked onions, salsa and a lime wedge. The barbacoa is moist and tasty too, not crusted over like the stuff at Pancho's carniceria down the street. Even more amazing is the fact that they can sell tacos like this for 99¢. I visited Arcelia after a comment from Ricardo Tubbs on my post about the machacado con huevo at La Plaza on Long Point and Bing

  November 9, 2009

• Bivalve Throwdown: Oysters With a Side of Intrigue at Stella Sola

  Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​In the heat of battle last night, the oysters -- and the chefs -- kept their cool. The fourth such event organized by Jenny Wang and the Houston Chowhounds, the Bivalve Throwdown at Stella Sola on Sunday afternoon saw 11 of the city's best chefs compete to create the best oyster dishes for a panel of distinguished judges. But that's where the "distinguished" part of the event ended: The afternoon was a celebration of the first Gulf oysters of the season that

  November 9, 2009

• Chef Chat: Kay Soodjai of Khun Kay Thai Café

  ​Kay Soodjai and her sister-in-law Supatra Yooto opened the Golden Room in Montrose 27 years ago. Last year they replaced the venerable Golden Room with Khun (Madame) Kay Thai Café (1209 Montrose), with a fast-casual concept and less expensive meals. Supatra, who describes herself as more of an "old-fashioned" Thai cook, offered some translation assistance as Kay was interviewed. How did you get started in the restaurant business? I worked for Chinese and Thai restaurants in Houston, Chi

  November 10, 2009

• Not to Bragg

  ​Back in the '70s, Hobbit Cafe's claim to fame was being the "only" vegetarian restaurant in Houston. Apparently the owners had another restaurant that served Caribbean food, and they decided to merge the two and create the carnivore-friendly cuisine we indulge in at Hobbit Cafe to this day. When offered a menu, try to determine which item came from which restaurant. We will give you a hint: If its name is out of a Middle Ages fantasy neverland, it is probably veggie-friendly. Our favori

  November 10, 2009

• $6.59 For Cheese...Must Be Local

  ​When I can, I buy local ingredients. I feel like I'm doing my good deed for the day, and sometimes they just plain taste better. But when the price for local is almost double the competitor's price, I break my rule and forgo it. Susan Holle started Cheesygirl in Sealy, Texas, after leaving her career as an executive for a large healthcare provider. She prides herself on making vegetarian cheese with vegetarian rennet, a necessary ingredient for cheese making. She makes classic goat chee

  November 10, 2009

• Banh Mi Bo Kho: Soup or Sandwich?

  ​Banh mi means "bread" in Vietnamese and thit means "ham"; banh mi thit is a ham sandwich. So when I saw banh mi bo kho on the menu at Banh Cuon Hoa #2 on Beechnut, the subject of this week's cafe review, I figured bread beef stew = a Vietnamese roast beef sandwich. Ever since I first learned about Vietnamese sandwiches, I have been looking for the banh mi stuffed with curry and saucy meats that I have heard are popular in Vietnam.

  November 11, 2009

• City of Coffee: Houston Coffee Culture

  November 12, 2009

• City of Coffee

  November 12, 2009

• Enough About Mi

  November 12, 2009

• Fall Wine Tasting at Simposio Ristorante

  ​In 2007, Vasco Luti, owner of Simposio Ristorante, opened the restaurant's new location in an unlikely shopping center at the corner of Westheimer and Dunvale. Historically, this native Tuscan focused on Northern Italian cuisine, but last night, Simposio debuted some new wines and Southern Italian dishes at the first of many tastings. Two months ago, Chef Riccardo Palazzo-Giorgio joined Simposio Ristorante as the new executive chef. A first-generation Italian-American, Palazzo-Giorgio t

  November 12, 2009

• Mexican Breakfast: Alma Latina Taqueria

  ​Two cheese enchiladas topped with a fried egg (or two) is one of my favorite Tex-Mex breakfasts. It used to be known as huevos montados (eggs mounted) back in the day. Dos Amigos on Washington has this dish on the menu. So do lots of other Houston Tex-Mex joints. But if I don't see it, I often ask for it anyway. After all, how hard is it to throw a fried egg on top of a cheese enchilada plate? I have never been disappointed with this dish -- until now.

  November 12, 2009

• Where You @?

