Sunday, February 12, 2006

I miss...

Chicken fried steak, mashed potato and a biscuit, all under white gravy, with a dash of Tabasco sauce at Saltgrass Steakhouse



Caesar salad, and a chicken feuillete under wild mushroom sauce at La Madeleine - homemade croutons...and a dash of something special in the sauce ;)

Softshell crab at the Flying Dutchman - he sweeps the table with a little brass dustpan and brush

French toast with maple syrup and whipped cream at Biba's - specially at midnight with your buddies

All you can eat at Joe's Crabshack - roll up yer sleeves, put on a bib and away ya go

Fried green tomatoes (yep) coming round and if you hold up your hand, fresh rolls lobbed at you at the Potatoe Patch - before you even order from the menu

Hot jalapeno cornbread and butter at Luby's Cafeteria - an entire 3 course meal for under $10



The fresh steaming melt in your mouth cheese biscuits at Red Lobster - full before you order anything

The fresh hot rolls with honey butter at Golden Corral - they ring a bell when it's ready

Italian sausage and jalapeno pizza at Cici's - order the $6.99 buffet and if you don't see it you can order it

Chicken tortilla soup sprinkled with cheese and crumbled tortilla chips from Boston Market - until the carrot compote last week, the only other soup I liked



The DIY lettuce wraps at PF Chan's - a total mess but delicious

The creme brulee at Paris Cafe - better than any I've had in France

Beef flautas with sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo at Las Cucas - and the best warm corn tortillas, red and green salsas in town - full up before you finish reading the menu




Hm....looks like I might have to make a foodie trip to Texas before the year is out...!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Olivia! How you make one's mouth water! I haven't eaten properly in days (lack of appetite) and now....well, now I feel I could happily tuck-in to any and everything. A tonic indeed! So what shall my response be to this whetting of the appetite? At such a late hour, hmmm...probably a tin of fruit. Not quite up to the culinary delights you regularly regale us with, but t'will have to suffice.

Anonymous said...

Whoa: chicken fried steak!!! Now that is the PURE Texas coming out!!

But I am, I have to admit, myself a fan of the oh so redneck chicken fried steak. Yummy!

Olivia said...

Woohooo! Mr B!!! Good to see you around once more!

Rebecca - hehe, apparently the best is to be found in the Lone Star State.
I don't know what it is about it, and it goes best only with mash and gravy - but nothing compares, and when you want it, you want it!

michelle said...

stop making me hungry

sanity index said...

*drool*

I must have dinner now!

Prerona said...

OMG! I shouldnt have come here right now! Just got back from the gym and I'm so hungry!!! LoL. Whatta list - will print it out and carry it with me next time I am travelling - Texas, is it? All I remember for there steaks at a place in Austin where you sit and look at a dark blue sea below while you eat, and loads of margaritas and fajitas at small local joints and IHOP.

Prerona said...

And HEB! I miss HEB!

Olivia said...

Steli - you are soooo coming with me to Texas +) I might even leave you there.

My relatives drove down to visit us once from Canada, and they said for the entire 3 days over however many states they got what you did.
The good restaurants only started when they got to Texas!

P.S. 15 years is definitely longer.

Jia Li - no! You get to blog about food and I don't complain!

Mers - what's for dinner?

Prerona - good idea, those are some great eating places. I forgot IHOP [International House of Pancakes]! I liked the crepes there!

Austin is nowhere near the sea, but there are really nice eating places on the boardwalk by the lake there. Houston has the best selection in the state, though. *sigh*

HEB has gone upmarket epicurean with the new HEB Marketplace. They do everything there. Great sushi, fresh hot tortillas at the tortilleria, gorgeous fresh produce, so many teas, all sorts of breads, a million wines!

So much food, so cheap, such good quality...and European cuisine in the US is done just as well as it is here, and it's still affordable.

Leilouta said...

I have to give you some Tunisian recipes.
I will soon, I promise:)

Anonymous said...

Pizza?! In NY, perhaps. It has a twist. But otherwise...

I don't know the Midwest at all (or the South, much, other than what I saw of Arizona and some associated knowledge), but I do know the west and what you eat in REAL America is meat! And beans and potatoes. Burgers and steaks and ribs and tacos. Yum!

Anonymous said...

What I miss and cannot have cause it's faaaaar to fattening is Älpler Maggronen with apple mousse! Oh my god! Drooooooool!

Olivia said...

Rebecca - I guess Houston is too cosmopolitan so it was easy for me to avoid all those things you mentioned!

For instance, I never went to the Rodeo. Some of my friends did, but they never bothered me about it.

Rox - another food mystery. Please describe this intriguing alpine dish for us.

Steli - my gosh, you have such clever colleagues!

Anonymous said...

Ok here is a recipe for Älpler Maggronen. Like it's name the recipe too has many variants but this one is as I like it best.

10 ounces elbow macaroni
10 ounces firm waxy potatoes, roughly diced
5 ounces streaky bacon, rinds removed and diced small
7 ounces whipping cream
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
4 ounces parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 ounce butter, plus extra for greasing
1 onion, sliced

1. Heat oven to 350*F.
2. Lightly butter a large ovenproof gratin dish.
3. Cook the macaroni and potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, until just tender.
4. Dry fry the bacon in a large non stick pan until lightly golden.
5. Pour in the cream and season with nutmeg and fresh ground pepper.
6. Drain the macaroni and potatoes well and stir them into the bacon and cream.
7. Spoon half into the prepared dish, sprinkle with half the parmesan, then spoon remaining mixture on top, finishing off with remaining parmesan.
8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden and bubbling.
9. Meanwhile melt the butter in a frying pan, and cook sliced onion for 5 to 6 minutes till golden.
10. Serve the baked macaroni with the onion slices scattered on the top.
11. Serve with cold apple sauce

40 minutes (25 mins prep)

Anonymous said...

PS: I actually prefer it with Swiss cheese such as Sbrinz for example (not Emmental!) but that is hard to get here and Parmi is ok too.

sanity index said...

Wow, that sounds delicious! I came to say what I had for dinner...but I completely forgot after reading that recipe.

-merserene

Anonymous said...

I've been to a rodeao, just once years ago, but they're not as common as you'd think in Colorado. Wyoming, perhaps. Colorado is an inland California really, and mainly big on all-season sports: hiking, water sports, snow sports, you name it.
But it's the most beautiful place on earth!

Olivia said...

Well Rox, that is essentially the same recipe my family uses for macaroni! Only, the onions go inside, there are herbs, and we use more cheeses and less cream. But no apple sauce. Sounds interesting though. Thanks.

Mers - :D

Rebecca - the rodeo states only hold them once a year anyway.
I'd watch the trailriders arrive in Houston, set up their camps, start the BBQ and chili cook-offs...
But always on the news. Not my thing at all.

Miss Dallas said...

Speaking of Chili Cookoffs, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is about to kick off with their massive Chili Cookoff! AND I'M GONNA BE THERE!!!

God, it's good to be Texan (minus being the home state of Prez. Bush, it really is swell)!

Olivia said...

Lunar - Mmmmm oh stop it you're making me jealous!
I am so hungry right now!

*goes downstairs for pitta bread, taramasalata, hummus, and pickled herring*

*really wants that chicken fried steak dinner*