Chocomize—I love this idea! Choose from a wide variety of ingredients like teddy grahams, oreos, even mini chipotle peppers & 23-karat gold flakes to create your own unique candy bar. They have a favorites page that might spark some inspiration. (I especially love the S’mores Bar with milk chocolate, mini marshmallows, and teddy grahams.) But you should probably make your own path & design your own creation! (P.S. The prices hover around $6 a bar.)

Check it out on chocomize.com

Today was a rough Monday for everyone at the house. Rough days at work, frustrations at home and a whole segment of flattened fence that needed to be repaired before the dog ran away again… Oh life sometimes.

While everyone else was outside on the fence construction crew, I set out to make something for dinner that might cheer things up a bit. Fridge and pantry were kinda sad and I was missing crucial ingredients for every dish that come to my mind. I boiled some pasta and resigned myself to the idea that dinner might end up like the rest of the day.

And then I decided to retry something I haven’t tried in a year or more: béchamel sauce. The first time I attempted it, it never thickened. It’s probably one of the simplest sauces—one of the mother sauces of French cuisine—and somehow it had beat me. I decided to give it another go this evening, mostly because I knew for sure I had all the ingredients. I started with Mario Batali’s classic recipe, then modified it by adding a cup of different cheeses I had on hand when it was done (Mozzarella, Smoked Fontina & Provolone). Success! The sauce came together perfect. I’m really not sure what happened last time, but this time it was awesome. I served it atop some mini bow-ties & fixed a small side salad. It was a simple dinner & a small culinary success, but everyone seemed happier after dinner. It really is the little things, I suppose…

Béchamel Sauce by Mario Batali
5 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 c. milk
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Hatch chili cornbread, hatch chili crab cakes, hatch chili ravioli—the annual Hatch Chili Festival is in full swing right now at Central Market! In addition to fresh roasted hatch chilies, you can find pretty much everything else with the spicy green chili mixed in. There’s even a hatch chili chocolate gelato…

See the whole product checklist at CentralMarket.com & tell us: What chili-fide things have you tried??

(P.S. The festival ends on the 31st, so shop quick!)

We’ve been wanting to visit Potager for a while now & finally got the chance to check it out on Friday night for dinner. The restaurant’s concept is what had us most intrigued. Their menu changes daily & is all about what’s local, what’s organic & what’s in season. The disconnect in our society between the farm & the table is so immense, it’s intimidating. Potager’s mission is to help people reconnect to the food they eat & be more aware of where it comes from.

If that concept alone wasn’t enough to start some buzz in this city, their pay-what-you-can policy is another publicity-sparker. Their menu has no set prices, so you pay what you feel is appropriate for what you ate. There are suggested prices listed on a paper where you leave the money, but ultimately the decision is yours. Place the cash in an envelope or run your credit yourself & leave the slip in the designated watering can. It’s a bold concept, but it seems to be working for them; they’ve already crossed the one-year hurdle, which can be the most challenging for restaurants.

So enough about the idea behind Potager… What about the food? As I mentioned before, the menu changes daily. They post it on their site so you can look it up ahead of time. They serve until close or when they run out, whichever happens first. We arrived for dinner at 8:00, an hour before close. This wasn’t bad necessarily, but a few of the menu items (a cucumber leek soup, the sock-eye salmon & baked bread) were already 86′d. What was left on the menu though, was delicious.

Their lentil soup was thick & well-seasoned. (I didn’t even mind the fact that I was eating hot soup in the middle of Summer.) We got the last of the blue crab cakes & I’m quite pleased we did. It was fresh, lightly breaded & accompanied by a tangy remoulade sauce. Since the salmon was out, the pork piccata was the only remaining choice as a main. Sauteed onions & capers swam in the lemon-butter sauce covering the slice of roasted pork. The sauce was nice, but my slice of meat had a lot of fat on it. It’s a personal preference, but I really don’t care for it that way. It gets a *shrug* from me.

