Food Revolution: Chicken Chow Mein to Basil Fennel Chicken Pasta

I remixed another recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution last night and tonight, and I think I won again. To be fair, the thing I made using Jamie's Chicken Chow Mein recipe hardly looked like the thing in the book. His looks soupier (I assume the "if necessary" step seemed necessary to him), and I don't think that would have been a good thing. Then again, maybe I had a lot of yumminess stuck to my pan that he released. If I make it again, I'll probably try the wet version, and I'll use sliced water chestnuts instead of whole. Otherwise, this was pretty darned tasty. It was good, but I don't think it was as good as the alternate version I made last night. Note: If you make it, make sure you get actual chow mein noodles, not the dry things La Choy or whoever calls chow mein; those aren't the same thing (as is probably obvious from the photo).

For my remix, I substituted the following:

• Bay leaves for cilantro
• Fennel for bok choy (roughly as much fennel as a baby bok choy)
• Thin spaghetti for chow mein noodles
• Olive oil for peanut oil
• 6-oz can black olives for 8-oz can water chestnuts
• A large handful of largish cherry tomatoes (larger than cherry tomatoes, smaller than normal tomatoes, I can't think of what they called them) for the hell of it; I think I meant for them to replace the bok choy, but then I saw the fennel and the gears turned

Prepare everything using Jamie's recipe, but with the substitutions above (adding the quartered tomatoes to the veggie stir fry mix, but reserving a couple quarters for the pretty). Also, rather than simply cutting it in half like the bok choy, chop the fennel up. You want it to have lots of surface area in the water, so it can get tamed a bit.

This very much may be one of those things that other people can't stand, but I thought this was super, super tasty. I think it's the tastiest thing I've ever cooked. It was the first time I'd used fennel, and I was really worried once I tasted it raw (raw fennel tastes like black licorice). Boiling it for a few minutes calmed the flavor down considerably, though. I was also considering leaving out the ginger in my version, since ginger isn't used much in Italian cooking, while the rest of the ingredients felt fairly Italian. Luckily I saw an article online discussing a new trend of "Indian-Italian fusion," and I thought that sounded like such a wonderful idea I had to leave the ginger in. I doubted myself again when I decided to go with the fennel (licorice and ginger? won't that be too much?), but I'm so glad I left it in.

This might be it for a while. I need to use up some leftovers this week, and then I'm out of town for two weeks. I'll have my copy of the book with me, though, so maybe I'll do a remix while I'm up in Michigan.

If you have any ideas for what I should call this thing (because I'll certainly be making it again), let me know in the comments.

Food Revolution: Salmon Fish Cakes Accidentally Remixed

Last weekend I had my first accidental remix. According to the recipe I was reading, I was making Salmon Fish Cakes from Jamie's Food Revolution, but that's not how they ended up.

The main thing I'm using Jamie's book for is to learn new techniques. The whole point of it is to get people to cook, so surely he'll be really teaching people, right? I'm starting to think, well, not so much. His goal is noble, but I've had a couple experiences now where he seemed to assume I knew a little more than I knew. This time the results were nearly disastrous.

Specifically, I was steaming the salmon for the fish cakes in a colander above the boiling potatoes. This seemed like a really cool idea to me, but I was doing this at a rental beach house, and I hadn't brought quite exactly the right equipment. That led to water boiling up into the colander with the salmon, making it a bit soggy. The result, after the rest of the process, was too soggy to form into fish cakes.

However, it wasn't a total loss. A little later than I should have, I decided to stop trying to cook the excess moisture out, and just made it a hash for sandwiches. I added a bit of the salad we were making for the side, squeezed on the lemon, and came up with something that was still pretty darned tasty. I think it would've been far better if I'd given up on the cakes earlier, but it was still pretty good.

Jamie has the recipe for the fish cakes on his site, but on his site it's in metric. Use 1.25 lbs potatoes (about 2 largish potatoes) and a pound of salmon. I also used far less parsley than he advises; I think Jamie must have very small hands, because a "handful" or "small bunch" is always way too much; if I'd used what he advised, my cakes would have been green and tasted purely like parsley.

Despite my annoyance at this recipe (and the very mediocre Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce, which I didn't bother remixing and didn't think was very good), I'm going to continue working through as many of Jamie's recipes as I can. Stay tuned for his Chicken Chow Mein (and my remix thereof), as soon as I've had a chance to cook them.

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 31

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I started Eat the Menu when Tacodeli's central location opened on May 11. Since then, I've gone through 61 separate menu items (plus a hat), virtually all of which were delicious.

Friday morning I finished my quest to eat everything on the Tacodeli menu. The photo might not be great, but I wanted to get a shot of that tasty tasty tortilla they use on their breakfast tacos. Yum! This time the tortilla was filled with a Migas Taco, "Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese." It wasn't quite as yummy as its cousin, the Migas Platter, but it was still quite tasty. I give it 0.85 moles.

So, that's everything! It was a delicious task, but somebody had to do it! Now all that are left are...

Summaries:
Breakfast:

• Tastiest Breakfast Taco: (tie) Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese / Migas Taco (0.85 moles)
• Tastiest (and only) Breakfast Non-Taco: Migas Platter (0.9 moles)
• Overall Breakfast Winner: Migas Platter (0.9 moles)

(Non-Breakfast) Tacos:

• Tastiest Beef: (tie) Cowboy / Mole Taco Sirloin (0.95 moles)
• Tastiest (and only) Bison: Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo (0.9 moles)
• Tastiest Chicken: Mole Taco Chicken (1 mole)
• Tastiest Fish: Scallop Taco (1.1 moles)
• Tastiest Pork: Lomo Especial (0.85 moles) 
• Tastiest Vegetarian: Frontera Fundido Portabella (0.9 moles) 
• Overall Lunch Taco Winner: Scallop Taco (1.1 moles)

Other Stuff:

• Tastiest Side: Mexican Mashed Potatoes (0.65 moles)
• Tastiest Ensalada o Sopa: (tie) Any Salad (0.8 moles)
• Tastiest Tortilla Creation: Vegetarian Burrito (0.8 moles)
• Tastiest Torta: (tie) Probably Any of Them (0.8 moles)
• Overall Other Stuff Result: It's all pretty good, but none is spectacular (0.8 moles)

Overall:

• Taco I Most Want to Try Again 'Cuz Man That Was Interesting: Picadillo (Beef) (0.85 moles)
• Tastiest Thing On the Menu: Scallop Taco (Thursday Special) (1.1 moles)
• Tastiest Non-Special (and Least Surprising Result): Mole Taco Chicken (1 mole)

So... where should I obsess over next?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 29 and 30

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I haven't been to Tacodeli for two whole days, and yet I haven't caught up on my blog. I apologize. I think I'm going through withdrawal. All I have left is a breakfast taco, but I've eaten breakfast twice now without remembering that. Tomorrow morning I should finish it off.

