restaurants Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Samosa Bites with Paleo Raita

January 27, 2016 By Becky 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by the U.S. Potato Board in collaboration with Honest Cooking.

These samosa bites showcase the best part of the classic Indian appetizer—the perfectly spiced potato filling! They’re baked, not fried, and are served with a cooling cucumber raita.

I love Indian food, and am a huge fan of going to Indian buffets for lunch. I actually find it pretty easy to follow a primal diet there–I avoid the breads, of course, but many of the curries, chutneys, and tandoori meats are fine. Indian food uses so many great spices and flavor-packed vegetables like ginger, garlic, and chiles that I never feel like I’m missing out on anything.

Samosas, though, have always been a sticking point. The potato filling is so delicious, especially with some raita on top, but I’ve never been a fan of the heavy, gluten-laden, deep-fried wrappers. Since it’s a little bit uncouth and definitely not in the spirit of paleo to go to a buffet and unwrap a samosa and eat only the insides, I decided to take matters into my own kitchen.

Potatoes are a nutrient-dense food and a great source of healthy carbohydrates since they’re naturally gluten free. They have more potassium than bananas, and a serving of potatoes also gives you almost half of the Vitamin C you need for the day (for more info, check out the Potato Board’s nutritional facts page here). Most people now consider potatoes an integral part of a paleo diet, and as of July of 2014, they’re even Whole30 compliant! (You should have seen how happy I was the day that change was announced. There may or may not have been some dancing involved.)

Gluten-Free Menu by Akinto at Wink & Nod

June 26, 2015 By Becky 2 Comments

Disclosure: I was invited to a complimentary dinner to try the gluten-free menu at Wink & Nod. I wasn’t obligated to blog about it, but it was so delicious that I wanted to share.

Last month Ben and I had the opportunity to attend an amazing gluten-free dinner for Boston-area bloggers at Wink & Nod, a unique restaurant & bar in the South End that features a rotating kitchen. That means every six months a new chef takes up residence there to serve their own menu alongside Wink & Nod’s cocktails and other libations. Right now Chef Patrick Enage is cooking his Akinto menu, which is heavily influenced by his Filipino heritage and features many gluten-free items. You can read more about the chef and his menu here. Also, you might want to get over there soon, because he’ll only be there through the end of the summer!

The dinner at Wink & Nod was one of the best restaurant meals I’ve ever had. (You might think I don’t eat out much because I’m so busy cooking myself, but you’d be wrong! I have always loved eating out and do it way more than I should, so I’ve been to my fair share of great restaurants.) Everything we tried was both delicious and beautiful, which, as a wanna-be food stylist, I really appreciated. Each dish was built with contrasting flavors, colors, and textures that made the food really satisfying and interesting at the same time.

The Haven Restaurant Review + Giveaway

April 25, 2014 By Becky 11 Comments

It’s probably obvious by now that I love to cook a lot of my own food, but I also LOVE restaurants. I mean, a lot of people love restaurants, but I really love them…like, I’ve finished-my-meal-but-I-want-to-stay-here-all-day kind of love them. When I’m at a restaurant I like, a cozy one with delicious food that’s just the right mix of comforting and interesting, I pretty much want to move in.

The Haven in Jamaica Plain (Boston, MA) is like that. All the seats are classroom chairs, but somehow it just works (even though, as a former teacher, I’m dying to get in there after hours and put a tennis ball on the bottom of each leg so they won’t be as loud when you scoot them). It’s a Scottish gastropub, and everything I’ve ordered has been delicious, perfectly striking that balance between familiar and unfamiliar that I’m always looking for when I eat out. The Haven serves lunch and dinner all week and brunch on the weekends, and they also have a full bar. I’ve been several times for brunch and twice for dinner, and think I’ll try lunch next. (Check out the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win one of two gift cards so you can try The Haven yourself!)

What I Ate in Austin: Part II

July 31, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

I just got back from Austin last night, and I miss it already! Despite the sweltering heat, I love that city all of the time. Great food, great people, and beautiful scenery.

On Sunday, we drove out to Wimberley for my cousin’s wedding. It’s about an hour outside of Austin along Cypress creek. Some of my cousins own a really beautiful piece of land there where my great aunt Sada used to have a sleepaway camp for girls in the forties and fifties. My cousin and her now-husband were married outside under the pavilion, with the creek in the background. It was so pretty! Some of the trees there (like the big cypress on the other side of the river in this picture) are over 1,000 years old.