However, all was forgiven about the pork because of their chilled pasta salad with Italian cold cuts. Ah-ma-zing. My favorite bite of the night, for sure. It was on Saturday’s dinner menu as well, so my hope is that it’s a reoccurring dish.

What I like most about the meal—the whole experience really—is how much it felt like having dinner at an old friend’s house. The silverware is all mixed & matched, the tablecloths look like they came from your grandmother’s house. When you walk in for the first time, it’s a little uncomfortable. Do you sit down or wait to be seated? (Sit.) How do you order? (Straight to the counter & let him know how big or small a portion you want.) But once you get over that initial bumbling feeling, it’s lovely. Potager is a great little place in Arlington, one we’ll be returning to again soon. From what I gathered watching the other diners who were familiar with the system & knew the owner by name, a lot of people come back for more.

Potager Cafe
315 South Mesquite Street
Arlington, TX | 76010
817.861.2292

We love Chipotle & the only thing better than a barbacoa burrito bowl with that delicious cilantro-lime rice, roasted corn salsa & pico de gallo, is getting one for free. (Pay attention d boi & ben because this will be of particular interest to you!)

Chipotle is getting in on Tax Free Weekend with a special offer. Eat at any DFW Chipotle this Tuesday or Wenesday (17th – 18th) and save the receipt. Then go back any time during tax free weekend (20th -22nd) and get a free burrito, salad, order of tacos or bowl with your receipt. “No charge. No tax. No strings attached.”

Awesome. They have a relatively new ingredient on the menu: soft corn tortillas, so now would be a great opportunity to try… on the house!

On Monday I promised to post the recipe for the amazing polenta I cooked to accompany the chicken in milk dish. Polenta is pretty straightforward; the preparation steps and basic ingredients stay the same with a rotating cast of accoutrements like wilted arugula, parmesan, and heavy cream. Emeril’s take on it is quite simple, which makes this a nice accompaniment to a really flavorful main dish. This polenta is: creamy and rich. This polenta is not: good for saving. Unless you’re serving a lot of people, I recommend cutting this recipe in half because it doesn’t reheat very well the next day. The recipe says it serves 4, but that is really generous. It’s more like 6 or 7! Unless you want to just eat this for dinner, which isn’t such a bad idea actually…

Creamy Polenta fromEmeril Lagasse

4 c. water, plus more as needed
4 c. milk, plus more as needed
3 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. salt
2 c. polenta
1/2 c. creme fraiche
1/3 c. Parmigiano-Reggiano

In a large saucepan, bring the water, milk and butter to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the water and whisk in the polenta. Whisk constantly for 3 to 4 minutes to prevent lumps. Simmer for 45 minutes, partially covered and stirring every 10 minutes, until the polenta is thick, smooth, and creamy. Add the creme fraiche and Parmesan. Check for seasoning and adjust consistency by adding milk or water to the polenta. Polenta may be made up to 20 minutes ahead of time and kept covered until ready to serve.

The recipe sounds a little strange and the picture doesn’t do it justice, but this is the BEST chicken recipe. I was looking for something special to cook for a little romantic dinner and remembered that a couple months ago my friend Holly made this for her husband. She’s a vegetarian, but she said that her husband absolutely loved it. I gave it a whirl and was equally enamored. Roast chicken with sage, lemon, cinnamon… and curdled milk? But trust me, it’s delicious. And even though it does take a little time in the oven, it was really simple to make. I liked the fact that it didn’t require a really long grocery list, which is nice for a weeknight dinner.

I’ve included the original Jamie Oliver recipe, but have to admit that I improvised a little. Instead of cooking a whole chicken, (I asked for boneless breasts with the skin on. I am still a little wimpy when it comes to dealing with meat.) No one noticed or cared though Since I didn’t use a whole chicken, the cook time was a little less. Using a dutch oven, I browned the skin stovetop and then moved the whole thing into the oven. At the same temp, it took about an hour. I also took the skin off the garlic. It probably wouldn’t have hurt anything, but I didn’t want the skins junking up the dish.

I served this with roasted parsnips and a really creamy, decadent polenta. I’ll post the recipe for that this week too!

