Sayso Cocktails

Last Summer's Fancy Food Show in NYC introduced me to several new favorites, one of which is Sayso Cocktails.

I am a big fan of mixed drinks but I'm usually too lazy to make one at home. I'll toss stuff together without measuring--various liqueurs that are on hand, some juice, seltzer--and end up with something quaffable, but not worth remaking. (I will never claim to have any mixology talents.) Sayso lured me immediately with the ease of making a tasty cocktail with only three ingredients: a Sayso "tea bag" (which I prefer to call a "sachet,"), water, and alcohol. The sachet contains all-natural flavorings and a blend of no-aftertaste low-calorie sweeteners that turn water into the cocktail mixer of your choice. You can stop right there, adding a bit more water and ice to your glass and enjoy it a mocktail, or you can add your favorite hooch. Sayso comes in four flavors so far: rosemary honey moscow mule, old fashioned, skinny cardamom paloma, and skinny spicy margarita.

Cocktails can be super sweet, but Sayso drinks are not. If you like sugar, you can certainly add some simple syrup to taste! You can also use Sayso as a starting point and create variations on a theme. For instance, when I remembered we had a container of Talenti Mango Sorbetto in the freezer, I realized I could make a spicy mango margarita. 

Spicy Mango Margarita

1 sachet Sayso skinny spicy margarita

4 ounces warm water

2 ounces blanco tequila

1/4 cup Talenti mango sorbetto

Ice

Seltzer (I used a tropical fruit-flavored one)

Fresh Mint

In a highball glass, steep the sachet in the water for 5 minutes. Wring all the goodness out of the sachet and discard. Add the tequila and sorbetto and give it a stir. Add a few ice cubes and top with a splash or two of seltzer. Garnish with fresh mint.

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I prefer the old fashioned and Moscow mule flavors in the colder months, when I'm more likely to drink brown liquor like bourbon and dark rum. But all four flavors are great any time of the year.

Order Sayso directly from the company, or from Amazon. I received samples of all four varieties from the company, but I will definitely be purchasing these again, particularly the spicy marg version. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Tequila Mockingbird

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on October 26, 2011.

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Ocean City, Maryland, is hardly a foodie destination, and we're ok with that. Most trips, we end up eating pretty decent pizza at Lombardi's, tender ribs from J.R.'s, and terrific sushi at Yokozuna. If we're there more than three nights, another restaurant has to enter the rotation, and occasionally it's Tequila Mockingbird. Every time we go there, I think it's a terrific idea, and every time we leave I think, "why did I eat that?"

Not that the food is bad. It's not bad. It's just...bland. But that doesn't seem to keep anyone away. Seems like every time we've eaten there, there's been a small hoard of people at the front of the restaurant, waiting for a table. I don't really get it.

Ok, maybe I get going there for a margarita and some chips and salsa, which always seem freshly made. The chips were warm and un-greasy, and completely unsalted on our most recent visit. (That's fine - I prefer my tortilla chips unsalted.) The salsa also seemed underseasoned, but otherwise had the standard mix of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.

After perusing the pun-heavy menu, which is divided into sections like "Chimi Chimi Bang Bang," "Gone with the Taco," and "Love American Style," you know, the usual suspects (see what I did there?), I ordered the "Tijuana Triple," a typical Tex-Mex platter of excess including a mini shrimp quesadilla, a chicken hard taco, and a cheese enchilada, plus arroz verde and refried beans. Pretty standard fare that can be made at home quite easily, with or without the help of Old El Paso. How could it go wrong? Well, not wrong, per se. Just horribly...uninteresting. The chunks of chicken breast in the taco were not only boneless and skinless but also completely devoid of seasoning and flavor. They were also slightly tough, but that was expected. Topping the meat were some unseasoned bits of tomato and onion and shredded lettuce. More of this bland vegetation topped the cheese enchilada, which was orange goo wrapped in a corn tortilla. The enchilada sauce had slopped off to the side and was killing the crispness of the quesadilla, which was filled with - you guessed it - more of the tomato/onion blandness. The small shrimps hiding in the cheese were pretty tasty though, adding a modicum of flavor to an otherwise snooze-worthy plate that also included underseasoned arroz verde and gummy refried beans.

After eating as much as I could stomach, I went back to the chips and salsa. After the blandness of my dinner, I could detect that the salsa *did* have seasoning - maybe a bit of vinegar. Perhaps even salt.

Mr Minx fared much better. He wisely ordered beef as the filling for his chimichanga, and found it to be nicely seasoned with a bit of cumin and other spices. It was actually flavorful. Unfortunately, it came with the same boring beans and rice, and more completely unnecessary tomato/onion/shredded iceberg.

My camera phone sadly doesn't have a flash. My dish came out blurry,
but that's fine - it looked like a mess anyway.

