A Suburban Saturday breakfast at Fountain View Cafe

Looking around the dining room at Fountain View Cafe, I said to my husband, "Notice anything about this place?"

"You mean how homogenized it is?"

"Yep."

Sometimes, when dining in particular regions of Houston, such as Tanglewood, one finds that the majority of the patrons, if not all, are Caucasians (like me, but I'm 1/16th Cherokee Indian so...I kid). After being married to an Arab for nearly ten years, you start noticing these things when you realize, "That's funny, my spouse is the only customer in here that would get extra scrutiny at the airport." It's true. If you've ever tried flying with an Arab partner, you'll know that you should arrive at the airport even earlier than usual because it is guaranteed there will be 'delays'.

Our food finally started coming out of the kitchen so I had a distraction from my overly observant imagination. True to the area's demands, there was none of that hippie shit turkey or veggie breakfast meat options, and since we don't eat pork, I had to do without. Disappointment turned to delight when my potato and Swiss omelet with a short stack of pancakes arrived.

My husband ordered an egg white omelet and a bowl of oatmeal, aiming for healthy options. While his omelet looked as good as mine tasted, the oatmeal was sitting under a puddle of butter. Who would order that stuff if they weren't looking for a diet friendly breakfast?

I love all cuisines, but when it comes to breakfast, nothing beats a home-style Southern spread. Eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, pancakes- no regrets. The hashbrowns were great in that they lacked that reconstituted potato flavor you find at a lot of diner style breakfasts. The biscuits were those fluffy buttermilk kind that resemble the pull apart dinner rolls, definitely good but not as good as the pancakes. The 'short' stack was two large, thin pancakes topped with fresh blackberries. I smooshed the berries up a bit with my fork and took a bite with the pancake and proceeded to push all of the other food away and focus solely on those flapjacks. I think I might have growled a little when the kids went to take a bite. In the end, there was plenty left to take home and I just polished them off around 2am this morning after remembering I had leftovers in the fridge while writing this, and they were still pretty delicious.

The fact that they serve a great breakfast all day, every day has deterred me from trying their lunch or dinner menu. Sorry, you're on your own there. It's just not the kind of place I'd go out of my way for at dinner, though I do love how the daily specials are printed out a la 80s public school style.

If you're looking for a great Sunday breakfast spot, don't come here. The place is white ass to elbow for most of the morning and into the afternoon. We went on a Saturday and didn't have to wait in line.

So the next time you're headed to Doneraki on a Saturday like we were, not knowing that their bad ass Mexican brunch buffet is now open only on Sundays, just head over to nearby Fountain View Cafe and bulk up on some desayunos de gringos instead.

Extermi-cake :: Dalek Cake

This is a cake I made for my oldest son's 9th birthday. I'm just posting it for old time's sake.

I’ve made my sons’ birthday cakes every year and each time I somehow come up with something twice as difficult as the year before but it’s great fun and worth it when my boys see it finished for the first time. This is a Dalek robot from Doctor Who. I totally free-styled the design of the cake but I will try to relay the process here. Hint: It’s not just cake…

I will list the ingredients below but it’s up to you to get creative and put it all together so get ready to be covered in chocolate for the next few hours.

• One batch of chocolate cupcakes (Box mix again, the kids won’t mind)

• 4 Chocolate Moon Pies

• 10 mini tootsie rolls

• 25 Chocolate malt balls (bulk style candies)

• 10 Peanut butter balls (if you can’t find these just try to find a lighter colored ball (gumballs?)

• 4-6 Peanut Butter Cups (Small- Reese’s style)

• 10 white chocolate melting ‘buttons’

• 4 cups of ganache. Try this recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/12691

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Invert bowl cake flat side down on circular cake platform thing. I used cardboard on a cookie sheet. Cover it in ganache. That is the Dalek’s base.
2. 
   
3. For the torso I rigged two cupcakes that had been cut in half (tops cut off) and four Swiss Rolls to form a circular shape on top of the base. Place the cupcakes cut side in along the top of the base and use the Swiss Rolls (OR appropriately carved cupcakes) to fill in the gaps, rounding out the body. Cover in ganache. Then put one of the cupcake tops on top of this, and cover it in ganache.
4. Place one Chocolate Moon Pie on top of the cupcake top and put a dollop of ganache in the center to affix a peanut butter cup and put a dollop of ganache on top of that and stack up three more Moon Pies, using ganache as your glue.
5. Finally, cover another cupcake top in ganache and stick it on the top Moon Pie. You know how the figure completed. On to the detail work.
6. Arms: I used Tootsie Rolls as modeling clay and formed these weird pincher arms/hands.
7. Eye: Peanut butter cup glued with ganache to head, with white chocolate button affixed with ganache
8. Antenna: Stack of white chocolate buttons held together with one melted white chocolate button. I then made a little hole in the top with a toothpick to support the candle.
9. Buttons and lights: Peanut butter cup for dial, malt balls for decoration, affixed with ganache.
10. Congratulations. You’ve reached the end. I passed out the extra cupcakes and candy mainly so I could have more cake to myself :) It was delicious and will serve at least twenty. Cutting it up is the fun part because everyone can pick which part they want to eat.