Monday, June 14
I started off on Monday by knocking two things off the menu, the Avocado Salad and Chips and Queso. The Avocado Salad is described as "For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime." Being an avocado lover, I expected this to be yummy, and I wasn't disappointed. I had finished it off before I remembered to take a photo. I give it 0.8 moles (and call the salad part of the soups and salads menu complete with this). The Chips and Queso was also pretty good, but I'm not really much of a queso fan (I know, insane). I put a little Salsa Roja into the somewhat-too-runny cheese, and it did come out pretty darned tasty. I give it 0.6 moles, which puts it just below the fantastic Mexican Mashed Potatoes as far as yummy sides.

Tuesday, June 15
Tuesday was the last lunch of my trek through the menu. Don't get me wrong, I'll be back at least weekly, but I don't have anything else new to try. It's both exciting and sad. Of course, now I get to work through the ties and refine my scores a bit, so I may not be done, exactly. My excitement got to me again on Tuesday, and the Frontera Fundido Chicken taco, "Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese," was gone before I remembered to take a photo. The Frontera Fundidos have been strong in general, but the Portabella is still my favorite. The chicken was mighty tasty (0.85 moles worth), but I'll still stick to Portabella if I'm in a Frontera Fundido mood. I rounded out the meal with the Sopa Las Mañanitas, "Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime." As far as I could translate the name, I thought it was "soup the little tomorrows," but Google Translate says it's "Happy Birthday Soup." I guess maybe that makes more sense. I always like Mexican and Tex-Mex soups, but there is only a small part of the year in which I actually want to eat them, and Tuesday wasn't such a day. It's also a little pricey for its level of yumminess (I'd rather get a taco), so I'm giving it 0.75 moles. It might score better on the 2-3 days of winter we get here in Austin every year.

Summary:

• Avocado Salad (and all other Tacodeli salads): 0.8 moles
• Chips and Queso: 0.6 moles
• Frontera Fundido Chicken: 0.85 moles
• Sopa Las Mañanitas: 0.75 moles

Tomorrow I plan to finish off my trek with a Migas Taco! I'm going to be on the coast for the weekend, but I should be able to upload the final update at some point. I may get a second taco to go with the Migas. What should I get?

Food Revolution: Salmon Tikka to Chipotle Chicken

Last week, my sister, Libby, invited me over for amazingly yummy Chicken Tikka Masala. She purchased Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Food Revolution, and wanted to try out one of the curries while her less-adventurous-foodwise hubby is out of town. It's hard to say for certain, but I think that chicken might be among the five best things I've ever eaten. I'm sure it was at least in part my sister's touch, but that recipe was amazing, so I bought my own copy of the book.

Part of the goal of the book is to get the people reading it to get their friends and family to cook, thus the "Revolution" part of the title. I'm stealing Libby's idea of using my blog to serve as part of that part of the process, but putting a bit of my own spin on it. Each time I make a recipe from the book, I'm going to try to also make my own dish inspired by that recipe. Hopefully by the end of this post that'll make more sense.

Since I loved the Chicken Tikka Masala so much, I decided to try the Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt (that recipe is very close to the same, but the one in this book uses cilantro rather than coriander leaves) first. But before I could try that, I had to find some curry paste. Jamie mentions a specific brand, Patak's, as particularly good curry paste, but really any would have been fine... if Libby hadn't told me that her grocery store had the specific one he recommended. I tried four grocery stores (including the awesome MT Supermarket, "Central Texas's Premier Asian Grocery") with no luck, and was about to drive out to Libby's grocery (about a 20-minute drive) when I decided to try one more grocery store... which I happened to be near when I started my quest, but had assumed wouldn't have it. For the record, HEB at Parmer and Mopac currently has a special on Patak's Curry Pastes, while the HEB at Parmer and I35, the Hancock HEB, and the Far West HEB didn't have it as of yesterday.

When I finally made it home with the Patak's and the other ingredients, I started a timer. The book said the  would take 17 minutes, and it did have "Quick" right there in the name, "Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt." My attempt didn't go quite that fast. Still, 33 minutes didn't seem too bad, especially since a good part of that was spent scaling the salmon that I thought was scale-less but turned out not to be. I'm pretty sure I could get it down to 17 minutes if I made it a few more times, so strong work there, Jamie. I somehow managed to forget the lemon juice, but it was still fantastic. It wasn't quite as good as the Chicken Tikka Masala, but, given the reduced prep time, it definitely passes. And, holy crap, it even turned out pretty (except for that piece of I think skin falling off on the left, I'm not sure why I allowed that in the photo)!

I had half a cucumber, half a lemon, and a ton of cilantro leftover from that recipe, and I purposefully got a bit extra plain yogurt with the intention of making more things with it... so I decided to try something, which is where I get to the whole point of this series. Each time I try one of Jamie's recipes, I'm going to try to also make something similar but not quite the same. To add to the leftover ingredients, I grabbed a jalapeño, a red bell pepper, and some chicken. Importantly, I already had some Tabasco Brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce (because that stuff is awesome and I try to always have at least one bottle of it around). This is what came out when all of that turned together in my head. It serves a little more than one but probably not quite two (I have leftovers, but I don't think it's quite a full meal's worth of leftovers). Add a chicken breast and make more of the Tabasco/cumin mix to coat it if you want to fully serve two:

• 1 chicken breast
• ~2 tbsp Tabasco Brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cucumber seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• ~2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 jalapeno seeded and deribbed, finely chopped
• ~2 tbsp chopped red pepper
• 2 pieces flatbread

Heat the flatbread in your oven at 225 °F (just so it's warm when you put everything else on top of it). It can keep heating while you make everything else.

Combine everything but the chicken, Tabasco, and cumin in a bowl (although you should keep back a bit of each of the veggies to add to the top to make it pretty).