We washed down our food with glasses of sangria, which tasted heavily of cinnamon. It reminded me of the Korean persimmon- and cinnamon-flavored dessert beverage, sujung gwa. I probably should have ordered a margarita.

So...it was edible. Everything seemed fresh, and it was fine for folks who don't like spicy or flavorful food, I suppose. Really quite a let-down after eating some really good Mexican chow at Miguel's recently. I did notice that we were possibly the youngest customers in the dining room, and that might have been the reason for the "taco night at the nursing home" quality of the meal. But then the place has a captive audience, as do the rest of OC's restaurants that don't seem to try very hard.

Sadly, eating at Tequila Mockingbird gave me this thought: Ocean City could use a Chili's.

Tequila Mockingbird
12919 Coastal Hwy
Ocean City, MD 21842
www.octequila.com
(410) 250-4424

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Vida Taco Bar

When The Minx told me that we were invited to a special media dinner at the new Vida Taco Bar location in Harbor Point, I wasn't quite sure where she was talking about. I didn't realize that the 27-acre former industrial site situated between Harbor East and Fells Point had been given a new designation. Along with the new name, Harbor Point is being developed into a modern site for office. living, retail, and dining spots, and Vida Taco Bar is one of its newest tenants.

While Harbor Point is still very much a construction site, the completed buildings and streets are quite impressive and offer a terrific view of the harbor. As we arrived at Vida, mother nature was entertaining us with a spectacular sunset of orange and purple. To compliment the view, we were offered our first of five margaritas for the night.

The Paloma is a blend of Altos tequila, ruby red grapefruit juice, and lime agave.  Later, each course of tacos was paired with a particular margarita, which I'll get into in a moment.

You can't really be a taco joint without serving tortilla chips and ours were paired with tangy and creamy guacamole made of avocado, jalapeño, tomato, red onion, scallion, lime juice, and queso fresco. Sometimes I feel like I could have a meal of just tortilla chips and guacamole, but I had to save room for the main event: tacos.

Our first course consisted of two vegetarian tacos. The fried Brussels sprouts taco had slightly crunchy fried sprouts topped with cherry bomb peppers mellowed out with spiced agave and queso fresco. The Buffalo cauliflower taco featured fried cauliflower and cabbage slaw covered in Buffalo barbeque sauce, queso fresco, and cilantro. I was really impressed with how much flavor and texture they were able to create without any protein. In fact, these were probably my favorite tacos of the night.

They were paired with a smoked margarita made of Ilegal Mezcal Joven, Vida margarita mix, and a chipotle/cinnamon salt around the rim. To reinforce the smoky concept, the drink is served in a bucket of dry ice which, when hot water is added, smokes up like a concoction from Grandpa Munster's laboratory.

The next course was a seared scallop taco served with roasted corn salsa, chipotle aioli, and queso fresco. I was concerned that the chipotle aioli might overwhelm the subtle flavor of the scallop, but the aioli, corn salsa, and queso fresco combination nicely complimented the perfectly cooked scallops.

The scallop taco was paired with the 24 Carrot margarita: Suerte Reposado Tequila, carrot juice, gala apple, ginger, Vida margarita mix, and "dirty" salt. Full disclosure: I'm not a big fan of tequila, but I do like reposados and this particular margarita was my favorite. Such a great balance of sweet and spicy.

Next up was a taco that hadn't been served in the restaurant before: seared mahi mahi topped with eggplant caponata, curry spiced fried chickpeas, and a curry vinaigrette. Since The Minx gets tummy upset from chickpeas, she removed them from her taco, which is a shame because the curry spice on the chickpeas gave the taco a certain Indian flair. Let's face it, mahi mahi is a pretty bland fish and it needs some spice to compliment its meaty texture.

The margarita pairing was the Some Like It Hot, with jalapeño-infused Suerte Blanco tequila, Vida margarita mix, and a jalapeño-salted rim. I think this margarita had the most tequila flavor with a lot of heat and only slightly sweet.

Finally, we were treated to the lamb barbacoa taco with roasted corn salsa, salsa verde, and queso fresco. The lamb is the star of this taco and there's quite a bit of it. While I would have preferred it to be more tender and shredded, the meaty chunks of lamb were quite moist and flavorful.

For this taco, we had a margarita made with Herradura (Double Barrel) tequila. This tequila is a Vida Taco Bar exclusive and was showcased with a mix of mojito lime, Valencia orange, Herradura agave, and sugar cane. A bottle of the special tequila was passed around so we could use it in our photographs. It turned out that the Herradura (Double Barrel) was a reposado as well, so I drained my water glass and poured a shot of the special tequila for myself. Its smooth, slightly smoky flavor lived up to the hype.

Despite the variety of tacos and margaritas we experienced, there's still more on the menu I want to go back and try. I'm especially eager to try their octopus taco and specialty tequilas.