Chicken in Milk from Jamie Oliver

1 (3 pound) organic chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. (1 stick) butter
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 good handful fresh sage, leaves picked
2 lemons, zested
6 garlic cloves, skin left on
1 pint milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season it generously all over with salt and pepper, and fry it in the butter, turning the chicken to get an even color all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the butter left in the pot. This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan, which will give you a lovely caramel flavor later on. Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and cook in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce, which is absolutely fantastic.
To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Serve with wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato.

Recently a friend & I were having drinks poolside at NYLO Las Colinas & we noticed the servers bringing out bottle after bottle of pink Coronas. We asked about them & learned it’s just Coronoa + a splash of grenadine. Apparently they’re a popular drink (fad?) in some circles (Las Colinas?). Online research (google) legitimates its existence and puts a name to the pink bottle: Candy Corona. We ordered a couple & a few more since then at Lee Harvey’s so more friends could try. If there’s one thing to be said, it’s polarizing. Some thought it was disgusting—a carbonated, sickeningly alcoholic cherry cough syrup. I actually didn’t mind it & thought it was really easy to drink. I mean, is a Corona really that bad of a thing to deface? Ever tried it yourself?

Here’s the truth as I see it. If Deep Sushi were anywhere else in the metroplex, say on the corner of MacArthur & 635, people would probably never bring it up. But, in this case it’s all about location, location, location. Deep Sushi is in the heart of Deep Ellum & is pretty much your only bet for sushi in the neighborhood. Friends have asked me on several occasions if I could recommend it & I’ve always had to respond I really didn’t know. I went there years ago before going to a show at Trees. (That will give you some idea of how long it’s been.) I really couldn’t recall a thing about the experience. After dining there with a friend this week, I know why.

It’s not amazing sushi, but it’s definitely not bad. It is sushi that just IS. I talked with some other friends about their experiences & they concurred. Good lunch & happy hours specials are enticing, but otherwise it is a straightforward, non-offensive but un-groundbreaking sushi stop in Deep Ellum. The fish was fresh, the rolls were well-made & the ambiance wouldn’t be a bad place to meet up for a casual date. The one highlight that caught my interest was the use of sriracha on a few of their specialty rolls. I like that heat more than the expected wasabi-based sauces, so it was a nice touch.

Deep Sushi
2624 Elm St.
Dallas, TX
214.651.1177

The Grape’s burger really needs no introduction. Last year, Texas Monthly announced it as their #1 burger in Texas. I’m a little ashamed of myself that it’s taken me so long to get over there and taste one, but the fact that it’s only available on Sundays and now Mondays lends a bit of credibility to my tardiness. I’m not sure if its exclusivity had any baring on Texas Monthly’s outcome—everyone knows that the harder it is to get something, the more you want it. Although it didn’t end up being my favorite burger in Texas, I’m happy to report it’s definitely in the top 5. If you consider yourself interested at all in hamburgers, I recommend you clear your schedule next Sunday or Monday (you can get it in the bar along with their happy hour specials), and head over to The Grape. You can thank me later.

The burger is built with the freshest ingredients. The tomatoes were the reddest and tastiest I’ve had in quite some time. Fat cut, dill pickles added a bit of crunch, along with a few slices of sizzling off-the-grill bacon and gooey cheddar cheese. The bun is done just right, toasted enough to not get soggy, but still soft and squishable so you can fit the giant burger in your mouth.

For the most part, all the hype has been well-deserved. I only knock it for the flavor of the beef. While I ordered it medium, it wasn’t as juicy as I had hoped for and I feel like it could have had a bit more flavor. I need to go back again to make another judgement, so definitely don’t let this discourage you from trying it.

While it’s pretty impossible to choose the #1 burger in Texas, let alone even Dallas, this one definitely sits quite high in my regards and I couldn’t recommend it enough. Although, it’s not like The Grape needs to extra press. For the two hours we ate and drank at the bar, I heard at least five other people come in and order it. The word is definitely out, so get in on it.

The Grape
2808 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
214.828.1981