Consumer Reports: “Why Your Favorite Fast Food Sucks/Rules”

The newly released Consumer Reports article isn’t going to shock anyone in terms of what they discovered when rating the fast food world of burgers, pizzas, tacos and chicken. It may shock you to learn that they think (insert your favorite restaurant here) in fact does not have good food, and why the hell are you eating there anyways?

In n’ Out ranks highest, which even I, a non-meat eater, would tell you. The burgers just look better than other chains. Not to mention their fries and shakes are outstanding. I would also tell you that Burger King ranks the lowest purely because of how awful the (late and not missed) BK Veggie tasted.

But go on! See for yourself! What’s your favorite fast food restaurant?

For the record, I can’t disagree with CR’s toppers. Although I do enjoy Baja Fresh if I can get it over Chipotle. So take THAT Consumer Reports.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

The words Mexican Chocolate trigger something hiding within my brain whenever I read my Recipe RSS. “YES. STOP HERE.” Says my brain, and it does.  But here’s the thing, I’m not really a fan of Mexican Chocolate.  Katie is.  She’s the only reason I spend time trying to perfect the recipes that you see here involving this particular ingredient.  She gladly fills the stereotype of the girl who loves chocolate.  She believes that a Mexican meal is a failure without some type of mole sauce with which to smother her enchiladas. What can I say, she loves the chocolate and the spice.  I am still a believer that sweet and savory, at least where desserts are concerned, should remain on opposing sides of the mixing bowl.

So when I saw this recipe I knew I would at least have to try it. I stuck directly to the recipe, from Culinary in the Desert one of my favorite food blogs, for the first go around.  Now that I know the end result, there are things I’d definitely change.  I could the batches 1-2 minutes less, closer to 7-8 minutes to ensure a softer cookie.  I would also find a richer, deeper cocoa powder than the one I had available (Herhsey’s).  And if I’m feeling particularly spicy, maybe toss some tiny chocolate chunks dusted with cayenne pepper…for kicks.

But, that isn’t to say, this recipe isn’t any good.  It’s quite good, as most of my coworkers would agree. I just have a ridiculously high set standards for what I consider one of the best, softest, cookies in existence.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles (from Culinary in the Desert)

Ingredients

For the cookie dough
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the sugar coating
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

To prepare cookie dough
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined.

To prepare sugar coating
In a shallow dish, stir together sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then gently flatten each ball into a 2″ disc. Place once side of the dough disc into the sugar coating, pressing to adhere. Place dough, sugar side up, onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them at least 2″ apart.  Place into the oven and bake until the cookies have spread and are crackly on top, about 9 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack – let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies.

“Healthy” Mexican Cake

I put “healthy” in quotes, because let’s be honest, cake will never be healthy. It may be low-fat or vegan or sugar-free, but it will never be healthy.  It’s cake.  It’s meant to be an indulgent treat, an unearned reward for finishing your meal, or having a birthday.  It’s no fun if it’s healthy.  It goes against the cake-code.

This recipe, taken from Serious Eats, removed some of the fat that comes from using oil.  As they mention, it was luck the entire project still worked. I’m one of the people who tends to believe sweet and savory need to stay segregated as far as dessert goes, spiciness is just enough to be noticed but not enough to ruin the idea of dessert

And at 196 calories per slice, at least it’s “healthier” than a usual piece of cake full of shortening, and covered in frosting.  I still think it would still be best served warm with some vanilla bean ice cream, which sadly would take the “healthy” completely of the name.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup cold water
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 or 3 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first seven ingredients (flour through salt). Make two small wells in the mixture. In one, pour in the vinegar. In the other, pour in the vanilla extract. Pour cold water over everything. Stir until moistened and a only a little lumpy.

Pour batter into an 8-inch round cake pan. Bake for 30 or 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully pry out and finish cooling on a wire rack.

While cake is baking, whisk together 2/3 cup powdered sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder in small bowl. Add water. Stir to make a thick glaze. When cake is completely cooled, drizzle over cake.

Serves 10.

XoCo – Chicago, IL

My need to NOT be that guy who writes headlines like “XoCo is LOCO” is in a constant internal struggle with the guy who on occasion loves such incredibly horrid word play.  But Chef Rick Bayless has earned a little more respect on this page than horrible puns and easy rhymes the 10-year-old stuck inside my head wants to shout.

And we’re best friends now.  Not only did he respond to one of my tweets, but he walked by us where I nonchalantly said, “Hey, Chef.” Even better is, he responded, “Hello.”  Yep.  Best friends.  Expect my Bayless endorsed restaurant MoHo RoCo in 2011.

The fixed menu is nice and simple, with only one or two daily specials.  Choices range from the familiar tastes of chicken, to the slightly-less-familiar headcheese. There are also caldos (soup) versions of a handful of the sandwiches.  Chips, salsas, guacamoles and pastries fill out the menu; along with aqua frescas, ice creams and churros.