Heat a frying pan, and add just a little olive oil to the heated pan. As that heats, cut the chicken into strips. Combine the Tabasco and cumin in a bowl. Lightly coat the chicken in this mixture. Cook the chicken in the oil for about a minute and a half a side. I ended up cooking that covered on low for a while as I sorted out the other half, but, with the thin strips, it shouldn't take much longer than that to cook it completely. It stayed plenty moist for me, though, so it doesn't seem to hurt to throw a lid on the chicken, turn down the heat, and let it go for a bit as you sort everything else out..

Serve on the flatbreak (flatbread, yogurt mix, chicken, bits of veggies for pretty).

BTW, I had the flatbread from the Salmon (because I didn't feel like going on another hunt for naan, as much as it probably would have been worth it). If I didn't, I would definitely have used a tortilla of some sort to properly fully southwesternize this.

If you try it, please let me know... especially if you adapt the general idea into another variation.

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 27 and 28

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

Friday, June 11
Friday I had my first item from the Ensaladas y Sopas (salads and soups) menu. The Ensalada Tacodeli (with chicken) is "A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin." I got it with the Jalapeño Ranch dressing. I'm glad I didn't get a side to go with it, because the salad was just about exactly the right size on its own. The chicken was tasty, but I think it would have been fine with just the veggies and saucy bits. I give it 0.8 moles.

Saturday, June 12
I stopped by the office yesterday for my headphones, so, of course, while I was in the area, I had to stop for some Tacodeli brunch. I had the Migas Royale Plate, "A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas." I'm glad the only other thing I have left from the breakfast menu is the Migas Taco, because I don't think I'll be ordering much non-migasy breakfast at Tacodeli anymore. The Migas Platter was super exceptionally tasty. I could try to describe it better, but you should really just go get it if you're hungry for breakfast. I give it 0.9 moles.

Summary:

• Ensalada Tacodeli (with Chicken): 0.8 moles
• Migas Royale Plate: 0.9 moles

I'm planning to try the Sopa Las Mañanitas tomorrow. What should I have with it?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
4. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
5. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
6. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
7. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
8. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
9. Sides: Chips and Queso
10. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico and spicy ground beef.")

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 23, 24, 25, 26

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I've been busy watching the Texas Stars try to lose the Calder Cup this week, but I've kept up my trek through the Tacodeli menu. I just haven't been so good at blogging about it. Here's what I tried the last four days, which gets me a heck of a lot closer to finished with the menu.

Monday, June 7
I started off the week with the second-to-last item on the Tortilla Creations menu: the Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla"). It was good, but Tacodeli can definitely do better. I give it 0.7 moles. Of the three wrap-ish items on the Tacodeli menu (El Dizzy Chicken Wrap, Grilled Steak Wrap, and Vegetarian Burrito), what I assume is healthiest (Vegetarian Burrito) was my favorite at 0.8 moles, and the probably-second healthiest was my second favorite at 0.75 moles. I paired the steak wrap with a side of Sauteed Veggie Mix, which, unsurprisingly based on those ratings, rated very high for sides at 0.5 moles (the sides are still just sides, so none of them have climbed much higher than that on the mole scale).

Tuesday, June 8
On Tuesday I had my second selection from the Torta menu. I had started with the Adobo Torta since I'd rated the Adobados tacos at 0.9 moles, so I decided to go to the opposite* end of the spectrum for my second Torta. As I suspected from the good-but-kinda-overpowering "black bean and jalapeño spread" that's on all of the tortas, the Pastor Torta tasted exactly as good to me as the Adobo Torta. Based on that, I'm giving the whole Torta menu 0.8 moles. I also tried the Pinto Beans for the first time, which I thought were a little tastier than the Black Beans but not quite as tasty as the Sauteed Spinach or Mexican Red Rice. That puts them at 0.35 moles.

* The actual opposite end of the spectrum is Borracho, but I couldn't bring myself to try another Borracho.

Wednesday, June 9
I stopped at Tacodeli yesterday morning for breakfast, rather than my usual lunch trip. I had my favorite breakfast taco yet: the Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese. There isn't much to say about it other than that it is exactly what it sounds like it is, which added up to 0.85 moles. Yum.

Thursday, June 10
Today I finished off the Tortilla Creations menu with a Tacodeli Quesadilla (specifically the chicken variety), described on the menu as "Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla." All of that was delicious, but notice how they spent so much time describing everything other than the cheese? That's because this quesadilla was very light on the queso part. Again, it was good, but it wasn't as much as I think it could have been. That was fine, because I don't really want a ton of cheese right now, but I'm rating these things on their deliciousness. I give the quesadillas 0.7 moles. I didn't want much more than the quesadilla, but I had to try the Toreados, "Three grilled whole serrano peppers." These were very good for their size and price point, so I gave them 0.4 moles.

Summary:

• Grilled Steak Wrap: 0.7 moles
• Sauteed Veggie Mix: 0.5 moles
• All Tortas: 0.8 moles
• Pinto Beans: 0.35 moles
• Sirloin, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Taco: 0.85 moles
• Tacodeli Quesadilla: 0.7 moles
• Toreados: 0.4 moles

The list of remaining items is dwindling (especially if I only list everything once, instead of listing most things twice like I did last time I made this tally). What should I try tomorrow?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
5. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
6. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
7. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
8. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
9. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
10. Sides: Chips and Queso
11. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico and spicy ground beef.")

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 22

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I headed into the office again today to knock some stuff off my plate, so of course that meant knocking something off the Tacodeli menu onto my plate for lunch.

Today's selection was the Adobo Chicken Torta. The Tortas don't have much in the way of description on the menu, except for an over-arching description: "Panini toasted Mexican sandwiches served on authentic telera buns with black bean and jalapeño spread, lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese." Presumably the adobo description from the Adobados taco applies, "Our adobo is made from scratch using chipotle, ancho and guajillo peppers." I didn't like the Adobo Torta as much as its taco cousin, but it was still pretty good. I give it 0.8 moles.

I also knocked two more sides off my list today (by getting the +$1 Platter form of the Torta). The Refried Black Beans weren't better or worse than the Black Beans as far as I could tell, so I'll give them 0.3 moles like their cousin. The Mexican Red Rice, on the other hand, was tastier than the Steamed Brown Rice, so I give it 0.4 moles.