Tofu (If you have to)- Oven Fried Tofu Sticks

I am still trying to figure out how to make this wiggly, jiggly, pigment challenged, protein by-product more palatable, and while this recipe would be better if the tofu was substituted with, oh let's say, Brie or Chevre or shrimp or chicken or probably just about anything with a little fat and flavor, honestly, it didn't turn out half bad. In fact, I guess it was pretty damn good. I'm just a little reluctant to give up on my anti-tofu stance yet. I am, after all, a Texas T-bone and tri-tip kinda girl at heart. This one's for my ova-lacto-homies, as the recipe does contain an egg for the dredge. The tofu is pictured served with a Panang chicken curry, and they were great dipped in the excess sauce, as well as the other one I threw together with a fish sauce base.



Okay, so. You need:

1 pound firm tofu, cut into strips and drained well

2 cups bread crumbs, either panko, or crackers will do. Cornflakes or crisp rice might be nice too...

2 TSBP cornstarch, more or less

1 egg

1/4 cup of milk or water

1 tsp salt

Seasonings of your choice- I used some garlic powder, dried parsley, salt, fresh ground pepper



Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Spray or smear a baking sheet with a thin coat of oil.

3. First, pat your tofu dry and sprinkle it with the cornstarch.

4. In a bowl, whisk together milk/water, egg, and 1 tsp salt.

5. On a plate or pie dish, toss together the bread crumbs and seasonings.

6. Carefully dip the strips of tofu into the dredge and let the excess drip off.

7. Press a dredged strip into the bread crumb and seasoning mixture. Turn it over and around and press the crumbs into the tofu or else it will fall off. Did the tofu break? I said be careful...

8. Lay the strip on the baking sheet and repeat step six and seven until you are done and your fingers look like the Swamp Thing trying to eat Saltine crackers. You'll see...

9. It puts the pan into the oven. Wait about 20 minutes then start peeking in to see what the browning looks like. I think I left mine in around 35-40 minutes before they got to a nice color.

10. Remove the pan from the oven. Turn off your oven. Serve the tofu sticks with your choice of sauce.

Sauce: May I suggest a Thai lime and fish sauce sauce with a bit of honey and some fresh, thinly sliced shallot or green onion and Thai chilies. Use 1 part fish sauce to 3 parts lime juice, a tbsp of honey, whisk together. Add scallions and chilies. Ta dow. Now go eat your dirty little tofu sticks and love them.

Backroad Desi- Mezban Curry and Grill

By Andrea Afra

Hiding in plain site, Mezban is located in a big shopping center in the Mahatma Gandhi District (did you know the area was recently renamed?) off of Harwin between Hillcroft and the 59 feeder road. The first time we went, there was a party going on in the parking lot complete with a DJ who would spin some records then plug the insurance company that had obviously paid the guy to come out.

Mezban started as a catering company that opened as a restaurant on the side. The main feature is its lunch and dinner buffet of a random variety of Indian and Pakistani dishes as well as a few standards, like the raita, biryani, and fresh baked naan, as well as the standard Texas coleslaw. Yes, coleslaw, and it's quite good.

Most of the dishes were on the milder side of spicy, but they didn't lack in flavor- it only meant less complaining from the kids.

While Mezban doesn't rank at the top of my Indian or Pakistani restaurants, mainly because of the lack of heat, it has a buffet which means you walk in and don't even have to sit down before you get your food. And I like that a lot.

The Buffet at Mezban, an array of meat, rice, and vegetable dishes. There is everything from kofta- meatballs in curry sauce, balti gosht- a mutton dish not unlike pot roast, Frontier chicken, saag paneer, a great cold chickpea salad, and desserts as well.



Hot Naan! Some of the best in town- even without butter, brought fresh to your table when you are seated.



There were no lentils on the buffet one day when we went and when my husband mentioned this to the owner, he quickly offered to bring him some. This is what they brought out, his very own little pan of lentils. Nice!

Vini, Vidi, Ceviche!

We had a party for my man's birthday this weekend and he requested ceviche for dinner, and this good wife did abide. Ceviche is super easy to make and doesn't have to be expensive. It does need at least 2 hours to 'cook' in the citrus juice so time accordingly. If you want to know what good ceviche should taste like before making it, check out El Pueblito's- it's rife with big chunks of avocado and tangy sweet mango. (On Richmond just east of Mandell)

1 pound fresh saltwater fish, I used tilapia

1 pound fresh bay scallops

1 pound fresh peeled/deveined shrimp

1 big bunch of cilantro leaves chopped

1 medium red onion, diced small

3-5 sliced jalapenos with seeds for heat, sliced thin

2 avocados, diced

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup tequila (optional)

1/2 cup vegetable juice (optional)

1 diced mango (optional)

Salt to taste

Shallow pan for the marinating/cooking process

Preparation:

Cut fish into bite sized pieces (not too small) and combine in the pan with the other seafood. Pour the juice over the top, along with all of the other ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-6 hours depending on how well done you like your ceviche.