After the ceremony, we had barbecue from Franklin for lunch. I was really glad to get to try Franklin at the wedding, because unless you order a large amount for a party, you have to wait in line to get served before they run out. The line starts before nine even though they don’t open until eleven. That is too intense for me! I thought the barbecue was very good–we had brisket, sausage, ribs, and pork. I am not sure it was the best barbecue I have ever tasted, but I did enjoy it. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait in line for two hours to get it!

For dessert, we had chocolate cake, peach cobbler, my almond blueberry pie bars, and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. I know I might be biased, but my mom and I both thought my pie bars were the best part. They are SO good with vanilla ice cream on top. A couple of people at the wedding were gluten-free and especially appreciated having them, but everyone really enjoyed them and we took home an empty platter.

The next morning, we were back at Texas French Bread for breakfast. I know it’s boring, but I think we ate there almost every morning. I didn’t get tired of it though, because it’s so good. It’s also only a ten-minute walk from my aunt’s house, and usually that’s as far as we could stumble first thing in the morning. I walked down there and my mom and aunt came later in the car. I was hungry and they take forever to get out the door!

One day I had this delicious egg white omelet, which is stuffed with roast chicken cooked with tomatoes and onions and jack cheese, and topped with avocado. The next day I had the breakfast tostadas: two crispy tortillas topped with black beans, cheese, fried eggs, delicious salsa, and avocado. I think those were my very favorite. I have to tell you that Texas French Bread also serves dinner. I went with four of my relatives and forgot to take pictures, but everything was amazing. I had roast chicken with fabulously crisp skin topped with chili oil, and it came with grilled eggplant and tomato and an arugula salad. I REALLY wish there were a Texas French Bread in Boston. I brought home a bag of their coffee for Ben, so at least we have that.

On Monday night, my mom and I got a late start and weren’t hungry for dinner until almost eleven o’clock. We headed over to Kerbey Lane Cafe, which is open 24 hours a day. I have a huge soft spot for places that serve breakfast around the clock.

I ordered migas, and they were delicious. If you haven’t tried migas, you will probably love it: it’s eggs scrambled with tortilla chips, tomatoes, jalapeños, and cheese, sometimes with salsa on top. At Kerbey you can choose your sauce, so I got queso. It was a very satisfying breakfast dinner.

I have one more restaurant to share with you, and it’s Threadgill’s. Threadgill’s has been around since the thirties and started off as a gas station that got the first beer & wine license in the city. They’ve always featured live music, and Janis Joplin used to play there every Wednesday when she was in Austin. Apparently she was paid two dollars plus all the beer she could drink.

See the guy on top of the roof fixing something? I felt bad for him, because it was SO hot. I hope they gave him all the beer he could drink when he was finished!

Threadgill’s has good country food, and a huge selection of vegetables. They use the word “vegetables” broadly: the vegetables section includes sides such as macaroni & cheese and garlic cheese grits in addition to actual vegetables like collard greens and asparagus. Most dishes come with any two vegetables, and that’s my favorite part. Also, I THINK you can still get unlimited free refills of your veggie sides, but I never have room for that. I ordered the pecan-crusted chicken, and while I didn’t love the sauce (too much cornstarch), I did LOVE both my sides: fried okra and macaroni and cheese. My mom got blackened catfish with Cajun spices, and that was also really good.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my Austin eats! If you have any favorite Austin restaurants you forgot to tell me about, leave them in the comments and I’ll try them next time.

What I Ate in Austin: Part I

July 27, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

After getting up at 4:45 in the morning to catch our flight, my mom and I landed in Austin around 10:30 yesterday. Once we were settled in at my aunt’s apartment, we got lunch at Texas French Bread. It’s practically around the corner from my aunt’s place, and in addition to baked goods, offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner featuring local ingredients. My mom and I both got the roasted quail salad, which was simple and delicious: perfectly roasted quail, tender beets, walnuts, and arugula with a red wine vinaigrette.

On the way out, we saw the coolest thing: a stone bundt cake! There was a whole one (see picture below), and a piece of one serving as a doorstop. I love this idea and am tempted to make my own cement-and-pebble bundt cake when I get home. Made in mini bundt cake pans, they would make really cute paperweights. I’m not sure how the process would go, though–would I still be able to bake cakes in my bundt pan after that?