  ​South Houston is home to one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in Houston, Sagemont. There is a dense population of Vietnamese in this area, and as a result, a fantastic selection of great Asian food. T@pioca is a little Vietnamese banh mi, yogurt, and bubble tea dive on Fuqua and Sabo that's a good example of a quality small business. The bubble tea drinks are great -- we ordered jasmine milk tea and coffee milk tea with half sugar (they will know). We also ended up trying T@

  November 12, 2009

• Tamale Pie

  ​I wanted to try his canned tamale casserole, but I can't get The Shameless Chef to invite me over for dinner. I run into this problem all the time. Who wants to cook for a food critic? So absent canned tamale wonderfulness, I came up with my own quickie tamale casserole. I took a recipe from The Tex-Mex Cookbook and simplified it. I used two packages of Pioneer Cornbread Mix and a cup and a half of chili. You make the cornbread mix according to the directions on the package, only you us

  November 13, 2009

• Good Deals on Texas Oysters

  ​Texas oyster season opened November 1, and the oysters have started to flood the local market. Lots of restaurants around town are running specials. The cheapest price I've seen is at the Ragin Cajun on Richmond, where they offer 25¢ oysters during happy hour (Mondays through Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m.). That's an incredible $3 a dozen. You'd be lucky to find one oyster that cheap at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York.

  November 13, 2009

• On a Roll at Kubo's Sushi Competition

  Photos by Katharine ShilcuttThe bibimbap roll at Kubo's​Rice, salmon, tuna, seaweed, wasabi, avocado, octopus, daikon radish, cucumber -- it seemed the food would never stop coming. Last night at Kubo's, we were faced with enough sushi to feed two sumo wrestlers. One brightly colored roll after another crossed our plates and palates as we attempted the near-impossible task of choosing a favorite from the group. Kubo's, the veteran Japanese restaurant in Rice Village, is known fo

  November 13, 2009

• Wine of the Week - Rancho Ponte Vineyard

  ​Five miles east of Fredericksburg, Texas is the newest addition to the 290 Wine Corridor, Rancho Ponte Vineyard. This family-owned winery opened in early 2009 and features, in my opinion, some of the better Texas wines. Rancho Ponte offers tastings Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For $8, you can try five of the ten wines. This past weekend, we tried the Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Rose, Meritage, Tempranillo, Merlot and the famou

  November 16, 2009

• Candy-Coated Fantasies

  ​After a fruitful trip to Half-Price Books in Rice Village, we stopped by the newest location of The Chocolate Bar, which serves up chocolate-covered fun in just about any form you can imagine: fruit, nuts, popcorn, coffee beans, pretzels, Oreos and more. If you can dream it, they can dip it. And we can eat it. Yesterday, staring right up from the display case, was a gorgeous-looking creation we'd yet to notice: a Twinkie draped in ribbons of dark chocolate. Huh. Curiosity piqued. Severa

  November 16, 2009

• Put a Cork In It: In Which We Pretend to Be Wine Judges for a Day

  Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​As it turns out, Eating Our Words is not a very good wine judge. Blame our unappreciative palates or -- as we did on Saturday afternoon -- our preternatural ability to judge beers instead of wines, but one thing is certain: We're pretty sure the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo will not be asking us back to be a full-fledged judge on any future International Wine Competitions. Granted, we did better than some previous judges. According to Step

  November 16, 2009

• Saying Yes to Yelapa

  Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​It looks like the curse may have been lifted from 2303 Richmond. The location has seen many restaurants come and go over the years, some which have had achingly short lifespans. Most recently, it was the home of The Chimney (for a few short months) and before that, Saute. But its newest occupant, Yelapa Playa Mexicana, seems determined to shake that curse. The man behind the original Berryhill Fish Tacos, Chuck Bulnes, is back in the restauranteur saddle once again

  November 16, 2009

• Straits Singaporean: A Different Kind of Fire

  Photos by Margaret Downing The Roti John Sandwich, Straits' signature dish, is braised beef (or chicken), with onion, tomato, spicy mayo and garlic fries.​There we were, looking at what appeared to be eyes staring back at us in a faintly orangish sauce. "It's messy," my dining companion promised, "But it's good." Actually, the "eyes" were halved boiled eggs, their deep yellow yolks in stark contrast to the coconut milk-flavored sauce that surrounded them in a dish called Singaporean sh