Summary:

• Adobo Chicken Torta: 0.8 moles
• Refried Black Beans: 0.3 moles
• Mexican Red Rice: 0.4 moles

That knocks three things off the too-long list of what I have left. What should I try next?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Tortilla Creations: Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla.")
6. Tortilla Creations: Tacodeli Quesadilla ("Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla.") (Also available with Chicken or Sirloin)
7. Tortas: Pepito (sirloin)
8. Tortas: Pastor (pork)
9. Tortas: Ranchera (chicken)
10. Tortas: La Flaca (veggies)
11. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
12. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
13. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
14. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
15. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
16. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
17. Sides: Chips and Queso
18. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico & spicy ground beef.")
19. Sides: Pinto Beans
20. Sides: Sauteed Veggie Mix
21. Sides: Toreados ("Three grilled whole serrano peppers.")

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 19, 20, and 21

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

Yesterday, I passed a turning point. I could have "finished" this Eat the Menu challenge by ordering the last taco on my list, but instead I ordered a "Tortilla Creation" and a side. In other words, I officially decided to fully Eat the Menu. I'll describe what that entails below, but first I should probably update you on

Thursday, June 3
Thursday I finally tried the two Mexico Cities: Mexico City Chicken and Mexico City Sirloin. They're described on the menu as "Grilled [sirloin or chicken] with diced onion and cilantro." Onions and cilantro are tasty and all, but, really, that's all? Yeah, that's all. The chicken was a little better than the sirloin in my opinion, but they were both basically just places to put salsa. I give them 0.65 moles and 0.6 moles, respectively. More interestingly, a friend had an order of Chips and Salsa Roja, which forced me to try it and discover that, despite my previous tests, I think I like Tacodeli's salsa roja better than the doña. It might be a bit much on a lot of the tacos, but it had a bold flavor that was excellent on chips. I give those chips 0.6 moles (vs. now-confirmed 0.5 moles for Chips and Salsa Doña).

Friday, June 4
That's brings us to Friday, the day I planned to finish. I walked in ready to order the Frontera Fundido Chicken (my last taco) and a Mole Taco Chicken to round everything out, but the Vegetarian Burrito ("Rice, beans and our special veggie mix") sounded too good to pass up. It was, indeed, pretty darned good. I would have given it 0.85 moles, but it had some structural integrity issues, so I'm knocking it down to 0.8 moles. Still a respectable score. I paired it with a small side of Sauteed Spinach, which was good for a side, but still just a side. I give it 0.4 moles. 

Saturday, June 5
I have some things to knock out in the office today, so I stopped in for a (supposed-to-be-rare-for-me-but-totally-not) Saturday Tacodeli lunch before heading into the office. I continued my trek through the Tortilla Creations, this time trying El Dizzy Chick Wrap, "Grilled chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla." It certainly wasn't bad, but I liked the vegetarian wrap better. I give El Dizzy 0.75 moles. I finished it off with some Mexican Mashed Potatoes, though, and those were even better than the Sauteed Spinach. I give them 0.65 moles.

Summary:

• Mexico City Chicken: 0.65 moles
• Mexico City Sirloin: 0.6 moles
• Chips and Salsa Roja: 0.6 moles
• Vegetarian Burrito: 0.8 moles
• Sauteed Spinach: 0.4 moles
• El Dizzy Chicken Wrap: 0.75 moles
• Mexican Mashed Potatoes: 0.65 moles

I have these left (note: I'm not going to try the Borracho torta). What should I try next?

1. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
2. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
4. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Tortilla Creations: Grilled Steak Wrap ("Grilled steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese rolled in a 10" tortilla.")
6. Tortilla Creations: Tacodeli Quesadilla ("Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sautéed to order with olive oil and sherry stuffed in a cheese quesadilla.") (Also available with Chicken or Sirloin)
7. Tortas: Pepito (sirloin)
8. Tortas: Pastor (pork)
9. Tortas: Ranchera (chicken)
10. Tortas: Adobo (adobo chicken
11. Tortas: La Flaca (veggies)
12. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Verde ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and topped with avocado.") (Also available with Spinach)
13. Ensaladas y Sopa: Ensalada Tacodeli ("A bed of romaine lettuce topped with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, onion, tomato and your choice of chicken or sirloin.") (Available with Chicken or Sirloin)
14. Ensaladas y Sopa: Avocado Salad ("For avocado aficionados! Fresh avocados with a dressing made of tomatillos, serranos, cilantro and lime.")
15. Ensaladas y Sopa: Small Side Salad
16. Ensaladas y Sopa: Sopa Las Mañanitas ("Cuernavaca inspired tortilla soup made with a homemade chicken broth, chicken, fresh onion, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado and lime.")
17. Sides: Chips and Guacamole
18. Sides: Chips and Queso
19. Sides: Roberto's Brazo-Fuerte Dip with Chips ("A power combo of queso, guacamole, pico & spicy ground beef.")
20. Sides: Mexican Red Rice
21. Sides: Pinto Beans
22. Sides: Refried Black Beans
23. Sides: Sauteed Veggie Mix
24. Sides: Toreados ("Three grilled whole serrano peppers.")

Wow, that's a lot left! What have I done?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 17 and 18

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

It has been a busy, busy two days. Fortunately, both of those days featured tasty tacos, so overall they were good days.

Tuesday, June 1
Yesterday I decided to knock two pork tacos off my list: Cochinita Pibil and a "safe" Mole Pork. Surely mole is mole is mole, right?

The Cochinita Pibil is described as "Yucatecan style roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus and achiote. A unique tropical flavor garnished with pickled purple onions and serranos." First of all, holy crap, "Yucatecan" is actually a word. I thought sure that was a typo. Second, this taco was really simple, but also pretty darn good. I give it 0.75 moles.

After that pleasant pork experience, I was really looking forward to the Mole Pork. I love mole, so of course the Mole Taco Pork ("Shredded pork smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.) was going to be even better, right? As it turns out, not so much. This didn't taste nearly as awesome as the Mole Taco Chicken or Mole Taco Sirloin. I mean, clearly, I just don't like pork very much. I give this one 0.7 moles.

Wednesday, June 2
Today I had to get my Tacodeli to go, which means my tacos didn't look nearly as yummy as they would have otherwise. That's Puerco Verde on the left and Frontera Fundido Portabella on the left.

Puerco Verde is "Tender pork shoulder simmered in a delicious tomatillo salsa and topped with queso fresco, cilantro and onion." As pork tacos go, this was pretty good. It wasn't exciting, but it was solid. I give it 0.8 moles.

