The Next Iron Chef, Season 2

And so it begins.

The Next Iron Chef has started. I'll try to keep this post updated.

Episode one.

We meet the contestants. Most of the chefs we have seen as challengers from previous episodes. I think most of them were winners in the past.

The first elimination challenge was to be fearless. I must say most of the ingredients were consider delicacies in Chinese cuisine. I for one pretty much have tried most of those ingredients. Some I love, some not so much. The chicken feet, ducks tongue, jelly fish, sea cucumber, stinky tofu, and cockscomb can be found in some of the more popular Dim Sum restaurants. Goes to show that Chinese will get anything, and I mean anything.

The Durian fruit is one thing I probably would not be able to eat. I have tried it, and I just cannot get past the smell. It actually has a creamy texture once you bite into it. But the smell is like rotten onions or garbage. My mother and some of my friends love the smell and taste. But it is just not for me.

I thought most of the chefs did a great job of working with unfamiliar ingredients.

Unfortunately chef Eric Greenspan was given the axe for his lackluster performance with grasshoppers. I kinda agree with the judges that he did not use the ingredient to it's full potential.

So if the next episodes have challenges as interesting as the first one, we'll have an interesting season. Early favorites to win, my opinion only, chef Jose Graces and Seamus Mullen. Dark horse to win may be Amanda Freitag, she could surprise us.

Episode 2:

In this episode, the chefs had to re-interpret a classical dish. We have seen this challenge before in countless cooking shows, most recently in Top Chef Masters. Most of the chefs did deconstructions of dishes. Only chef Mullen actually re-invented the dish. I thought he did a brilliant job of making a classic Italian Puttanesca, a hearty noodle dish, into a salad with zucchini.

Chef Smith had to redo seafood bouillabaisse. She cook the seafood separately and make the soup base as a sauce. I thought the idea of deconstruction was sound, but unfortunately, her execution was not up to par as the others. So she was shown the early exit.

Episode 3: In this episode, the last remaining eight chefs, had to go try out Asian cuisine. They then had to re-invent the flavors they try into an american package. I thought that most of the chefs were just making the same dishes they knew and just through in some asian ingredients. Not that really wowed me.

While chef Mullen won again, chef Farmerie take on Asian Dumplings fell flat. I thought he really didn't do that bad, but we'll never know since we can't taste any of the dishes. I thought the judging were consistent, though judge Jeffrey Steingarten is a bit erratic. Some times they would say a dish taste great yet not conform to the task.

Episode 4:

For some reason this episode gave all the chefs problems. In this challenge, the chefs not only have to cook the food but also shop for its ingredients. They were given 90 minutes and and also have to make the dish to bring out the best flavor out of tamarind. The dish has to also have a Mexican flare. Chef Metah once again tried his luck with the ice cream machine. This time it worked and he won the challenge.

Chef Crenn was the loser of this challenge, though everyone probably wasn't surprise as she was on the bottom of the challenges for most of this season. You can tell that as each show progress the chefs has become more and more competitive. In the coming episodes, looks like they will travel to another country like last season. Next episode will have a double elimination.

After watching this for a while, I must say, I'm a bit disappointed with this season. Most of the challenges were not exiciting, and I never really connected with any of the contestants. The last two chefs standing are Chef Metah, and Chef Graces. We'll have to wait and see if any of them are up to stuff.

Pacific Catch

Pacific Catch
1200 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122-2307
(415) 504-6905

My family and I was visiting the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco one fine Saturday. We had planned on eating lunch there. However, an untimely fire alarm forced everyone to evacuate the building. Needless to say, our lunch time plans had to be change. Luckily for us, there is no shortage of restaurants in San Francisco, especially around 9th Ave in the Sunset District.

We just decided to go to the first restaurant that we saw. Pacific Catch is right at the exit of Golden Gate Park. I would say it is more of a fusion type of restaurant that borrows from Asian flavors. We ordered some fish sticks and chicken strips for the kids. For myself, I ordered the Cabo Calamari, and Thai skirt steak salad.

The chicken strips and fish sticks were okay. I didn't particularly like coating. It was neither crisp or thin. The inside tasted better. We did like the side sweet potato fries that came with the chicken strips. It was sweet and rather tasty.

The calamari was pretty good. They even included some deep friend lemon slices that were a first for me. The calamari were nicely deep fried with a light flaky crust. The sauce on the side was a nice creamy chipotle type of sauce that really accented the dishes nicely.

The Thai skirt steak salad was okay. The meat was sweet, it tasted sweet. The salad itself tasted more like a Vietnamese Salad. There was suppose to be a chili lemon dressing, but it seem to have gotten lost in translation. Either it was very light and not much of it. The vegetable parts of the salad screamed for more acidity. Without it, it tasted pretty bland.