When we got back to the apartment, I took an amazing two-hour nap, and spent some time snuggling with my aunt’s cat, Mr. Plumpius. Isn’t he fabulous and ridiculous? I love big cats.

We had some Tex-mex for dinner, which wasn’t bad at all, but not fabulous enough to share with you.

After reading about it on What’s Gaby Cooking, I made brunch reservations at La Condesa for today. I loved it! My mom and I met up with one of her childhood friends there, and we had the best time. My mom and I both got Huevos Condesa (she keeps copying my orders because she knows I pick the best dishes), which consisted of free-range rotisserie chicken, bacon, potatoes, spinach, and poblano peppers with fried eggs and a delicious ranchero-style sauce on top. I cheated on my whole30 and ate the cotija cheese that came on top AND a few corn tortillas. Shame.

The waiter heard it was my mom’s birthday, so he brought over a delicious treat on the house: a scoop of cake batter ice cream and a pecan sandy. Since I had already cheated, and it was her BIRTHDAY, I had a few bites. Double shame. The ice cream was really good, though. It reminded me of the cake batter lip gloss I loved so much in middle school.

I didn’t get any pictures of it because my phone ran out of battery, but the interior at La Condesa was really fun. One whole wall was a colorful mural, and there were all sorts of fun lights and lanterns hanging everywhere. There was an upstairs section with a bar and some armchair seating, and two outdoor patios with lots of fun cacti planters.

After brunch, my mom and I headed over to the mother of all Whole Foods stores: the Lamar flagship store. If you’re a Whole Foods fan and find yourself in Austin, you have to check it out. It’s like a small town. There’s a bar, a walk-through beer refrigerator, and several cafe sections with seating that serve different kinds of food, including barbecue. There is also a fun slanted escalator you can go down with your grocery cart on the way out. Since the wedding tomorrow includes a potluck dinner, we picked up ingredients to make a paleo & gluten-free version of these almond blueberry pie bars. Stay tuned for the results!

One more picture to share: I spotted this sign in a little rotary on the way to Texas French Bread. You know all those Keep Austin Weird stickers? Whoever doctored up this sign is helping with that, and I love it.

One more thing I love about being in Texas: my mom gets her accent back! All of a sudden, “yes” is a two-syllable word.

That’s it for now, y’all.

Dirty Banana and More Jamaican Stories

April 18, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Have I ever mentioned how much I love alligators and crocodiles? Well, I love them a lot. I’ve seen alligators in Houston’s bayous and on Louisiana swamp tours. Once I even got to hold a baby alligator at a reptile-themed birthday party. Yesterday, I got to see crocodiles for the first time in the Black River’s Great Morass! So much fun. We went on an hour-long boat tour and saw at least six different crocodiles. The guides know each of the crocodiles by name–they are very territorial and are always seen in the same spots. This big guy is named Terrorist. Yikes!

After the tour, we got to see some more approachable crocs in the crocodile nursery. But, even that little guy looks like he could give quite a bite.

Here’s what the Great Morass looks like. All those dangly branches that look like vines are a special kind of root that mangroves send down to help them get more nutrients out of the brackish water.

Next up was the Appleton Estate Rum Tour. The best part was when they opened up the bar after the tour–we got to serve ourselves shots of as many different kinds of rum as we wanted. My favorite was the rum cream, which is featured in my new favorite Jamaican cocktail (see recipe below). It’s like a better version of Bailey’s. I also liked the Berry Hill Pimento Allspice liqueur, which has a pleasant double burn from the alcohol and spice.

I bought an adorable mini-bundt rum cake at the Appleton gift shop, which was a deliciously buttery, rum-soaked cake. My mom has a mini bundt pan, so I am totally planning on making my own version when I get home. Maybe with a glaze involving rum cream? I love that stuff.

Caves at Xtabi

So, yesterday was jam-packed with tours, and today we decided to just take it easy by the cliffs. We walked about 15 minutes down the road from our hotel to Xtabi, a resort that we’d heard serves great breakfast. We could smell delicious baked goods even before we rounded the corner and saw the place. Right away, we knew we just wanted to spend the entire day there. The tables for the restaurant are in a large round gazebo and porch perched on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Two sets of stairs lead down to the lagoon, where you can swim or catch a ride on a glass-bottom boat. Another set of stairs lead to the caves, where stone benches invite you to sit and relax in the dark coolness by the grotto. I, however, left in a bit of a hurry after a couple of bats zoomed by uncomfortably close to my head.

