This week, we've got a few sweet recipes that won't overwhelm you, plus reviews of favorite Houston eateries and a guide to your post-work happy hour.
Cinnamon rolls, waffles and doughnuts are all breakfast foods, but we're not entirely sure if the cinnamon roll waffle doughnut from
MAX's Wine Dive, 4720 Washington,
is a dish best served for breakfast, dessert or perhaps both. However you eat it, it's going to be sweet, doughy perfection, and Erika Kwee, writing for Urban Swank, is going to give you the tools to
eat a cinna-waff-nut whenever you'd like with this copycat recipe. We think it's a perfect late-night snack, especially since breakfast, no matter what time you eat it, is always better when you're wearing pajamas.
Oka Uptown at 2200 Post Oak received a satisfactory review this week from Lindy of the Patty and David Said blog,
who thoroughly enjoyed the tuna tower, which is a dip with crab meat, avocado, spicy tuna and a quail egg, as well as the
unagi with fois gras and truffle oil. Unfortunately, the
wagyu was too chewy, but a manager made up for that mistake by replacing that dish with the unagi. Lindy found the food altogether pleasing, and the service was excellent. She recommends that you speak with the manager about which dishes will pair best with one another to enhance your experience.
Claire of The Petite Professional blog isn't really feeling traditional winter dishes right now, so she shared a recipe for
winter tomato and citrus salad, which is almost a combination of a fruit salad and a
caprese salad. It's mostly orange and tomato (although we think that clementine oranges and cherry tomatoes would be great for this, too), plus feta cheese, basil, onion, vinegar and maple syrup to sweeten the deal. Not only does it sound scrumptious, but it's a beautiful winter salad to add some color to your table.
Pronto Cucinino may be a chain eatery, but
its made-from-scratch food impressed Jack Tyler of the Culinary Houston blog. The restaurant was created by the Mandola family of
Nino's and
Vincent's, and they exercise the same care with their meals at Pronto that they do at the other two concepts. The weekly special sliders with
gorgonzola and greens were a knockout hit, and the chicken Vincent, topped with artichokes and lemon, was also a favorite.
As Valentine's Day approaches, you'll probably be thinking about candies and romance, and you can
combine the two by grabbing your sweetie and making DIY spiked lollipops with this recipe from Sugar & Cloth. They recommend rum or tequila for the spiking, and a dash of food coloring can make these clear candies into lovely marbled decorations for a St. Valentine's Day party. If you've got wee ones, skip the liquor and add some vanilla or lemon extract for a kid-friendly culinary adventure.
Thinking that your after-work happy hour is going to turn into dinner? Check out Robin Sussman's list on Zagat of the
best Houston wine bars for drinking and eating. Many of these come as no surprise, such as the fried-chicken-meets-vino glory that is
MAX's Wine Dive, or the hip gastro paradise of
13 Celsius at 3000 Caroline. There are also a few less expected, wild card entries on the list, which you'll have to discover for yourself.
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