  November 17, 2009

• Taqueria Huetamo II

  ​On a random weekday around lunchtime we stumbled upon Taqueria Huetamo II (210 Aldine Bender Rd). With only a simple black awning with the name Taqueria Huetamo II in white letters, this place is the poster child for a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was clean, simple and almost empty. We were one of three small groups eating lunch, and only one more group arrived while we were eating. The friendly waitress immediately brought us each our own bowl of homemade salsa and fresh chips. This

  November 17, 2009

• Top 5 Sweets of Sugar Land

  Wrong, but right: Oreo Pizookie​Imperial Sugar may not actually produce sugar in Sugar Land anymore, but even as dust collects on the factory smokestacks and the museum leads tours through the old warehouse, there are still a number of bakeries, breweries and cafes making Sugar Land's namesake proud. 5. Dessert Gallery is an itch that never should have scratched, especially because, unlike a lot of places in Sugar Land, it's open late. We recommend chocolate-dipped chocolate cookies, whi

  November 17, 2009

• Thanksgiving Recipe: Coca-Cola Habanero Potatoes

  Photo by Tambako​I'm on vacation in Southern California now -- I'll be back in Houston resuming the donut patrol soon. But since everybody is getting ready for Thanksgiving, I thought I'd dig up a few recipes from one of my first cookbooks, Nuevo Tex-Mex, which I wrote with David Garrido, and share them for the holidays. The book offered some ambitious variations on old classics, like this twist on roasted potatoes. The sweet and hot potatoes in this recipe taste incredible with roast tu

  November 17, 2009

• Crispy and Crispier

  November 19, 2009

• Flounder Fish & Chips

  November 19, 2009

• Hair and Healthy Tex-Mex

  November 19, 2009

• Chef Chat: Houston Country Club's Michael O'Connor

  ​Michael O'Connor, chef of Houston Country Club's Garde Manger, is just about as private as the club he works with. We luckily ran into him late-night for a drink and convinced him to talk about himself and his "geeky" craft. Eating Our Words: How hard is it to get a meal from you? Michael O'Connor: HCC is a private club. The only ways to dine with us are to be a member, come as the guest of a member, or attend one of our banquets as a guest. EOW: Your kitchen situation is a little uni

  November 18, 2009

• Thanksgiving Recipe: Ancho Chiles Stuffed with Sweet Potatoes

  Photo by smashzSoaking the ancho chiles in warm water.​This is my favorite side dish with roast turkey. The idea here is to spoon some sweet potato puree into some dried ancho chiles that have been soaked in warm water to make them pliant. Then you put a medallion of goat cheese on top and stick the stuffed chiles in the oven and warm them up. It's an awesome presentation, and the ancho chiles give a really nice flavor to the sweet potato if you eat them together. But I have noticed that w

  November 18, 2009

• New Menu Items at Ra Sushi in Highland Village

  Photos courtesy of RA SushiA banana split at a sushi restaurant? Yes! Read on...​RA Sushi's corporate executive chef Tai Obata has come through with some new menu items -- several with a Tex-Mex influence -- and we made our way over to a media tasting to try them out at the Highland Village location on Westheimer. It was a tasting that went on longer than usual when the kitchen was slammed with other customers. Whatever RA is doing, it's working, and this was on a Tuesday night. The first cou

  November 18, 2009

• Vegetarian Thanksgiving

  Photo by Major Clanger There will be no Tofurky on this year's table.​Eating Our Words isn't a vegetarian (or -- perish the thought -- a vegan), but we have a lot of friends who are. And for those folks, Thanksgiving can be a nightmare of avoiding the main show (that dried out or deep-fried turkey) while navigating gloppy side dishes like green bean casserole, diabetic-coma-inducing syrupy sweet potatoes and dry, bland stuffing that is only partially palatable when drenched with a copio

  November 18, 2009

• Thanksgiving Recipe: Pork Chops in Apple Butter Mole

  Photo by Jasmine&Roses​Calvin Trillin has lobbied to replace the Thanksgiving turkey with spaghetti carbonara --something to do with Columbus being Italian, I think. In the Tex-Mex Cookbook, I pointed out that Juan de Onate and his Mexican pioneers held a Tex-Mex thanksgiving in El Paso decades before the Pilgrims ran into Plymouth rock. So there's plenty of precedent to skip cooking turkey. Here's a lovely pork chop recipe for Thanksgiving. The sauce was inspired by my father, who