The Frontera Fundido Portabella, "Oven roasted portabellas with sauteed pepper and onion strips and glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese," just looked delicious, and it lived up to its appearance. To be fair, I'm hobbit-like in my love of mushrooms, so it's no surprise that I loved this thing, but wow was that good. I'll definitely be getting this one again. I give it 0.9 moles.

Summary:

• Cochinita Pibil: 0.75 moles
• Mole Taco Pork: 0.7 moles
• Puerco Verde: 0.8 moles
• Frontera Fundido Portabella: 0.9 moles

My list of remaining tacos is dwindling. I should finish everything but the breakfast tacos over the next two days, but the odd number of remaining non-breakfast tacos mean I'll either repeat a taco or try something else from the menu. Any suggestions?

1. Beef: Mexico City Sirloin ("Grilled sirloin with diced onion and cilantro.")
2. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
3. Chicken: Mexico City Chicken ("Grilled chicken with diced onion and cilantro.")
4. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
5. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
6. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Days 15 and 16

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

This weekend I not only made my first weekend trip to Tacodeli since starting this, I did so on all three days of the weekend. After Saturday's rendezvous with Tacodeli North, I returned to my usual Central on Sunday for breakfast. I may need to give other breakfast taco joints a chance at a head-to-head with Tacodeli. I'm honestly not sure I like their breakfast tacos all that much. The doña sauce makes up for it, but doña on someone else's breakfast tacos might possibly be even better. This time I tried the Jess Special ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese and fresh sliced avocado") and El Popeye ("Spinach and scrambled egg breakfast taco with crumbled queso fresco Mexican white cheese"). They were both OK, but neither was particularly special. Still good compared to "normal" tacos, but they don't stand up to the lunch standards. I give them 0.55 and 0.5 moles, respectively.

Today I met some friends for another tryst with Tacodeli North, this time for lunch. I used this lunch to compare the picadillos: Picadillo (from the beef menu) and Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo. The Picadillo is "100% grass fed Burgundy Pasture ground beef in a spicy tomato and jalapeño sauce, garnished with lettuce and tomato." This taco was very... interesting. There's a hint of cinnamon or something in there, I couldn't place it. Something about it reminded me of pumpkin pie. I'm giving it 0.85 moles, but I definitely have to try this one again. It seemed like the sort of thing that might grow on me.

The Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo wasn't as interesting, but it was definitely good. I grew up around the corner from a bison ranch, but I never tried bison until much later. It has always been very good, the few times I've tried it. This is no exception. I give it 0.9 moles.

Summary:

• Jess Special: 0.55 moles
• El Popeye: 0.5 moles
• Picadillo: 0.85 moles
• Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo: 0.9 moles

This is what I have left:

1. Beef: Mexico City Sirloin ("Grilled sirloin with diced onion and cilantro.")
2. Pork: Mole Taco Pork ("Shredded pork smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.")
3. Pork: Puerco Verde ("Tender pork shoulder simmered in a delicious tomatillo salsa and topped with queso fresco, cilantro and onion.")
4. Pork: Cochinita Pibil ("Yucatecan style roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus and achiote. A unique tropical flavor garnished with pickled purple onions and serranos.")
5. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
6. Chicken: Mexico City Chicken ("Grilled chicken with diced onion & cilantro.")
7. Veggie: Frontera Fundido Portabella ("Oven roasted portabellas with sauteed pepper & onion strips and glazed with melted Monterrey jack cheese.")
8. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with Monterrey jack cheese.")
9. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, Monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
10. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and Monterrey jack cheese.")

I'm going to try the Puerco Verde or Cochinita Pibil tomorrow, I think, but I need something really solidly good as backup in case whichever I get tastes too much like the Puerco Borracho. Any suggestions?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 14

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

I feel like I was cheating on my usual location with this stop. I was on the north side of town, so I went to the north location for lunch. A friend was randomly at the central location at very close to the same time, though, so I think that makes it ok.

The first taco I tried was the weekend special, Lomo Especial, "Diced roasted pork loin served Fundido style with a Monterry Jack cheese glaze and garnished with cilantro and onion." I think this was the best-smelling taco I've had yet. The flavor didn't quite hold up to that wonderful aroma, but I still gave it 0.85 moles.

I also had the Veggie Taco, "Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sauteéd in olive oil and sherry." This was good but a little dull. Adding doña definitely helped. I gave it 0.75 moles.

Summary:

• Lomo Especial: 0.85 moles
• Veggie Taco: 0.75 moles

Here's what I have left (now including breakfast, since I forgot to include them the other day).

1. Beef: Mexico City Sirloin ("Grilled sirloin with diced onion and cilantro.")
2. Beef: Picadillo ("100% grass fed Burgundy Pasture ground beef in a spicy tomato and jalapeño sauce, garnished with lettuce and tomato.")
3. Bison: Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo ("Ground bison seasoned with roasted garlic, tomato, caramelized onion, melted jack cheese and jalapeño. Topped with fresh cilantro and onions.")
4. Pork: Mole Taco Pork ("Shredded pork smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.")
5. Pork: Puerco Verde ("Tender pork shoulder simmered in a delicious tomatillo salsa and topped with queso fresco, cilantro and onion.")
6. Pork: Cochinita Pibil ("Yucatecan style roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus and achiote. A unique tropical flavor garnished with pickled purple onions and serranos.")
7. Chicken: Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted monterrey jack cheese.")
8. Chicken: Mexico City Chicken ("Grilled chicken with diced onion & cilantro.")
9. Veggie: Frontera Fundido Portabella ("Oven roasted portabellas with sauteed pepper & onion strips and glazed with melted monterrey jack cheese.")
10. Breakfast: Migas Taco ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with monterrey jack cheese.")
11. Breakfast: The Jess Special ("Eggs scrambled with our migas mix and topped with monterrey jack cheese and fresh sliced avocado."
12. Breakfast: Migas Royale Plate ("A heaping plate of our migas topped with queso, monterrey jack cheese, avocado and pico de gallo. Served with Mexican mashed potatoes, refried black beans and tortillas.")
13. Breakfast: The Sirloin, Egg and Cheese ("Grilled sirloin, scrambled egg and monterrey jack cheese.")
14. Breakfast: El Popeye ("Spinach and scrambled egg breakfast taco with crumbled queso fresco Mexican white cheese.")

What should I try next?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 13

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series. Scores are summarized here.

