The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

This tart, like many of the world's great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (England), asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow. Regardless of what the venerable Mrs. Greaves’ cook did or didn’t do, lore has it that her guests loved it and an ensuing pastry-clad industry was born. Bakewell tarts are a classic English dessert, abounding in supermarket baking sections and in ready-made, mass-produced forms, some sporting a thick sugary icing and glazed cherry on top for decorative effect.

I did this challenge at the beginning of the month with the results pictured. I was disappointed in my results and wanted to try another one toward the end of the month, but was unable to due to money, time, and temperatures reaching 103 degrees here. I do hope to try it again, but not sure when.

What didn't I like? Well, I hope that you will take the time to look at some of the posts by other Daring Bakers. My disappointment lies in that I seem to have too much jam and too little frangipane. Most of the others seem to have a much larger frangipane layer on top. Flavorwise, I think it was a little too much almond. Next time I would eliminate or use much less almond extract. But it was still delicious, especially when served with the homemade rosewater/vanilla ice cream I made.





SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

FRANGIPANE
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in color and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow color.

ASSEMBLING THE TART

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

There always seems to be kinks to iron out when you do something grand for the first time. Such was the case with today's Great American Food and Music Fest held at Shoreline in Mountain View.

The festival was the idea of Ed Levine, writer of Smart Eats and a few books. The idea was to get some of the best foods from across the country and couple that with music for an all day foodie event. For $40 ($35 in advance) you got admission to the event and your first plate of food from one of the vendors for free.


I'll get to the food and events in a bit, but the biggest faux pas was a food bracelet system that failed. After you entered the venue you were given a wristband that could be 'loaded' with money for making purchases at the vendors without having to have cash at each location. Each band had one meal credit on it already. I arrived when the event opened at noon and used my credit pretty quickly. I chose the best dollar value, the Texas BBQ ($12), before the lines started. Good thing I did. An hour later the whole system had broken down. Management announced that they were going to have to switch to a cash system and everyone would have to go to the wristband booth to have their bands converted to vouchers. What a mess! Lines were huge! My estimate is that it would have taken over an hour to reach the front of the line. People were mad. I wonder if a riot broke out after I left.


The day's schedule included cooking demonstrations, cookbook signings, and bands playing music. Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Anne Burrell, and other food personalities were there. Flay and Fieri were featured late in the day, so I just stuck around to see Burrell's demo of Grilled scallops with pickled watermelon and two different grilled pizettas.


Gene Burns from KGO AM radio interviewed some of the vendors for his Dining Around show. They were broadcasting live. I never heard him before, but I sure was unimpressed when he starting calling his guests Sunnyside BBQ when their name was actually Southside BBQ. Usually a good idea to get the name right.


There were quite a few bands also featured. Above is Jeremy Buck and the Bang. There was also Little Feat, Marshall Crenshaw, and others. I could see enjoying a day of good food and music. One drag was that the place got so crowded you could barely move. It was incredible. Being there early, it had been a slow start. Then I sat down for one band and one demo, stood up, and voila! The place was jammed! I was shocked!


One area that I saw really underutilized was their 'market' section. It was an opportunity for kitchen and food specialty vendors to set up booths and show/sell their products. With so much out there in the world of food, this could have been a huge area filled with booths. Instead, there were about four vendors.


This is Leah Aguayo, a school teacher turned salsa entrepreneur. She had samples of her medium and hot salsas. Here's a local, small business woman who was promoting her salsa at a big food event. Why weren't there more like her? By the way, her salsa was good. Great texture and flavor with lots of cilantro and no raw onion.


I had two wristbands because I had gotten them as media passes. My intent was to use the second free meal plate from the other wristband, but with the meltdown of the system, I decided to forgo the freebie and just pay for my dessert. I wasn't interested in standing in those lines! I went to see about the famous Junior's cheesecake from New York ($5). Unimpressed. It tasted like it was a sour cream cheesecake and it was good, but it wasn't the best cheesecake I ever had. Next to it is a chocolate bouchon from Bouchon's Bakery in Yountville. This tiny morsel was $2! And a sample of a 'best' product? It was essentially a fancy shaped brownie bite.