  November 19, 2009

• Happy Hour Scene: So Vino

  Photo by Jane Catherine Collins​Wednesday means only one thing -- wine happy hours. By the time midweek rolls around, we need wine, and we need happy. Unfortunately, happy hour is not so happy at So Vino (507 Westheimer). When we walked in, it was empty and stayed that way. Our guess is that the lack of happy hour specials on food must keep the crowds away. This was so disappointing, because So Vino has so much potential. Mondays through Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m., So Vino features three

  November 19, 2009

• Food Fight: Battle Masala Dosai

  Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​After last week's Battle Grilled Cheese, we received a gentle prod from one of our readers and favorite local food mavens, Dr. Ricky: "I think there need to be more creative choices for the food battles. Down to grilled cheese sandwiches?"It was with a heavy sigh and a heavy heart that we admitted to ourselves that Dr. Ricky was right. Food Fight has been taking a turn for the bland (if comforting) lately. We suddenly felt remiss and very disappointed in ourse

  November 19, 2009

• Thanksgiving Recipe: Cranberry Yogurt Ice Cream

  This isn't cranberry yogurt ice cream. But this is how we imagine it should be served.​Whenever I buy fresh cranberries to make cranberry sauce, I end up with too many of them. They aren't cheap, and they usually go to waste in my refrigerator. If you have ever popped a fresh cranberry in your mouth, you know why nobody eats them raw. If you have an ice cream freezer, you can use this dessert recipe to make ice cream with some of the extra cranberries. You can also vary the recipe to us

  November 20, 2009

• Recipe: Chef Johann Schuster's Ceviche

  ​Chef Johann Schuster, of Charivari Restaurant in Midtown, tossed together three bowls of a fine ceviche at last weekend's Houston Peruvian Festival. The keys to a good ceviche, Schuster says, are fresh fish and sharp knives. But chewing raw fish is a bit more pleasant if there's, you know, other stuff with it. So we rang Schuster up before the dinner rush this week and asked him to share his classic ceviche recipe with us. Patrons can find Charivari's version at the bar. The recipe, a

  November 20, 2009

• Mini Thanksgiving

  photos by Liana Lopez​If you don't have to entertain an entire family for Thanksgiving dinner this year but still want to have a feast, here's the recipe for you. This is all you need to make a mini-Thanksgiving dinner for up to four folks. Okay, our recipe is not exactly turkey but it is poultry, it's stuffed and it's tasty. Not to mention, it won't take all day to make, and you can avoid that tryptophan trip to la la land afterwards. Instead of the typical 10 - 15 pound turkey, here's our

  November 20, 2009

• Upcoming Events

  ​Although the Saturday tours at the brewery are still on hold for now, you can still get your fix of walking and beer with the Saint Arnold Pub Crawl tonight starting at 6 p.m. As a special bonus, there will be limited-edition Christmas Ale on tap. The crawl will take place in the north part of Rice Village, and because the crawls have gotten so huge, the first stop will actually be in three locations (mystery locations, as per tradition). Pick up your ticket at one of the three locations

  November 20, 2009

• Highland Village Farmers Market Thanksgiving

  Photo by Experience LAFree range turkeys, making their way to a roasting pan near you...​For the down-to-earth and/or most ambitious of us, Olde World Farms is offering a limited supply of free range turkeys at the Highland Village Farmers Market this Saturday. It's part of a huge push on the market's part to capture your T-Day dollars. Stone Cloud Farms has fresh herbs and Meyer lemons to help you make homemade lemon meringue pie (if you don't want to go the House of Pies, Luby's or Den

  November 20, 2009

• Openings and Closings

  ​November has been a good month for Houston restaurants so far, with notably few closings. Among them in the past week were two casualties of Spanish cuisine: Tio Pepe (5213 Cedar) in Bellaire and the adjoining Garnaxas Tapas Bar. In better news, a spate of openings around the city -- and especially at the increasingly busy CityCentre -- is offering more places for Houstonians to spend their dining dollars. Branch Water Tavern has finally opened its doors at 510 Shepherd. Although it's on

  November 20, 2009