Last night, inspired by my friend Jeffrey, I decided I'd start watching what I eat and try to get my weight down under 200 pounds. So, of course, I decided to add a side to my usual two tacos today. I'm not very good at this watching what I eat thing, apparently. Oh well, I think it was worth it, and it technically allowed me to knock two more things off the menu than I would have otherwise. Today was also the day the cashiers recognized me, so it was a big day.

My side today was a 50/50, half rice and half beans. As part of Tacodeli's effort to drive everyone deliciously mad through choice paralysis, they offer two types of rice (Mexican red and steamed brown) and three types of beans (pinto, black, and refried black), so technically I still have quite a ways to go in those sides. Honestly, the black beans and brown rice were unsurprising, so I probably won't worry too much about knocking all of those possibilities off my list unless someone comments that "The Mexican red rice is omg amazing!" or something. There was nothing wrong with them, but they're definitely just a side. I'll give them 0.3 moles each.

The first of my tacos was the Happy Taco, "Seasoned shredded chicken with sauteéd mushrooms and melted jack cheese, garnished with cilantro and onion." I keep almost getting the Happy and bumping it down the list for some other choice, so this one had a bit of anticipation behind it. It wasn't as amazing as I hoped, but it was definitely a solid performance. I give it 0.7 moles.

I paired that with the Florentino, "Healthy fresh spinach taco sauteéd in olive oil and sherry with onion, mushroom and red bell peppers." I love spinach, so that one has also been on my to-do list for quite a while. I thought it was a little stronger. I give it 0.8 moles.

Summary:

• Black Beans: 0.3 moles
• Steamed Brown Rice: 0.3 moles
• Happy Taco: 0.7 moles
• Florentino: 0.8 moles

I also discovered today that Tacodeli has a "buy 12 get 1 free" loyalty card. If my count just now was correct, that's 28 tacos at this location before I noticed that card sitting by the register (well, the cashier pointed it out to me when she noticed I'd been there a zillion times, so technically I never noticed). I have three stamps on there now, at least. If you don't have one, be sure to pick one up the next time you're there.

Only ten tacos left! If I don't repeat, I'll be done next week! Except I totally forgot to include breakfast tacos, and I may not make it in on Monday! Oops! Can someone help me break out of this exclamation point trap by recommending what I should get if I make it in this weekend, or when I return on Tuesday?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 12

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

After yesterday's result, I tried a new technique. Jessica loves Puerco Borracho and doesn't like Mole Chicken, so she told me she also didn't like Adobados. That, of course, immediately moved it to the top of the queue. I added in a simple favorite of another friend (with whom my tastes seem to better match), the Poblano.


The Adobados is "Scrumptious adobo marinated chicken with cilantro and onions. Our adobo is made from scratch using chipotle, ancho and guajillo peppers." Scrumptious is right. Even though it's pretty much purely pepper, there was something about this that makes me put it in the same "family" as mole, which, of course, means it's yummy. I give it 0.9 moles.

The Poblano is as simple and to-the-point as its description, "Mama's cheese stuffed poblano recipe." The flavor is much less complex than the Adobados, but still pretty good. I'm not sure that I'll get it again (unless I have a strong hankering for cheese), but that's just because there are so many amazing things. I'll go with 0.75 moles.

I logged my scores so far in a spreadsheet, because, well, you can see the name of the blog. I may need a slow trek back through the menu (probably more spread out) once I'm done, but for the most part my scores still seem about right in hindsight. Someday I'll at least have to break up that clump between 0.9 and 1.1, but I don't think that'll be too hard to convince myself to do.

I'm still wandering free tomorrow. These are the tacos I have left. Which should I try?

• Mexico City Sirloin ("Grilled sirloin with diced onion & cilantro.")
• Picadillo ("100% grass fed Burgundy Pasture ground beef in a spicy tomato & jalapeño sauce, garnished with lettuce & tomato.")
• Thunder Heart Bison Picadillo ("Ground bison seasoned with roasted garlic, tomato, caramelized onion, melted jack cheese and jalapeño. Topped with fresh cilantro and onions.")
• Mole Taco Pork ("Shredded pork smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.")
• Puerco Verde ("Tender pork shoulder simmered in a delicious tomatillo salsa and topped with queso fresco, cilantro and onion.")
• Cochinita Pibil ("Yucatecan style roasted pork marinated and cooked in citrus and achiote. A unique tropical flavor garnished with pickled purple onions and serranos.")
• Frontera Fundido Chicken ("Grilled chicken with sauteéd poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted monterrey jack cheese.")
• Mexico City Chicken ("Grilled chicken with diced onion & cilantro.")
• Happy Taco ("Seasoned shredded chicken with sauteéd mushrooms and melted jack cheese, garnished with cilantro & onion.")
• Frontera Fundido Portabella ("Oven roasted portabellas with sauteed pepper & onion strips and glazed with melted monterrey jack cheese.")
• Florentino ("Healthy fresh spinach taco sauteéd in olive oil & sherry with onion, mushroom and red bell peppers.")
• Veggie Taco ("Our special veggie mix of carrots, onion, celery, red bell, poblano, zucchini, mushroom and cabbage sauteéd in olive oil & sherry.")

I technically have a bunch of other stuff to try, too, but the tacos will do for now, unless I'm extra hungry.

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 11

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

Today I experienced something strange. Tacodeli looked pretty much like it always looks, if perhaps a bit busier than it had been thus far. But something wasn't quite right. I ordered the Shrimp Taco and Puerco Borracho (as suggested by two friends), and sat down to wait.

The Shrimp Taco, "Savory grilled Texas Gulf shrimp served Frontera Fundido style," wasn't bad. Nothing to write home about, but not bad. I give it 0.6 moles.

The Puerco Borracho, "Slow-roasted, succulent pork braised in tequila and sherry and seasoned with fresh basil and pasilla peppers," was different, though. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? From the moment it came, something was off to me about it. It just didn't look appealing. And then I tasted it, and it didn't taste appealing, either. It tasted like salt and anger. It didn't like being in my mouth. I was able to smother it in doña sauce and make it taste pretty adequate, so I'm giving it 0.2 moles, but honestly that's partly just in case something is worse. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

But two of my friends did recommend it. Being the geek I am, that triggered me to do some quick online research, and eventually to begin devising an experiment which we will soon conduct to get to the bottom of this. Let's start with the online bits.