Let me tell you, the churros are where it’s at.  Rick Bayless could open a churro stand with those things and make money.  The dough was that perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, covered with a healthy amount of cinnamon sugar.  At 1 for $1.00 or 3 for $3.00, it may be the best deal on the menu.

Chips and salsa were fine but unnecessary.  They made be handmade, but at the price you shouldn’t be able to count the amount of chips you get just by looking at the basket.  They were also a little conservative with the salsa.

Katie ordered the Gunthorp Chicken Torta described on the menu as a wood-roasted red chile chicken, caramelized onion, black beans, avocado, tomatillo salsa.  The first problem arose when the onions on the sandwich were nearly raw and definitely not carmelized.  She was also not a fan of the chicken itself, or the lack of spices that came with it to be more to the point.  Luckily, after a healthy dose of the hot sauce provided at the table, it was finally to her liking.

I ordered the Woodland Mushroom torta which came with wood-roasted garlic mushrooms, Prairie Farm goat cheese, black beans, wild arugula, 3-chile salsa.  The mushrooms were perfectly marinated and went well with the goat cheese.  I couldn’t find a single issue with my sandwich, made evident that mine was gone before Katie even touched the second half of hers.

Our main problem with the tortas were the size.  They’re perfectly average in size,  but just on the side of a little too small that when we left I was still hungry.

The mexican chocolate flan we had for dessert was rich and dense, but not sickeningly so.  A nice little finish to our meal. We also accidentally ended up getting some hot chocolate for dessert.  We ordered it thinking we could drink it before the meal, but the process is so involved that we didn’t get the cup until halfway through our meal.  It was a happy situation, however, because it went well with our dessert.

There is one thing that is keeping XoCo from moving beyond good to being great.  It’s not XoCo’s fault, nor is it Rick Bayless’.  But it is a problem that turned away at least 6 people while Katie and I took our first visit there Saturday afternoon.  The line to get in is ridiculous.  Reports vary, of course.  Our friends from Fritz Pastry, Nate & Elaine, went there on a weekday afternoon to find an empty restaurant where they quickly ordered and ate within 30 minutes.  On the other end of the spectrum, it took us nearly 30 minutes of standing in line to merely reach the doors of the restaurant.  The next 20 minutes were made even worse because now we could actually smell the smells we were already hungry for.

This would be the perfect lunch spot if you could run in and grab a quick torta, which is how this place appears to be set up.  And maybe once the excitement of a new Bayless restaurant wears off, that’ll be the case.  But for right now you have to seriously consider if your need for a torta and some chips outweighs the chance you could be waiting for that very torta any where from 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Simple Taco Soup

Who doesn’t love easy?  Ten hour work days and hours of comicon recovery time has left me with little initiative to get any food prepped for the week.  But alas, the leftovers are gone, and I’m forced to throw something together.  And now we have taco soup.  To give it a heartier vibe I added some spices, veggie chicken and orzo to great effect.

Simple Taco Soup

• 8 oz uncooked orzo
• 7 cups vegetable broth
• 2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups chunky mild or medium salsa
• 2 1/4 cups frozen corn kernels
• 12 ounces veggie chicken strips
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

Boil water in a medium sauce pan.  Cook the orzo according to package directions.

In a large soup pot add the broth, beans, salsa, chicken strips, and spices.  Cook over medium heat until simmering.  Adjust to low heat and let flavors blend.  Add the cooked orzo, stir and serve.

Serves at least 8 people.

Ortega Tacos’ Unintentionally Perverse Shawn Johnson Ad

I can’t tell if the people at Ortega honestly didn’t realize what they were getting a 16-year-old girl to say, or if this is some of the smartest, most subversive, sex-sells advertising I’ve seen since Joe Camel’s Penis Nose.

Taco Bell’s Volcano Taco

Taco Bell

Of course I had to try Taco Bell’s new Volcano Taco, or at least the Lava sauce.  I’d be lax in my duties if didn’t at least try it once.  So during all the running back and forth between the city and the suburbs, I stopped off at a Taco Bell and got myself a bean burrito with the lava sauce instead of the normal bean burrito sauce.

Two things come to mind:

1) I can’t say the lava sauce is any hotter than the fire sauce they already offer.  In fact, it may be less hot because the cheese is cutting the bite.  Sure, there’s a nice lingering burn, but it definitely didn’t make me leak smoke from my orifices or need to splash Pepsi on myself (more than I do now anyways).  All in all, it wasn’t amazing, but it was a decent alternative to the normal sauces.

2) I believe that “Volcano Lava” refers to what happens to your stomach after eating the sauce.  I didn’t eat again until 10:30 that night because I was convinced that the lava sauce had actually eaten through my stomach lining.  If THAT is what Taco Bell wanted as an end result, this sauce is named perfectly.