The Texas BBQ brisket and beef sausage up above was from Southside BBQ from Elgin, Texas. I really liked the sausage and the brisket was well cooked. Where they failed was in their sauces. Boring and thin. But then, Texas BBQ is always more about smoking then about the sauces. And I do tend to favor Memphis or Carolina BBQ over Texan.

So....

This could be a great event. My overall thoughts:

- Work on the whole wristband vs. cash vs. ticket system for paying for your food and drink.
- Bigger venue. If this was the first year and the place was that jammed, you need someplace bigger.
- More and better food specialties from around the country. There were 15 featured places this time around and there's certainly opportunity for another dozen or more.
- Improve the marketplace and try to feature more local, just starting entrepreneurs. What a great opportunity to get their product known!
- Go green! Use paper based products for serving the food, not the plastic.

I'm sure there will be more thoughts I'll come up with later. Will they do it again? I think they saw today that people wanted such an event. It just needs to be bigger, better, and run smoothly.

A couple posts ago I told about my excursion to IFly in Union City for indoor skydiving. But about seven years ago I did do actual skydiving, although in a tandem. Here is my recollection of that experience and then a discussion as to which I preferred.

First of all, I'm afraid of heights. So I had the idea that maybe going skydiving would help with this fear. Then the opportunity arose to do it.

Below is a picture of Cindy, Dawn, and myself. Dawn, at the time, was supervising a unit at work where she had issued a challenge. If they met a quota then she would take "a flying leap". It was agreed upon that anyone else that joined her, the quota would be increased. Since I wanted to do a skydive sometime it seemed like this was the perfect opportunity.


We headed to the Lodi airport where there is a large skydiving group. It costs $100 for a tandem jump. I paid extra to get the DVD and photos. You can see my skydiving video on You Tube HERE.

I will admit that I had an out-of-body experience from the time they opened the plane door at 13,000 feet til the instance I felt my stomach drop after we left the plane. Very wierd. I think it was because I had no control, my tandem diver did. Certainly there was no way I would have willingly walked up to the door and jumped on my own!

The fall wasn't that bad after the stomach drop. What I remember most was trying to smile for the camera. Bad idea. The wind wipes out any bit of moisture in your mouth and you've got the worst cotton mouth imaginable. Keep your mouth closed! The fall is about 30 seconds and then the chute is pulled. The floating down on the shoot was actually worse for me than the fall. I get motion sick and so the floating side to side and turning made me queasy.

Upon landing everyone has the biggest grin possible. You are so happy to be on land! Last summer my dad wanted to do it at the age of 75. He went with Dean since I had no desire to go again.



My overall impression of skydiving was to compare it to childbirth. Think about it. Giving birth naturally is a stressful, painful experience. So much so that, at the time, the woman swears she'll never do it again. After several months or years, the bad memories fade to such an extent that she's willing to go through it again for another child.

That's how I feel about skydiving. I figured it would take several years for me forget the scariness of it to be willing to do it again. I wasn't ready to go with dad last summer, but perhaps I'll be ready to do it again in the future - with the right person(s) or in a really cool location.

So...comparing the indoor versus the real skydiving? I liked the indoor better and not just because you are still on land and in no danger of dying. I liked the freedom of it better. During a tandem skydive you are strapped to an instructor and just fall and float. For the indoor skydiving you have NOTHING attached to you and so you really are floating freely. You can also learn to do tricks in the wind tunnel. Sure you can do tricks with real skydiving, but that requires you to go through the entire skydive training program to get certified (or whatever). Since I have no desire to jump from planes on a regular basis, the indoor version suits me much better.


Click here for more stories like this: Fun Things to Do 

A few years ago I tried a tandem skydive and I'll blog about that later. This weekend, though, I went for indoor skydiving at IFly in Union City. This is the type where there is a giant wind tunnel that blows air at about 100 mph so that you lift up.

I went with a Meetup group that consisted of nine people. We were able to get a half hour block for our group alone. The cost for a first timer group rate was $55. We had arrived about an hour early because the drive to the Bay area was pretty smooth. After checking in and signing our waivers, we went upstairs to the observation deck to watch others fly.