Our service was adequate, though they did not expected the sudden rush of customer from the exiled Academy of Science crowd. We were checked up on a couple of times, but most of the time we were left to ourselves. Our drinks were not refilled for some time. But I could not complain much since it looked like other tables had it worse than ours.

Final thoughts: A nice twist on some traditional asian flavors, but some dishes needed to be worked on more.

Food: 3 1/2 stars

Service: 3 Stars

Price: Above Average

Overall: 3 1/4 stars

Aqui

5679 Snell Ave

San Jose, CA

95123

Phone: (408) 362-3456

We stopped by Aqui after picking attending my first parent teacher conference for my son's preschool. I've always seen the signs and was curious to try out "cal-mex" as they called it.

Inside you'll find a more southwestern decor. It is more of a self serve restaurant. If you ever been to Sonoma Chicken Coup, they you'll know what to do. You order you dish and then wait till your order is called or buzzed (with the pager they give you).

On the menu you'll find the typical Mexican dishes but with a bit of California fusion flare. For example, I had the teriyaki beef burrito. You'll find a couple of other twist to other dishes. There are daily specials, and you should be aware of them.

I ordered the guacamole with chips as an appetizer. It was somewhat bland. It tasted fresh, and the chips had a nice crisp. The guacamole was creamy enough. But somehow it just came off flat. In fact, you'll see this as a repeating pattern.

My wife ordered some chicken tacos. It wasn't bad. She said it tasted fresh, yet once again the dish came out a bit bland.

I ordered the teriyaki beef burrito. It came with an accompanying cole slaw and chips. I like the fact that there was a salsa bar with different types of salsa for the chips you get. The cole slaw as crisp and fresh, though it did lack any distinctive flavor. The burrito was fresh. The meat inside was sweet and there was plenty of rice. However if you were to bite into the burrito all the flavors seemed to just wash each other out, and you lose any kind of dominant flavor.

Final Thoughts: Everything tasted fresh, but they need to work on their seasoning.

Food: 2 1/2 stars

Service: NA

Price: Average

Overall: 2 1/2 stars

Applebee's 2 for 20.

Applebee's is currently offering 2 for 20 bucks special for those that missed the Chili's 2 for 20 special. You get 1 appetizer which is a standard size and 2 entrees. The selection menu for the special is a bit limited. It is no where near as good as the Chili's special. In fact the Chili's special even threw in a full size desert. Applebee's special is okay, but after looking over the menu we selected 1/2 rack of ribs each, and so spinach dip. The food was okay, on par with Chili's. I wish the menu for the special had a greater selection. These 2 for 20 specials is quite popular. There was a bit of wait before we were seated. Overall, the special at Applebee's will save you a few bucks. Too bad the 2 for 20 at Chili's is over.

Sweet Passions Cupcakes vs. Kara's Cupcakes

Cupcakes by Sweet Passions Bakery

@ Valley Fair Mall

2855 Stevens Creek Blvd

San Jose, CA 95050

vs

Kara's Cupcakes

3055 Olin Avenue, Suite 1010
San Jose, California 95128
P 408 260-2222
F 408 260-2227

Since I just tried Kara's Cupcakes, I think I would match it up against Sweet Passions' Cupcakes.

We'll judge both on the following criterias: Presentation, Taste, Selection, Value.

Presentation: I say it is a tie. Both cupcakes looks appealing and quite appetizing. Kara's cupcakes are smaller and look cuter, but Sweet Passions' cupcakes larger form appeals to some. I think Kara's looks a bit more professional, but my wife prefers the look of Sweet Passions. Therefore this one is a wash.

Taste: Both my wife and I agree, that for taste we had to judge similar cupcakes. Both have a lemon type of cupcake, we'll judge base on that. Both cupcakes has a fruity filling in the middle and both has a sweet frosting on top. The frosting on Kara's is more sweet, but I find I like the semi sweet frosting of Sweet Passions better. The cake in Kara's was a bit more dry, and both my wife and I love the moistness Sweet Passions. The filling was a bit better in Kara, it tasted like a lemon curd, with a decent sour punch. However, overall, I would have to give it to Sweet Passions due to moistness and not so sweet frosting.

Selection: Right now sweet Passions has about 4 to 5 types of cupcakes, but Kara's has well over 10. Kara also changes their selection regularly. There is something for everyone at Kara's and I'm told some of their seasonal cupcakes are pretty good. Perhaps, this category will be more of a contest once sweet passions expand their selection. This category is easily won by Kara's.

Value: Both cupcakes are around 3 and a half dollars. However, Kara's Cupcakes are significantly smaller than Sweet Passions. Infact, I would say that Sweet Passions are almost twice the size. Therefore you get more bang for your buck at Sweet Passions.

