Fins

Plans to nosh at Tacos A Go-Go were utterly and deliciously hijacked, and I ended up at Fins instead. Occupying the space Rickshaw's used to be, Fins is a fusion sushi seafood restaurant.

Before I go on, I'll give the full disclaimer that I was with two friends acquainted with the chefs. Now here's the good stuff.

First, the salt and pepper shrimp covered in sauteed chives was killer. Perfectly cooked, and addictively seasoned. Likewise, the calamari was light and crisp, and cornmeal battered fried oysters sizeable and crunchy.

The sushi rolls lacked glitz, but were wonderfully fresh and well balanced in size and flavor. Ditto to the sashimi. Traditional desserts like hot apple cobbler and sour cream chocolate cake seemed like unlikely candidates at a sushi place, but were warm, gooey, and just sweet enough.

Every dish was very thoughtfully prepared, and it was apparent this new restaurant is working towards consistency and getting the balance of flavors and textures just right. Despite my perhaps unfair dining experience, I think it's a safe bet that Fins is worthy of giving it a chance. Sample the non-sushi offerings and let me know how it goes.

Houston winter FTW

You know what's great about winter in Houston?
The farmer's markets are unthwarted by silly things like "the cold" or "ice", enabling you to nab the last chocolate croissant from your favorite bread people. (Chocolate croissant to the person who tells me how to rotate this photo.)

I get to go to Central Market! Though, I suppose you can actually shop there year round...

You can roll down grassy hills (perhaps the only hill in Houston?) under clear blue skies.


And best of all, you can enjoy Hank's ice cream in 50 degree weather. These guys do it right with southern flair. Butter pecan, banana pudding, sweet potato pie, and you can even meet Hank. How did I live down the street from this place for years without knowing?? Do yourself a huge service and go out of your way to nab a scoop or two.

peppermint squareos

DUDE. Homemade oreos. Like whoa. DO IT. These are the best cookies I've made in a really long time. You'll be sad if you don't make them.

And you know what's a lot easier than cutting circles of dough? Cutting squares.
Peppermint Squareos
Adapted from The Essence of Chocolate and Joy the Baker

For the Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup plus 3 tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (or baking powder)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant coffee
15 tbs unsalted butter (2 sticks - 1 tbs!), cut in 1/2-in cubes, at room temperature (this is important)

For the Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (I did half white and dark)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract (taste your dough as you add)

For the cookies:

Heat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee and mix. Slowly add the butter a few pieces at a time, stirring as you go. The mixture will have a sandy texture at first and then will begin to form pebble-size pieces. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop the mixer. It will look wet, but loose. Squeeze a handful. It should hold together.

Roll the dough straight from the mixer. The dough becomes hard to work with if chilled.

Transfer the dough to a board and shape the dough into a block about 5 by 7 inches. Cut the block into two pieces.
One at a time, roll each block of dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut out your shapes of choice.

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies don't spread.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, pending on the size of your cutouts. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheets for 2 to 5 minutes. They'll be too soft to move straight from the oven. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For the Filling:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate and peppermint extract. Make sure all the chocolate is covered by the cream. Let stand for 1 minute (this is important), then whisk the white chocolate until completely melted.

Transfer the filling to a small bowl and let stand until room temperature. You’ll need the filling thicker to assemble the cookies, so cover the filling and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or an hour, until a thick consistency is reached. If the filling hardens too much, it can be rewarmed in the microwave for a few seconds.

To Assemble the Cookies:
Place half of the cookies upside down on a work surface. Whip the filling lightly with a whisk to loosen it. It will lighten in color and fluff up. Don’t overwhip or the filling may begin to separate.

Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip. Or just spread it on with a knife. Pipe or spread filling in the center of each upside down cookie. Gently, using your fingers, press the cookies together until the filling comes just to the edges. I had plenty of leftover filling for bowl licking enjoyment.

bluebottle coffee

I know this is an obvious fact for the hipster coffee-drinking residents of San Francisco, but I just wanted to confirm that Bluebottle Coffee is really, really good.

They do the whole organic microroaster thing and make cool designs in your foam, and you know what? It really is better. Mmmmm...

chocolate chip banana bread

I was never a fan of bananas until my discovery of banana streusel muffins. Banana bread was a complete revelation. How could some dry, sandy "fruit" turn into something so moist and decadent?

Now banana bread is my backup recipe when I need something fast and delicious. Despite my infrequent blogging habits, I've written about 3 variations already. It's a bread! It's a cake! It's a muffin! Check it out:

Your Mom's Banana Bread
Candied Walnut Banana Cake
Blackberry Banana Bread

Not convinced? Maybe you need chocolate to make it better. Throw in some chocolate. Maybe some pumpkin seeds. Bake for awhile. Now you have chocolate chip banana bread. Yeahhh.

Monarch

Housed in the funky, kitschy boutique Hotel ZaZa in the Houston museum district, Monarch seemed liked a promising choice for some bachelorette/girls' night dining.

When the food was on, it was addictively fantastic. Let's go over the highlight reel:

Deconstructed ahi roll: A tower of Ahi tuna tartare, crab ceviche, avocado, sushi rice, and peppery dressing. What's not to love? Perfectly balanced proportions and flavors. Easily my favorite dish of the night.

Scallops with fancy garlic mashed potatoes, corn pudding, and red pepper beurre blanc. Would all my food taste this luscious and velvety if I cooked with pools of butter? You bet there was nothing left on the plate.
We also tried the salmon with honey chipotle polenta which was just oddly sweet like plums, and an awful creme brulee that was served cold and more akin to curdled cheesecake. HOWEVER, a complaint yielded possibly the best chocolate cake I've ever had.

Decadent chocolate cake tends to result in this super-rich indistinguishable chocolate-in-chocolate-on-chocolate-over chocolate monstrosity. But not this one - fudgy cake layered with smooth, creamy, oh so lickable dark chocolate fondant. And that's it. We found ourselves inadvertently grazing on fork after forkful even though we were delightfully stuffed.

Overall, what Monarch gets right, it really rocks. See and be seen with the ahi, scallops, and chocolate cake. The cocktails were nice, too.

red velvet black and white cookies

Black and white cookies? Plus red velvet cake? In cookie form? You know it's gotta be your birthday. If you drew a Punnett square for these two fine pastries, this would be a prime example of co-dominance. This recipe makes exactly what you think it does - if you are a purveyor of red velvet or black & white cookies, you need to get on this. RIGHT NOW.

After a bowl of botched frosting and red food dye everywhere, I mailed off a stack of these to my old roommate. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope I put enough bubble wrap in the box.
Here is approximately what I did, adapted from Joy the Baker and good ol' Rachel Ray.

Red Velvet Black & White Cookies
Makes 10 big ol' cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 T cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (I used baking powder and it was fine)

5 T butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 T red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

Vanilla Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp butter, melted

Chocolate Glaze
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3 T butter
1 T honey

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In separate bowl, mix butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, food coloring and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk until smooth.

Place 1/4-cup scoops of batter 2 inches apart of the prepared baking sheet, spread the batter out with a butter knife, about 1/4-inch thick. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

Make the glazes:
Whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 to 2 T milk. Add milk slowly till glaze reaches smooth, easily spreadable consistency of your liking.

For the chocolate, melt butter and chocolate in a microwave for about 1 minute. Add honey and stir until smooth. If it's a bit too liquidy and you're ready to get decorating, pop it in the fridge for a little while.

Once the cookies are cooled, spread half of the cookie with vanilla glaze and the other half with chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set.