First, someone my wonderfully intelligent sister, Libby, who also creates beautiful cards and is raising two of my three beautiful and intelligent nieces/nephews, suggested that women have more taste buds than men, so maybe part of the problem was that I just wasn't tasting it as fully as the female friend who suggested it (this was before I had seen the other comment seconding it, from a male friend, so let's ignore that for now). On average, it turns out that statement is true; the average woman has more tastebuds than the average man. But that's average; it only happens because more women than men fall into the "I have lots of taste buds" category. Most of us humans have very roughly equal numbers of taste buds. Moreover, though, it seemed to be quite the opposite; I thought this thing had a strong, unpleasant taste, and my friend thought it was awesome.

Then I remembered an extra clue: Jessica likes to put salt on just about everything, and has acknowledged this before; I, on the other hand, almost never salt things. It seemed like she had less of a salt sense than I do. So I went looking to see if it's possible that she just has fewer salt taste buds than I do. It turns out, no, there's no such things. Taste buds taste everything. I had a vague feeling that the taste map thing we learned in school was maybe an over-simplification, but it turns out it's complete BS. So no, she doesn't have fewer salt taste buds than I do. So that leaves a few possibilities:

• She has fewer taste buds than I do in total (well, technically, a lower density of taste buds, but whatever).
• Her sense of salt taste specifically is somehow weaker than mine. For example, perhaps the sodium pumps in her cells have a mutation that makes them work... umm, better or worse, whichever would result in her tasting salt less.
• We just perceive it differently. She likes the taste of salt more than I do, for example.
• Mine happened to be saltier than hers. Oops.

So that leads us to the experiment we're designing. The general consensus (such that there is) is that there are five tastes: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and savory (umami). Those all have things that would be easy to dilute and sample (a little bit of salt water; some sugar water; maybe some coffee or cocoa powder in water; lemon juice; MSG). So, I don't have the full design yet, but basically we can test how dilute of a concentration each of us can taste. We need to figure out proper "I think I taste it" controls, though, so any suggestions would be welcome. And, to be clear, this will absolutely happen; this is the sort of thing my friends and I do.

So anyhoo. Isn't taste weird? I'm just glad this thing tasted super salty to me, because most of flavor is really smell, and that's way more complicated.

Anyhoo, here's a summary for today:

• Shrimp Taco: 0.6 moles
• Puerco Borracho: 0.2 moles
• Science: 1 hellamole

Tomorrow I may get a Scallop Taco again, but I may go with two new things. Does anyone have a recommendation that isn't super salty?

Eat the Menu Interlude: Tacodeli vs Torchy's

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

As I mentioned yesterday, the readers of the Austin Chronicle voted local chain Torchy's Tacos as "Best Taco" and "Best Taqueria" over my beloved Tacodeli. I'd been to Torchy's several times, and even enjoy them quite a bit, but I didn't think they measured up to Tacodeli... but I hadn't really measured them, so I couldn't be sure. Today I fixed that.

The closest thing I could get to a consensus from friends in family was that the Green Chili Pork (bottom left in the photo) and Ranch Hand (bottom right) were the best things at Torchy's, so I got both to pit them again the wonderful Tacodeli Mole Taco Chicken (top of the photo). It was definitely a wonderful lunch, but I was determined to give these all as honest of a rating as I could.

Of course, for starters, Tacodeli's Mole Taco Chicken got its 1.0 moles (in that it's what the whole scale is based on, that's unsurprising). It was nice to experience that "Grilled chicken smothered with a traditional, made-from -scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco." again, though. Yum!

The Green Chili Pork, "Slow roasted pork carnitas simmered with green chilies and topped off with queso fresco, cilantro, onions, and a lime wedge served on a corn tortilla with our green salsa," was definitely a strong contender. While it tasted mostly like pork (until I smothered it in the green salsa), that pork was very well cooked, so I don't fault it. I'd said back on day 4 that other tacos in Austin were probably in the 0.3-0.5 mole range, but that didn't turn out to be true. I give Green Chili Pork from Torchy's a respectable 0.6 moles. Still not enough to dethrone Tacodeli, though.

Would the Ranch Hand, "Tender strips of beef fajita over scrambled eggs and topped off with cheese. Served on a flour Tortilla with our spicy Diablo sauce," do the job? It was definitely a pile of cheesy goodness, which puts it above the Green Chili Pork... but not far enough above. I give it 0.7 moles.

Not that this is at all surprising to anyone coming to this blog in particular, but today's test pretty much confirmed what I was already thinking. Tacodeli's tacos are just more... complex than Torchy's. That appeals to me, but I understand that it doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. Perhaps one of these days I'll figure out a way to do this test more blind, but, for now, I'm going to have to trust that I'm not just tricking myself into thinking Tacodeli is better. Until then, I will continue to deliciously deceive myself, if necessary.

BTW, one thing that's both nice and annoying about Torchy's is that it wouldn't take me long at all to Eat the Menu. I'll very likely work my way through that one after I finish Tacodeli (and take some time off from tacos to mix things up).

Tomorrow I'll return to my walk through the Tacodeli menu. I actually have a special to try: Shrimp Tacos. Any suggestions for taco #2?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 9 and 10

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

I got distracted from posting on Friday, and then, well, kinda forgot over the weekend. Don't worry; I maintained my almost creepy obsession with eating everything at Tacodeli. I just didn't get around to posting about it.

Friday I had the Heather and Al Pastor (I had to get them to go, which greatly reduces their yummy appearance, so don't be too harsh on them based solely on the photo).

The Heather is described on the menu as "Grilled Mexican queso fresco, refried black beans, with guacamole, lettuce and tomato. Wow!" I inherently distrust any menu item with "Wow!" in its discussion, so Heather was starting against a bit of a wall. As expected, the Heather was good, but I'm not sure "Wow!" was called for. I rate her at 0.7 moles.

The Tacodeli Al Pastor is a fairly standard Al Pastor, "Diced and trimmed pork marinated and cooked in our homemade adobo sauce using chipotle, ancho and guajillo peppers. Garnished with cilantro & onions." One of these days I'm going to have to put up the Tacodeli Al Pastor vs. the Al Pastor at another local taqueria, Changos, because frankly the Tacodeli Al Pastor didn't blow me away. I give it 0.6 moles.

Today was both stronger and weaker than Friday. To make up for the meh-ness of Friday's choices, I finally crossed a second mole off my list: the Mole Taco Sirloin. I paired it with the Tacoloco, "Adobo braised brisket with caramelized onions and mushrooms topped with guacamole, cilantro and queso fresco." Pretty much every word in that description is among my favorite foods, but somehow Tacoloco didn't really do it for me. I give it 0.4 moles, which I'm pretty sure is my lowest non-hat rating so far.