Turns out the food is just as fabulous as the surroundings. I ordered the bread basket (hello, carbs do not count when you’re on vacation). It came with a corn muffin, banana bread, and a cinnamon roll, all split open, buttered, and grilled to crispy perfection. Ben ordered an ackee and callaloo omelette, which featured ackee from the tree right outside. It was also delicious, but I did not get a chance to snap a picture before he started eating (I guess it’s kind of annoying if someone is always trying to photograph your food from a few different angles before you can even get a bite in).

We lounged by the cliffs all morning, watching small rainstorms come and go. When it got to be a respectable hour (ahem, 11:30 am), we ordered drinks. I got one called a Dirty Banana–I was sold by the name and the fact that it had rum cream in it. This is my new favorite cocktail! I’m sharing a recipe here based on the ingredients Xtabi uses, so you can try it right away. You might have to tweak some of the quantities to get it just how you like it. Let me know what you think!

Recipe (serves one):

2 ounces Tia Maria
2 ounces rum cream or Bailey’s
1 banana
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Chocolate syrup

Drizzle chocolate syrup all over the inside of a tall, frosted glass. Blend the remaining ingredients until smooth. Serve in the chocolaty glass. If you want it extra boozy, top with another splash of Tia Maria. Enjoy!

Jamaica–No problem!

April 17, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

A woman selling fruit on Negril Beach

We got into Jamaica yesterday afternoon. It took a while to get to our hotel in Negril. We took a shuttle that drops people off at several different hotels, and ours was last. Our bus driver, Bob, told us sometimes Americans find it scary riding on the left side of the road, and told us that if it we got scared, to just close our eyes and say, “No problem.”

Well, that is the theme here. We went to the beach today and sat down at a seaside bar. Ben asked the bartender what mixed drink she would recommend, and she said she liked one called “No problem” that wasn’t on the menu. I ordered it–no problem. It was a mix of rum cream, coconut rum, and pineapple juice. Delicious!

Last night we had dinner at our hotel. We both ordered the special, which was a stuffed chicken breast. It was excellent! The chicken was filled with vegetables, beans, and sausage, rolled up and grilled, and topped with a savory creole-style sauce. The chef came out to see how our meals had been, and I asked him for the recipe. He said he would get me a copy, so we’ll see! If he does I promise I’ll share it with you. We finished our dinner with a scoop of ice cream with Bailey’s poured on top.

Stuffed Grilled Chicken

Today for lunch we went to a place called Cosmo’s right on the beach that’s famous for its seafood. I got a perfectly spicy conch curry with festivals, which are slightly sweet, doughy fried dumplings. Delicious again. So far I have loved everything I’ve eaten (and drank) in this country.

Conch Curry with Festival

Tonight we decided to walk from our hotel to one of the nearby restaurants. We walked a block down to the corner, and saw a tiny place called Erica’s Cafe. It was basically a one-room shack with an big front porch. Out front a few guys were sitting around a Weber grill with a big soup pot sitting on top. Making conch soup on the barbecue, turns out. No problem!

We were won over by the super friendly owner and decided to stay for dinner. The guys out front convinced us to start by trying the conch soup, which was a richly flavored deep orange brew served in Styrofoam coffee cups. It had big pieces of conch, potato, yam, another vegetable like a potato but with a mouthier feel, carrots, and black beans.

The menu said “best lobster in town”, so I decided to try it. I got two meaty lobster tails in a buttery sauce with onions and garlic, a bunch of surprisingly delicious (mayonnaise-free!) cole slaw, and rice and peas (rice and peas is Jamaican for rice and beans). Everything was fabulous and the flavors went together so well, especially washed down with a Red Stripe.

The cole slaw was so fresh and yummy. I usually hate cole slaw, because I hate mayonnaise. This slaw looked almost naked, and had shreds of carrot and cucumber in addition to cabbage. I asked the owner what they dressed it with, and he told me vinegar and lots of sugar! Something else to try at home.

The other guys who were at the restaurant had all these small, green, kiwi-sized fruits. When I asked what they were, they said mangoes! I didn’t know mangoes could be so small. We got to see the tree out back, and they gave us three mangoes to take with us. The instructions were: wait until tomorrow, wash them, and eat the whole thing (skin and all!). I’ll let you know how it goes. No problem!

Mini mangoes