hello/goodbye

due to a high demand from loyal americas guests, the tres leches has been restored. misha you were right.

hello


goodbye

summers almost here!

in two days it will be summer. time to change menus. heres a proposed summer dessert menu

tres leches/ sponge/ meringue

guanaja "torchon"/ pop rocks/ acai/ creme anglaise

smoked chocolate cake/ bbq/ cherries/ bacon

lucuma chiffon/ honey/ lucuma sorbet/ summer citrus fruits

platanito corndogs/ banana mustard/ vanilla ice cream

"raspados"/ pitaya/ coconut/ chocolate-soy/ lucuma/ vanilla

roasted stone fruits/ piloncillo/ buttermilk ice cream

monotony evokes creativity

i measured out my flour, sugar and butter. i was cutting my butter into the flour. all by hand, because we all know no machine can replace your hands in cooking.

so there i was. bored. just cutting butter into the flour. making a pie dough. and i started thinking ... i have butter and flour. what else is made with flour and butter?

BEURRE MANIE!!

now i would skip out on beurre manie and go for either xanthan gum or methocel. but then i started thinking about roux. roux is flour and butter. when i think roux i think gumbo. i love to browning of the flour and butter. its creates an amazing aroma and taste.

so. what if i made a roux, like for gumbo, seasoned it and let it cool. once cooled bake it in the oven like a cookie. gumbo cookie?

what else uses roux ... bechamel??? bechamel cookies?

not just cookies. streusels, powders, liquid sable (i have the utmost respect for jordan kahn)

its an idea now. i'll play around. look for upcoming posts

my poor baby!

my poor baby!
Originally uploaded by fuzzzycatt

wednesday night i got hit. this is what my car looked like in daylight.

i wasnt in a good mood that night. i thought about drinking, but an amazing and very caring friend told me i should go home. get rest, be safe.

so i went home. my light turned green and i advanced. i didnt see anything, i didnt feel anything. but when i opend my eyes, my car was in the middle of the road. i was facing in a southern direction (i was driving north). my airbag went off and my door would not open.

im lucky to be alive.

my poor baby.

flips and flops

it tasted amazing yesterday. why not today?! it was sweet, tart and smoky. what happened?! it was tart today and lacking in flavor. the only thing that helped today was the bacon. but even the almighty BACON was not enough. what happened?!

you're probably wondering, "what is he talking about?"

well obviously. a cupcake!!

tonight was our first night of the food and wine event in the woodlands. our event was called 'it's a guy thing.' the host was master sommelier guy stouts - its a guy thin - get it? so tonight we had a bunch of guys come taste wine and mingle (teehee!)

fortunately the gentleman were stuffed to their gills before dessert came out. there was no room for dessert. its a good thing because i was not happy with my cupcakes. they tasted fine, but they were not up to my standards.

smoked chocolate cupcake/ BBQ buttercream/ bacon streusel

my idea was to try recreate a very manly activity in a not very manly fashion. it was humorous. tonights event was referred to as guys night out. and well, drinking wine and mingling, you get the point. hence the cupcake.

yesterday they were amazing. the smoke level was right, the sweetness of the tomatoes shined in the buttercream, bacon was smoky and salty. it was a great balance of sweet tart salty and smoky. it was very reminiscing of a summer bbq. but today it was very tart.

i have no idea what happened. i'll have to revist that cupcake later.

misha and tasty-bits.com

misha was to come last night for dinner with his wife and friends. unfortunately they could not make it because americas does not offer vegetarian options.

i did not speak to him early enough. we had 350+ reservations. included were a wedding, birthdays, etc. we did, however, out of some miracle find time to make 2 vegatarian plates, plus my desserts (all vegetarian friendly)

anywho, misha was able to come this afternoon for lunch. we were slow today and i was able to do a dessert tasting for him and his two companions. it was a delight for me to have a chance to do one, as much as it was for him to eat it. win win, no?

i'm looking forward to your pics and blog!!

i had a sesame "granola" on your cheese course. after reading your blog about desserts at 17, i was a bit worried!

oh! i didnt realize i did not have you on my list of blogger friends. im adding you, do likewise!

dessert tasting and elvis costello

seems every blog has been dormant for weeks, mine included. what, with mothers day, private grand opening party, beos, its been a bit hectic to find a second to write. alas, i write once again.

on a recent post on allison's blog, she wrote about pet peeves from both sides of the restaurant industry. i said that i do not like to go orders. when food is presented as art and with different temperatures and textures, the end product in a box does not do it justice. it's just not right!! i'm sure randy would agree with this. his food is incredibly beautiful and extremely artistic. it does not do any justice to put it in a box.

aside from that, yesterday i had two great friends come to america's to try my desserts. i treated them with a 6 course dessert tasting. i love doing tastings. its exciting and spontaneous. if you want to do a dessert tasting, please let me know. i will gladly do it ... actually, i would beg you to let me do a dessert tasting. (next time i do a tasting i will take pictures) this was their dessert tasting:

picaron/ pb powder/ aji amarillo honey/ brown butter ice cream

tres leches/ vanilla fluff/ creme fraiche

lucuma souffle/ bacon streusel/ apple-yuzu spritzer

texas goat cheese/ white truffle honey/ blueberries

annatto ice cream/ vanilla croquant/ sesame granola

guanaja "torchon"/ acai/ creme anglaise/ spiced pop rocks


they loved it! i had fun. win win. OHHHH!! and afterwards they reminded me that they were in the neighborhood for the concert: the police with elvis costello. I NEARLY FORGOT!! im a huge elvis costello fan. i have not missed any of his shows in the last 4 years, and i wasnt about to miss this one. i had to leave work early. i had to. im sorry. but i've been working 12-15hour days with half day off since we opened. i needed a break. i needed to do something for myself.

and so it was. i was waiting in line at the cynthia woods mitchel pavillion. it was a short walk to get there (YES! a walk. we are literally that close to the venue) bought my ticket, sat down on the lawn and enjoyed an amazing 45 minute set.

once elvis was done i announced to my friends i would be leaving. they insisted i stay for the police, i gave in. i had a bad feeling about it. i was right. i was bored out of my mind during the police. i was completely dissapointed with their performance.

they played everything extremely technically. great skills, not one missed note. but with so much technicality, they lost all passion ... or so it seemed to me. i just wanted to see them play their hits as they were 20+ years ago. they didnt. instead they dragged each song out. everything she does is magic was extremely mellow. what happened?! when i was in college, my band covered that song. we did a ska/punk cover because thats what we listened to and because its easy turning everything into ska/punk. the song dragged out for what seemed hours. it was slow. there was no foot stomping beat. it didnt make me feel like skanking. or even singing along. it was slow and dull. same goes for the following songs, don't stand so close to me, roxanne, doo doo doo da da da, etc. the only song that fit their new jazz/jam style was every breath you take. but even that song dragged on.

i love the police as much as the next guy, but this new sound they are trying to do is not befitting of the police i new; the police i grew up listening to.