Episode 9: Jugs, Thugs & You Say Goodbye, We Say Hello

Tonight, Mike & Katie wonder just how dumb people can be.  Do we really need schooling on how to pour milk?  We say goodbye to two of our favorite restaurants, and hello to two new welcome additions.  Mike takes on the term foodie.  He’s had enough, and he’s not going to take it anymore.  And the second Two Bites In Suburbia Dinner and a Movie series featuring the God of Cookery happens as well.  With the Taste of Chicago finally over, we can finally start assessing the damage.  This is episode 9 of Two Bites in Suburbia.

Links

Sam’s Club introduces new milk jug. Masala Yangu Cilantro Mexican Grill

Mediterranean Oasis Mart Houlihan’s

Naperville Sun Article

Two Bites in Suburbia Movie Series: God of Cookery

E-mail us: twobitesinsuburbia@gmail.com

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Cilantro Grill in Romeoville Under New Management

We met up at Crispy Waffle with a reporter for the Naperville Sun this morning to be part of a feature on local food bloggers.  We were surprised to see that Cilantro Grill is no more.  Instead we have a Pepe’s.  I didn’t even know Pepe’s were still around, much less in Romeoville.

This is some disappointing news for people who were as addicted to their Sweet Potato Fries as we were.  The reporter mentioned she’s going to miss the mole sauce most of all.

Damn you chain restaurants!

Cilantro Mexican Grill & Bar – Romeoville, IL

If there’s two types of restaurants I’m constantly on the lookout for, it’s a good Mexican and good Indian food. Although, I’m always looking for some Chinese food, too. And pizza. And Italian.

Fuck. That’s not going to work.

I’m always looking for a better Mexican restaurant. You can’t go wrong with a place that puts a good enchilada in front of you. You just can’t. Well, you could, if they also unleashed a rabid badger at the same time they delivered your food. But, that’s why you come to sites like mine where I would personally warn you about rabid badgers being released while you eat. I don’t want to cause you harm. I love you. Deeply.

…

Awkward.

Cilantro Mexican Grill & Bar is right next to Crispy Waffle as I mentioned a few weeks ago. I hope that the area around both of these restaurants builds up soon, if only because one is outstanding, and one was above average. That, and I love seeing independently owned places survive amongst the chain restaurants in smaller suburbs.

Cilantro is an above average experience. They’re a more formal restaurant than your typical Mexican joints. The seating is split into a small area by the windows, giving you a more intimate experience than the other half of the restaurant, which is set up more like a typical restaurant. But, the natural lighting and the large tree that grows above you in the smaller area is something you should ask for if possible.

On our first visit, we ordered Taquitos De Papa as an appetizer. Delivered in a fun, flower-like presentation over lettuce and tomatoes, with a side of sour cream; they were fresh, hot and crunchy. But, the potato filling was blander than we would have liked. They were a nice precursor to our meal, but didn’t wow us.

Our main dishes, enchiladas, were a different story. The Tres Quesos Enchiladas (panela, chihuahua and queso fresco) was served with a tangy salsa verde, and Katie’s Pollo de Mole Enchiladas were smothered in a cinnamony (a newly invented word) sauce. The salsa verde took a little getting used to, because it was powerful tangy; but once I adjusted, I couldn’t eat them fast enough. The three cheeses blended together smoothly, accented nicely by the salsa. Aside from wanting more cinnamon in her mole, Katie also liked her meal.

The big winner though was the side of sweet potato fries we ordered on a lark. Holy sweet crap. Delicious. They were lightly battered, reminding me of Tempura, and cooked just right. I could have made a meal of those alone.

Our second trip was with one of Katie’s coworkers. Her husband and she wanted to meet us for lunch, and we recommended Cilantro. This time around, I tried their veggie burrito “smothered” in cheese. Katie stuck with her enchiladas, and her friends ordered the beef tostadas.

Why did I order the burrito? I don’t know. I never like veggie burritos. I hate grilled vegetables. I think the grill saps the flavor from the veggies, leaving them all tasting like grill, or even worse, some weird, nameless, homogeneous vegetable. The closest I can come is Chipotle’s fajita burrito, and that’s because I ask for enough of their addictive rice to choke a horse, or explode a bird.

The salsa verde took a little getting used to, because it was powerful tangy

The burrito was decent, and large, but I doubt I’d order it again. It wasn’t bad, it’s just my personal bias against the veggies. I’m sure anyone else would think it was excellent. Although, save your dollar and don’t bother with the cheese smotherification (another new word!). They, quite literally, melt a single piece of Mexican cheese over the burrito. It definitely wasn’t smothered. And with all the other flavors of the burrito, good luck tasting it anyways.

I like Cilantro, but I don’t love it. If we’re looking for a nice place to grab some good sit-down Mexican food, we’d definitely go back there. The service was adequate, the atmosphere nice, and the food was good. Plus those sweet potato fries. Goddamn those tasty fries. If you were on the fence about visiting Cilantro, let my love of those fries push you over. You won’t be sorry.