At noon our group was called into Jump School. We watched a short instructional video that showed us the hand signals we would need to know for positioning in the tunnel. Then each of us got onto the table to practice form and reading the hand signals from our instructor, Ryan. Here is Marla on the table.



Next stop was the outfitting area where we were each given earplugs, goggles, a helmet, and a jumpsuit. You were required to take off all jewelry and had to have lace up sneakers. Finally it was our turn into the chamber.


They take you through in a rotation. You get a little over a minute your first time where you get your first taste of how to position yourself. Some people are naturals. Others take a lot of help from the instructor who is acting as your spotter.



The second time you get another minute and hopefully get into position quickly and without much help. If you do, then the instructor might help you learn to turn or control going up and down. If you are lucky, he'll hold on to you and you will spin up to the top of the chamber as a a linked couple.


When we had all finished our second rotation Ryan entered the tunnel, the wind was turned up to 150 mph, and he showed off doing all kinds of tricks like spinning and somersaults.

We were told that repeat flyers get discounted rates. You can also buy blocks of time. For instance, a full half hour all to yourself would be $450. Or you could share that block with others, maybe three friends, so that you divide up that half hour and get more minutes each. As you get better they will eventually teach you tricks.

Oh, and you can take children as young as three years old!

What a fun day. I preferred this to my real tandem skydive. I'll write about that next. Meanwhile, consider IFly for a party or special occasion. It's not outrageously priced and it IS fun.


Click here for more stories like this: Fun Things to Do 

My father worked as an engineer in Saudi Arabia in the 70's and 80's. The company was ARAMCO, the Arabian American Oil Company. Now the owndership has transferred to the Saudis and so it is known as Saudi Aramco. Any child that went to school over there is known as an ARAMCO Brat.

I went from 1st to 9th grade in the ARAMCO schools. After we graduated 9th grade we all went to boarding schools. I was lucky in that I got to live in the three main American compounds there: Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, and Dhahran.

Every odd number year (2009) we hold a Brat reunion over Memorial Day weekend. I've been to five so far - two in Houston, Tucson, Chandler, and now Los Angeles. Any Brat may attend and so that means we have people from the class of 1950 or so up to the present. The gatherings are large and festive. We take over a hotel and party for four days straight. There is very little sleep and anyone who is unfortunate to have booked a room in the same hotel while we are there is very, very sorry. We've been known to consume every ounce of liquor in a hotel and the parties go on all through the night til dawn and later.


Because I lived in the three districts I have volunteered to rep for the class of 1980. This particular year I saw mostly Ras Tanura brats. My roommate for the weekend was Rihab, who I had not seen since 4th grade! Same time for not seeing Roula as well.


Most brats just hang out at the pool all day since this is what we usually did back in Saudi as kids. We catch up, see how people look today, meet spouses and children. There are bowling and golf tournaments, auctions, raffles, banquets, a suq (marketplace), class pictures, and a recreated Teen Canteen (hangout). Nothing but fun and exhaustion.



So now we just wait for the announcement of 2011's reunion!

Yesterday my Meetup group participated in the first Hunt the Grid scavenger hunt. It was sponsored by New Belgium beers, the Bicycle Kitchen, and the Midtown Grid.

I would say there were about 35 teams that could be 2, 3, or 4 people each. We were a group of four. They had four sets of clues that had about seven clues per set. We rode all over down town collecting items from different midtown businesses.


We had a great time but have some recommendations for next year. After all, the first year is the year you work out logistics and iron out kinks.

First, they need to have beverage/water stations at the end of each clue set. Running around town was hot and we were dying for something to drink.

Second, the clue sets should all be within a six block or so area. We were getting clue sets that had one clue all the way at the Crocker and another clue on 21st St.

Third, they need to give more time. They gave us an hour and a half and everyone we talked to only got through three clue sets.

Lastly, the end needs to be more organized. You had to go back to the Bicycle Kitchen and they served beer and refreshments. But it was so disorganized at the end and took so long to tally that most people just left and forgot all about finding out how they did and getting the prizes. We have no clue where we ranked. Did we win anything? Dunno.