Winner: Sweet Passions. By winning 2 out of the four categories, I had to give it to Sweet Passions. Perhaps, I'll visit this contest again in the future, since I love cupcakes.

Roux Louisiana Kitchen

Roux Louisiana Kitchen

3055 Olin Avenue

San Jose, CA 95128

408-249-8000

My wife and I decided to hit trendy Santana Row for another night out. We decided to try Roux Louisiana Kitchen for dinner. Upon entering, the restaurant, you'll see a bright color interior with fanciful decorations. Think of the old french quarter in New Orleans, and you'll get an idea. We were seated quickly, there was not a crowd when we went.

After glancing at the menu, we decided upon the crab cakes, Hush Puppies, Filet Mignon, and blackened catfish. We weren't really going to have two appetizers, but upon seeing everyone else ordering the Hush Puppies, my wife had to try it.

The crab cakes were okay, it was a pretty solid, but it had quite a bit of filler. There was a strong taste of bay seasoning, which drowned out the crab flavor. The salad that accompanied it was decent. It tasted fresh and had a nice vinaigrette that had a decent amount of acidity

The Hush Puppies was a okay, but I didn't see why everyone was ordering it. It had a nice taste, but was a bit on the dense side. The accompanied tartar sauce, I thought did not match well with the Puppies. It really need a sauce more on the sweeter side.

The corn bread that was provided was really good. It was sweet, soft and moist. They also served it with a sweet butter spread. A nice touch since the sweetness of the butter stands up well to the sweetness of the corn bread.

The Filet Mignon was served with demi-glace and fried oysters. The fried oysters was pretty good. It added a nice change of texture to the dish. The steak itself was good, I ordered my medium well, since I knew it was gonna to be served with the sauce. The sauce itself was okay, but it lack the strong flavorful punch I was looking for. Other than that the dish overall was good.

My wife's blackened catfish was pretty good. It was well seasoned and had a nice robust flavor. If you never had blackened food before, think of it as a spicy rub. The spice turns to a rich dark color upon cooking, and does not mean your dish is burnt or over cooked.

The fish itself was soft and moist, and the accompanying potatoes matched well with it.

Service was decent. We were checked up upon frequently and had our drinks refilled often. We only had to track down our server a couple of times. There wasn't much of a crowd at the time, so this was to be expected.

Final Thoughts: A nice place to grab some southern cuisine

Food: 3 1/2 Stars

Service: 3 1/2 stars

Price: High

Overall : 3 1/2 stars

The Art of TakeOut.

A relative brought home some take out the other night. It was some grilled meat with some rice.

By the time we got to eat it, the meat and rice were dried out. No amount of sauce was gonna bring back those dishes to life. So this got me thinking. What would constitute a good takeout dish. You have to take certain things into consideration.

1) Time. You have to go get it, bring it home, and plus you may not eat it right away. So will the dish be cold or hot. Do you need to reheat it? How much time is actually pretty essential. Say a salad not eaten right away will be mushy and stale. Sauces will become dried out. Meat will dry out. I suggest you get dishes that will not be affected by time that much. Stews for example can be easily reheated and be just as good. Some noodle dishes that is already soaked with sauces can stand up to time. Just don't get crunchy noodles, they will always fail.

2) Moisture. Pipping hot dishes will give out lots of steam. When trapped in a confine space like take out boxes, this will causes the dish to become soggy. You can alleviate this problem by ensuring that proper ventilation, in the packaging. However, be careful, too much ventilation will dry out the dish and makes it cold faster.

3) Temperature. What if you do not have the time to reheat or can not reheat at where you are at. Will that affected the dish? Some dish taste terrible cold, for example most fish dishes taste fishy after time. If you are getting a salad, you just have to worry about soggy vegetables. Keep the salad dressing separate can take care of that problem.

4) Reheating. Will the dish stand up to reheating? Some dishes cannot be reheated. I've tried some that make the sauce separate and was quite unappealing.

Then you may ask, what examples are there for a good takeout dish?

Well, I'll give you two. The first is Chili's ribs. They are not temperature sensitive, but when you reheat just don't reheat too long, that will dry time out. They are usually quite moist so you don't have to worry about moisture.

The second dish is what I consider an artful takeout. Lobster Noodles from the New Sam Kee Restaurant by my house. Most of their Chinese dishes is okay, but they have a Lobster Noodle dish that is perfect for take out. When you get it it is wrap in saran wrap to retain the moisture. This always retains the heat as well. Now, the noodle is given time to actually soak up that great sauce. So in a way the dish actually taste better than it would be at the restaurant. They give you plenty of lobsters and it is quite filling for a single person. I usually have to share this with my wife. It isn't cheap, but we not talking about simple chow mien here are we?

So just take some of these points as consideration and you'll have some decent takeout, and not that cold dried out mess you are use to.