Serve with tortilla chips, warm corn tortillas (just throw on a gas burner for a few seconds on each side), plantain chips, or even Saltines.

Cheeseburger Delivery = Greatness: Lucky Burger

It was one of those nights when cooking a meal didn't sound very appealing, so I picked up the phone and called 713.522.5650 (I have it memorized) and ordered up a few cheeseburgers, some fries and a chocolate Oreo milkshake to be delivered to my doorstep. Without warning, a few moments later the skies opened up and within minutes our street began to flood. Lucky Burger is really close to my house, and after twenty minutes the driver still hadn't arrived so I figured they had seen the water rising over the sidewalk and nixed my delivery, which would have been perfectly understandable. I even called them back to tell them that the road was flooded and to not worry about my order, but Peggy, the woman who answers the phones, said they were already on their way.

Now I was worried about the delivery person. Surely they wouldn't come down our street, but what if they did? Their car would be ruined and I didn't want my dinner to be the cause. I ran outside into the rain which was pouring down relentlessly. The water was rushing down the street, already well over the curb and shin high on the sidewalks. Sure enough, I saw a car creeping down the street. The water was too high to walk through so I ran back inside and grabbed my bike, then pedaled down the sidewalk with my feet hitting the water with each downward push. I saw the car stop across the street, just a few houses down from mine. The door opened and an older Chinese guy stepped out with a brown paper bag in his hand.

I yelled, "Hey, wait there!", and rode out into the rapids to grab the food and hand him all the money I had for a tip, a fiver, wishing I had more to give.

"Thank you. You're crazy!" I told him and he smiled and nodded, "Okay", before getting back into the car. I rode back home to enjoy a delicious burger feeling a little bit guilty and very soaked.

So what's so great about Lucky Burger, besides the fact that they deliver in monsoon-like weather conditions? Deep inside the barrel fortress at the southeastern corner of Richmond and Mandell, they are cranking out some great diner style fast food. The burgers are simple yet hearty, served made to order on a fluffy bun with terrific pickles (the 'good' kind), American cheese, and a paper sleeve brimming with hot crinkle cut fries.

If you're not feeling the burger, try the jumbo shrimp. They aren't what you'd think. Instead of just a large fried shrimp, they have taken one decent sized shrimp with the tail still on and straightened it out, then another straightened out tail-less shrimp is laid on top of it before battering it and frying it. It's like a long shrimp baton, and they are super crunchy and tasty.

A friend of mine used to get a Lucky cheeseburger with a fried egg on top, so if that's your thing just ask. If you are totally not feeling the cheeseburger thing, try the fried rice. The order is huge and done as well as any respectable Chinese restaurant.

The patty melt is served on awesome buttery toast with those super crisp pickle slices. While I have had the chili-cheese fries, I have yet to try the chili-cheeseburger which seems rather intense, but I bet it's crazy good. Imagine that with an egg on it. Kill me now.

So the next time you're feeling lazy, dial up Lucky Burger, then hum a few bars from Proud to Be an American, and remember why life is good.

Lucky Burger

www.luckyburger.com

1601 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77006-5213
(713) 522-5650

Arabesque Fest @ Jones Plaza Sat., April 3rd, 2010 Houston, TX

Come out to the Arabesque Fest, benefiting Houston Palestine Film Festival






Come celebrate the richness and diversity of Arab Culture April 3rd at Jones Plaza and support the Houston Palestine Film Festival! Come dance to live Arabic music, taste the many 'momma style' foods including a Battle of Hummus from Houston's best restaurants, smoke Shisha, and say hello to friends new and old.

The Arabesque Fest will be held at downtown's Jones Plaza overlooking Houston's skyline ( Directly across the street from Verizon Theater and The Angelika ). Kids 12 and under are FREE to enter and there will be a wide array of children's activities including moonwalk, face painting, and more. So tell your friends, bring your family, and prepare to dance. Doors open at Noon yet festivities go until 10PM.

Slated to perform are:

2 PM DJ Simiyu

3 PM Zylona (bellydancer)

4 PM Khristina Koutsoudas (dancer)

5PM Jabbour (Musical performance)

6PM Hummos Competition (featuring up to 10 local restaurants)

7PM Traditional Dress Fashion Show



Proceeds benefit the Houston Palestine Film Festival; winner of the 2009 Best Film Festival award from Houston Press.

Tickets are $5; free for kids under 12