I look forward to participating again next year. It was held on Second Saturday, so afterward we strolled the streets and had dinner at Aioli's. Come join the fun next year.

Food Network chef Guy Fierri has two restaurants in the Sacramento area. His first, Tex Wasabi, has gotten such mixed to bad reviews that I've never bothered to go and try it. His newest is Johnny Garlic's in Roseville. I figured I'd go and check that one out. After all, Garlic in the name is pretty enticing.

The restaurant itself is not that big. It is very open and has no real decor. Just a busy, new place. I had tried to reserve for a large party and was told they could not accomodate me because they already had too many for that day. So be aware to book well ahead if you want a larger table for a group.

The menu has icon's next to any item that is Guy's own recipe. Oooooooo. I immediately noticed that his Cuban Pork Chops were on it. I loved the recipe when I made it at home, so I would hope that the restaurant's version is just as good. But I wanted to try something different. I opted for the Gaucho Steak - Tequila, lime, lemon, spices, and fresh herb marinated flank steak, topped with a chimichuri sauce. It was served with rosemary garlic mashed potatoes and veggies. It was good, not fantastic. I was under the impression that the dishes would be very garlicy. Not so.

My friend ordered the pork chop special of the night. It came with a mushroom sauce. Again, nothing special. And the people who have reviewed on Urbanspoon.com also seem to rate it as mediocre.

One really shouldn't review a restaurant on just one dish. So I'm not gonna say "don't go". I will probably try it again, but it will probably be a while since it is really far from me.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

It was coincidental that I had only just made a cheesecake a few days before the April challenge was posted. Brother! Another cheesecake! Not something my waistline really needed. But then my dad decided to visit me for Easter weekend and he loves cheesecake. So make a favorite for my dad and take care of a challenge.

The challenge gave us a LOT of freedom. The cheesecake recipe was basic and we were able to be as creative as we wanted with it. Some posters were REALLY creative. I focused on the fact that, A) I have a lemon tree, B) I had bought a container of ricotta for last month's challenge that I didn't use and was soon to expire, C) I wanted something I hadn't tried before. So I opted for a lemon ricotta cheesecake.

The cheesecake turned out perfectly. I've really got it down to the proper baking time to not overbake. But I didn't really care for this cake taste and texture-wise. The ricotta gave it a kind of gritty texture versus the super smoothness of cream cheese or especially the mascarpone version I made last month. In fact, I'd have to say that the mascarpone one is my alltime favorite at this point. And although tasty, it just wasn't as nice as straight cream cheese cheesecake.

For the crust I wanted some extra oomph. I wasn't in the mood to buy cookies again to crush when I had just bought a box of graham crackers. I ended up boosting the graham cracker crust by adding finely chopped roasted almonds.

To top it, I used an Emeril recipe for a citrus thyme sauce because I also have a grapefruit tree and the idea of adding thyme seemed interesting. In the end the flavor was wonderful (it also needs an orange, a lime, and a tangerine) but didn't form together well. What I mean is that it calls for a stick of butter and then all the citrus and thyme. Well when I stored the leftovers, the butter separated so that it was all congealed on the top. Yuck. So basically, it doesn't keep well or you definitely have to heat it and serve it warm.

I ended up serving it that first night and then gave my dad some variety by using different toppings the other nights. The second night I served the cheesecake with lemon curd. The third night I served it with a mulberry sauce (dad had brought me a bunch of fresh frozen mulberries from his trees).

All in all, gotta love cheesecake. But I'll not make a ricotta version again.

Ricotta Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1/3 c chopped fine roasted almonds

cheesecake:
2.5 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
4 large eggs
12 oz container of ricotta
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Bake for 8 mins and remove from oven. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add ricotta, vanilla, zest, and lemon juice, and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

This is a pseudo review because I haven't actually sat down and ate there and not sure I'll ever get the chance. (The chance I'll be nearby during a mealtime is pretty slim.)

You see, Mirabelle's is located in Fair Oaks near my ex-husband's house. I noticed it over there recently when I saw the sign that said Mirabelle's - A European Pastry Cafe. Alarm sounding! 'Pastry' of course gets my attention but it's value is tripled with the word 'European' in front of it!