In contrast, the Mole Taco Sirloin ("Grilled steak smothered with a traditional, made-from-scratch mole. Garnished with cilantro, onion and crumbled queso fresco.") was excellent, and honestly I'm not yet sure which I'd rate higher in a blind test. I'm giving it 0.95 moles (because I think chicken is every-so-slightly better), but it was so very delicious.

Summary:

• The Heather: 0.7 moles
• Al Pastor: 0.6 moles
• Tacoloco: 0.4 moles
• Mole Taco Sirloin: 0.95 moles

Tomorrow I'm going to do something slightly different. The readers of the Austin Chronicle awarded Torchy's Tacos "Best Taco" and "Best Taqueria" in their annual poll. I'm pretty sure I prefer Tacodeli, but perhaps that's just because Tacodeli used to be far away and thus more "exotic." To test that out, tomorrow a coworker and I are hitting both (well, I'm going to Tacodeli and he's going to Torchy's) and bringing to-go orders back to the office for a head-to-head. I want to go with something I know from Tacodeli, so I'll be pitting my beloved Mole Taco Chicken from Tacodeli against... something from Torchy's. I want whatever I pick to be pretty much the best thing at Torchy's, but so far there isn't a clear winner among my friends (and one of the recommendations was something I know isn't my favorite at Torchy's). So... any suggestions?

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 8

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

Hurray! I got to have a Scallop Taco again today! Last week wasn't a fluke; those things are outstanding. It's still 1.1 moles.

Someone suggested yesterday that I pair it with something beefy for "surf 'n turf." They technically recommended Mole Taco Sirloin, but I went with a Cowboy instead. The Cowboy is "Cowboy-rubbed beef tenderloin with grilled corn, caramelized onions and roasted peppers, topped with guacamole and queso fresco." While "cowboy-rubbed beef" doesn't necessarily sound... appetizing, the result is excellent. 0.95 moles.

 Tomorrow's pretty much wide open. I've already tried all three specials, so I'm still elsewhere on the menu. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 7

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

My company had an outing today out on Lake Travis, but, on my way out, I stopped at Tacodeli for breakfast tacos. Before diving into the ratings, I guess I should explain what breakfast tacos are, since apparently they're a confusing concept even though I swear Taco Bell had them when I was in high school. The idea is to put breakfasty stuff (eggs, bacon, sausage, veggies, hash browns or other potatoes) in a soft taco shell. They're similar to an omelet as far as ingredients, but put together in a different way. They are very tasty. If you haven't had one, seriously, just make one; what you think goes in one is close enough to what goes in one. In Austin, many taco restaurants and more than a few not-so-taco-y restaurants offer their take on what exactly one should put in a breakfast taco, and of course Tacodeli is no exception. I think it's possible they started with breakfast tacos, actually, but I'm not sure about that.

For my first Tacodeli breakfast, I went with The Otto ("Refried black beans, bacon, avocado and cheese") and a more "traditional" Vaquero ("Eggs scrambled with our Cowboy mix of grilled corn, roasted poblano and red peppers, and monterrey jack cheese"). Both were good, but I liked the Vaquero a little more. The best part was the lightly toasted tortillas that they were wrapped in. Very strong work there, Tacodeli. Capital idea. That bodes well for the other breakfast tacos. Still, breakfast tacos aren't really that awesome in my eyes (on the scale of deliciousness-of-a-Mole-Taco-Chicken), so I'll give them 0.8 and 0.75 moles.

Something I found much more interesting was when I drank the I-assume-it-must-be-fresh-squeezed orange juice. The orange juice was just orange juice, but, since I was actively thinking about "how delicious is this?", I really noticed just how awesome orange juice is. If I put it in terms of "how much would I miss orange juice if I never had it again vs. how much would I miss Mole Tacos Chicken?", I have to give it somewhere around 4 moles. It blows my mind that they bother trying to convince us this stuff is good with the whole vitamin C campaign (as long as you aren't at sea for months and/or eating everything out of copper pots, chances are you're getting plenty of vitamin C, and oranges aren't anywhere near the best source of vitamin C, but for some reason we all associate oranges with vitamin C). It's like they're just trying to point out that sometimes we find out things about food that we want to hear. It's like if they had a campaign to convince us icecream was worth eating. Do yourself a favor and really taste the OJ the next time you drink some. Wow that stuff is good.

I also bought a hat while I was there this morning, since I was on my way to the lake and hadn't thought to grab one (and because, come on, obviously I need a Tacodeli hat). The hat wasn't particularly tasty.

Summary:

• The Otto: 0.75 moles
• The Vaquero: 0.8 moles
• Orange Juice: 4 moles
• Hat: 0 moles

I'm going to totally cheat tomorrow and "recalibrate" my rating system by getting one new taco plus a Scallop Taco, because those things are awesome. Suggestions for the non-Scallops Taco will be greatly appreciated, but keep in mind you'll be putting it up against the taco that made me sad last week when I finished it. Give me a real contender.

Eat the Menu: Tacodeli, Day 6 (now with formatting!)

This is part of an ongoing series about my quest to try all of the yumminess at local restaurant Tacodeli. See my eat the menu tag for the other parts of the series.

Today I experienced something new at Tacodeli: a line! Sure, the line had evaporated by the time I decided what I was getting, but it was new and strange. I'm glad to see them getting business, but I hope this doesn't foreshadow worse things to come.

Someone suggested (quite excitedly) yesterday that I try the Mojo Fish Taco (aka Mojo Tilapia Taco), "Tilapia fillets grilled with a mojo-garlic sauce & garnished with our homemade guacamole and pico de gallo." Um, ok. Yes please. While I was on that part of the menu, I went with the Fish Taco (aka Catfish Taco) for my second choice, "Marinated grilled catfish with red cabbage pico."


The Mojo recommendation was a good one. These things are fairly fantastic. The only thing disappointing about the pair is that the catfish tacos seem kind of silly on a menu that also has Mojo Fish Tacos. Don't get me wrong, the catfish tacos were still good, but the Mojo Fish Tacos are outstanding.

Summary:

• Mojo Fish Taco: 0.95 moles
• Fish Taco: 0.85 moles

I'll be on the Pedernales River tomorrow at lunch time, but I'm hoping to make it to Tacodeli for breakfast tacos. What sounds good?