Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We’re always excited to try new Tex-Mex restaurants, and have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Boca Chica in an area of town where we often spend time on the weekends.  Boca Chica specializes in “modern Mexican food” in the form of tapas (small appetizer plates of food), so it’s sort of a hybrid Mexican and Spanish style cuisine.  But they also have guacamole, which is our go-to standard by which we measure whether a Tex-Mex (or Mexican/Spanish hybrid) restaurant is any good.  We only tried the regular guacamole, although they have specialty versions as well.  The verdict?  We’ll definitely be back.  The guacamole was super fresh, with just the right amount of tomato, cilantro and heat.  Dan also enjoyed the ceviche sampler, but it was a bit fishy for my taste.  In addition to tapas, they also have a nice variety of tacos, salads and tortas.  And an extensive selection of tequilas, of course.

Say what you will about Daylight Savings time (and if you’re like us, you will say a few choice curse words when the alarm goes off that first Monday morning), but having an extra hour of daylight in the evenings is a wonderful thing.  (At least until summer, when all we want is for the sun to go down so it will “cool off” to the high 80s already.)

We enjoy smoked salmon for breakfast a lot, usually served on a toasted English muffin with cream cheese and a little bit of chopped red onion.  We have that particular breakfast often enough that it gets a little boring.  I also tend to get bored with scrambled eggs.  So why not combine the two, top with a few dollups of creme fraiche (basically fancy sour cream) and add a couple slices of toasted homemade bread for an out-of-the-box, opposite-of-boring breakfast?  We did, and it was delicious.

We experimented with a new side dish this week — balsamic glazed onions over fresh spinach.  We used Mario Batali’s recipe from his book “Simple Italian Food” for the onions, which were good, but the recipe needs a little tweaking.  The onions didn’t get quite as soft as we would have liked, and the balsamic vinegar turned into more of a sticky paste (stuck to the cookie sheet) than a “glaze.”  But we salvaged the onions, placed them on top of a bed of fresh spinach drizzled with olive oil and more balsamic, seasoned with salt & pepper, then squeezed a little lemon juice over all of it to brighten up the flavors.  Once we get the technique down for the onions, this side dish will be a keeper.

Something else we’re experimenting with this week:  trapping a feral cat so we can take it to the vet for a little procedure to help prevent future feral cats.  Cue the Crazy Cat Lady jokes in 3, 2, 1…  We have a couple of stray cats that hang around our backyard for some reason (perhaps to drink from our pool.  But more likely because we I feed them.)  So we are attempting to do the right thing by working with a “trap, neuter, release” organization to help reduce the feral population, one kitty at a time.  To do this, we have to lure the cat into the trap, keep it in the trap overnight and take it to the vet the next morning.  Apparently our technique of “luring the cat into the trap” needs a little work, as our first attempt was hugely unsuccessful.  Not even close.  But we’ll keep trying.  In the meantime, I should probably also begin working on my “kittens: free 2 good home” poster.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We kicked off last weekend with a martini (dirty of course) and rental of the movie “Skyfall.”  We’re not huge James Bond fans (I think this is the first Bond movie I’ve seen start to finish), but it’s an entertaining and fun movie, perfect for a Friday Movie Night.  Plus it provided an excellent excuse to indulge in a martini.

Dan has perfected his homemade pizza dough recipe.  We think.  Maybe.  Dough can be tricky — sometimes it gets too done while the toppings are still cooking, other times it’s not done enough.  But the dough we made last weekend, using a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, was perfect.  Whether it will turn out perfectly the next time we make it remains to be seen.  We definitely found the perfect-every-time pizza sauce recipe, also from Cook’s Illustrated — blend the following ingredients in a food processor:  1 (28 oz) can whole peeled San Marzano (or other good quality) tomatoes, drained; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.  No cooking required!  We also discovered (thanks Steve!) a genius method for re-heating leftover pizza — place it in a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cover just the pizza loosely with a sheet of foil and cook for about 5-7 minutes.  The cheese and toppings will get warm and the crust will be crispy — just as good as fresh from the oven!

We stopped by Whole Foods last weekend to pick up a few groceries and these branzino fishes were so beautiful that we had to bring them home for dinner, even though we had planned on an entirely different meal.  Branzino (or “branzini” — tomayto, tomahto) is the least fish-y tasting fish I’ve ever had.  Stuffed with slices of lemon and shallot, drizzled with olive oil and grilled whole — branzino is our favorite fish dish by far.  I don’t even mind it looking at me before I eat it, it’s that good.

Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week: One of the earliest signs of Spring in our neighborhood is a tree with beautiful, big pink and white blooms that we can see when driving through our alley.  The tree is unremarkable (and goes un-noticed) all throughout the rest of the year, but when I see the blooms appear on those bare branches in late February each year, it makes me happy that my favorite season is just around the corner. Something that makes Dan happy is the acquisition of a new kitchen toy gadget, even more so when that particular device is related to and interacts with his baby iPad.  He has long been on the hunt for a reliable remote thermometer for grilling purposes — the kind where you place the thermometer in the meat while it’s on the grill and can monitor the temperature from a separate device away from the grill.  Lo and behold, the iGrill.  This extremely handy tool syncs with your iPad (or iPhone or iPod) and allows you to do cool things like research and program the correct temperature for whatever kind of meat you happen to be grilling (and I’m sure it does countless other really awesome things that justify its purchase.)  You just insert the thermometer into the meat, set the desired temp on the iPad, then keep an eye on the screen to notify you when the meat reaches that temperature.  You can even set an alarm (with a variety of ringtones!) to sound when the meat is done.  Technology continues to amaze.  On a related note, Dan requested that I issue a bit of a PSA here for grilling novices that meat will continue to cook for a bit, even after you remove it from the grill, sometimes increasing in temperature up to 10 degrees.  So be sure to adjust your desired done-ness temperatures with that fact in mind, and happy grilling.

We try to eat breakfast every day, and we’re big fans of the Kashi brand of cereals (annoying commercials aside), since they have a lot of fiber and protein but don’t taste like cardboard.  Mixing the “Go Lean” cereal with Greek yogurt is one of our favorite on-the-go quick breakfasts.  Recently we discovered that Kashi also makes frozen waffles, so we had to try them.  With 150 calories, 5 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein, and 24 whole grains per serving (2 waffles), they are a relatively healthy alternative to the usual breakfast routine, especially when craving something a little on the sweeter side.  They’re also quick and easy to make — straight from the freezer to the toaster to your plate.  With a little butter and maple syrup, these waffles are an easy, yet decadent way to start the day.

Based on the recommendation of a friend in Chicago (Hi J.M.!), we watched the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” this week and thoroughly enjoyed it (subtitles notwithstanding.)  The movie tells the story of Jiro Ono, a master sushi chef (some consider to be the best in the world) in his 80s, whose 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant in a Tokyo subway station was the first of its kind to receive 3 Michelin stars (the restaurant/hotel guide’s highest rating, given to eateries “worth a special journey.”)  The film is about more than sushi, however, in that it also explores Jiro-san’s incredible work ethic and drive for excellence, as well as touching on his relationship with his sons, who have followed in his footsteps, becoming sushi masters themselves.  If you’re into food, like sushi even a little bit and appreciate excellent documentary filmmaking, we highly recommend it.