Deon said that he often gets stuff over there and it is really good. So, it's a second-hand pseudo review. He says they make fantastic crepes and other dishes and have tons of pastries in the pastry case.

Well I've never been one able to pass a pastry case, let alone a European pastry case. I stopped by to take a look, some pictures, and rate their Napoleon.

The place itself is small and attractive with lots of small tables. Outside there are a few tables on a patio with ivy covered trellises. There were quite a number of pastry cases full of goodies and on top were models of some of their wedding cakes.


I did grab a menu and, aside from the crepes, they also offer a variety of dishes such as salads, pastas, quiche, soups, and salads. They also have entrees. The prices are a bit on the high side. A savory crepe for $8.75, slice of quiche for $7.95, and grilled salmon entree for $17.75. The pastries seem to average about $3.25. You can get a baker's dozen of pastries for $31.

There were so many items to choose from in the case, but I decided to get a Napoleon because of my Napoleon comparison I had done last year. Verdict on that? Not so good. It was a very small piece, had no fruit, and not that much cream. Actually pretty sad compared to Enotria, Little Prague, and Tower. I would say that the pastries look (and probably are) delicious, but small. (All the rectangular pastries you see in the pics are about 2x4 inches.)

So I can't rightly recommend it or not. All I can say is that word of mouth is good (The Bee gave it 4/4 stars) and the selection large. But the prices are high.

Lately I've been really enjoying the food reviews done by Becky Grunewald at Midtown Monthly. She has written a couple of times about Lalo's in South Sacramento. The reviews stated how they served really authentic Mexican food, even down to goat, tongue, tripe, and cactus. Some of the dishes sounded interesting, but I was a little gun-shy to go down there. Often times I want to try new things, but am afraid to spend the money when there's a chance that I might not like it and then I've wasted money.

So I sent Paul. LOL. I told Epicureans Paul to go check it out and see if it would be good for his group. The great thing about his group is that he arranges with the restaurants to get a set price for a variety of dishes. So, for instance, when we went to the Peruvian restaurant, we got to try a ceviche and tripe dishes that I would never have ordered on my own. Sure enough, Paul loved Lalo's and set up a dinner for us for a great price of only $14.



Our meal deal was all-you-can-eat with a buffet line. First we were able to make tacos with either barbacoa or al pastor. The al pastor was done just like I had it on the streets of Puerto Vallarta. The pork is layered onto an upright barbecue spit similar to the kind for gyros and schwarmas. At the top of the meat the skewer also goes through a pineapple. When you get it at a street vendor's, they cut the meat and then cut a little slice of pineapple to put in your taco as well. Here at Lalo's, they cut little pieces of the pineapple and mixed it in with the sliced meat. You got to top your tacos with onion, cilantro, and your choice of red or green salsa.

They also had laid out a selection of quesadillas. Their version wasn't the type we Americans are used to - large tortillas sandwiched with cheese and meat. Lalo's were small little turnovers with flaky corn pastry dough and deep fried. We were given four varieties: mushroom, chicken, chicharron, and squash flowers. I tried the chicharron and the one with squash blossoms. The latter was interesting - kind of stringy from the blossoms which overpowered the flavoring of the cheese. I was not a big fan of this style of quesadilla. Guess on that I prefer the Americanized version.



The specialty dish that we tried was the molcajate - a giant stone mortar filled with green chile sauce, beef, chorizo, onions, nopalitos, and Oaxaca cheese. It was served with fresh tortillas. This dish came to the table boiling hot. It had a bit of a spicy kick as well so that I was smacking my lips while downing my soda. I did find it very salty, though. Luckily we had the other dishes to counter the saltiness of this dish.

My table companion, Dave, visits Lalo's on a regular basis and highly recommended the consomme made from the lamb they prepare only on the weekends. I love lamb and so I might just have to come and get some.

The important thing to remember about Lalo's is that you are going to get authentic food as if you were in the village down in Mexico. It's one of those cases where you know it's really authentic because it's filled with natives. So, if you aren't an adventurous eater, you better stick to Americanized Mexican fare that appeals to the masses, such as Ernesto's and Vallejo's.