Vida Taco Bar – Harbor Point
1401 Point Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
Telephone: 443-835-3474

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Barcocina

Mr Minx and I visited Barcocina for the first time last summer. We were in the neighborhood, didn't have dinner plans, and had heard good things. Most importantly, after threatening skies most of the afternoon, the evening had turned breezy and pleasant, making the idea of outdoor dining very appealing. Lucky for us, in warmer months, Barcocina is open to the elements on three sides, with both indoor and outdoor seating. If you want sun, there are sunnier spots, and if you prefer shade, there's plenty of that as well.

On this first trip, which was early on in the restaurant's existence, we tried one each of Barcocina's selection of various tacos, guacamoles, and ceviches, plus a side of Brussels sprouts.

Crispy Brussels sprouts with red mole and Cotija

The sprouts, which were tossed with red mole and topped with a smattering of cotija cheese, were excellent. Who would think that cinnamon would work so well with the tiny cabbages?

Oaxaca style guacamole

The guacamole we tried was a fairly simple and traditional affair of avocado seasoned with shallot, lemon, lime, jalapeno, and cilantro.  It came with a generous basket of not-too-salty tortilla chips. Also successful were the easy-to-eat tuna sashimi tacos, cool raw tuna swaddled in pillowy soft flour tortillas.

Sashimi tuna tacos

A scallop ceviche, on the other hand, was a bust. What we received was one large scallop, sliced horizontally, sauced with citrus, vanilla, and habanero, with a smattering of red quinoa on the bottom of the dish and an overly generous amount of ancho chile popcorn on top. It sounded good, but the slimy slices were awkward to eat, and they were not as fresh as they could have been. (The restaurant seems to have gotten rid of the ceviche altogether, apart from one version on the appetizer list.)

Our second visit came about 9 months later, during the brief Baltimore City curfew period. Two media dinners planned that week had been canceled, but we ventured to Fells Point anyway to support the businesses that were hurt by the early shutdown. We had planned to revisit Barcocina at some point, and this seemed like a good time to do so.

Smoky Margarita and Texas Pink

We started out with two smoky mezcal-based cocktails, a margarita and a Texas pink, topped with pineapple foam. They were both refreshingly un-sweet, but the latter had far more ice than actual cocktail going on. With drink prices over $10 a pop these days, I want a little more booze, please.

Barcocina Dip

Like the first time we dined at Barcocina, the food was hit or near-miss. The Barcocina dip, listed on the menu as "an Oaxaca queso fundido" had a curious fluffy texture studded with odd rubbery and flavorless bits of chorizo, topped with a whole poached egg (not fried, as the menu indicated). While the yolk was runny, the white was very firm and required a knife to cut and distribute through the dip. The accompanying tortilla chips were weeny, as if made from taco-sized tortillas, and not big enough to scoop up a decent amount of dip.

Duck enchiladas

Better were the duck enchiladas topped with red mole and a fried egg and served on a bed of black beans. Listed in the appetizer section, the three generously stuffed enchiladas would make a perfect entree as well.

Buffalo chicken tacos

We tried one of the seven varieties of tacos offered, the Buffalo chicken. Three flour tortillas stuffed to bursting with shredded chicken were topped with shredded green mango & napa cabbage and smoked cheddar, and served with a bowl of salsa de arbol. The flavor wasn't as reminiscent of chicken wings as the name suggested, but they were pretty tasty nonetheless.

Tuna taquitos

Even better were the tuna taquitos, wee small shells of fried malanga, a taro-like starchy tuber, filled with chopped tuna, pickled sweet potato and ginger, and a chili soy sauce. Each two-bite taco had just the right amount of texture and flavor, and were my favorite thing on the table.

We were hungry and tried two sides as well, crispy yucca tots and elotes. Let me just say this: all tots should be made with yucca! (I'm not a fan of the tater variety). These were super crispy on the outside and creamy within, and just fine without the accompanying adobo sauce and citrus crema.

Really?

As for the elotes--Barcocina should be embarrassed. For $6, we got one medium-small ear of corn, cut in half. It apparently had ancho cayenne butter, queso fresco, and lime zest, but in such minuscule amounts as to be ridiculous. Thinking on it, I should probably have asked to have it removed from our check. It made me mad.

So apart from two real bombs (elotes and scallop ceviche) and one almost-flop-yet-still-edible (Barcocina dip), the food at Barcocina is pretty good. Anything with raw tuna in it especially. And Brussels sprouts. And the food is prettily presented, to boot. Service is decent as well, if a bit relaxed. And you can't beat the location--at the foot of Broadway, overlooking the water or Thames Street, depending on which side you sit. The views certainly make up for any deficiencies in food or drink.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Fish Tacos

I don't particularly like fish tacos; I find them to be bland. I've had them in different places, but no matter how many toppings were added to the rather plain fish, they were all meh to me. Then I had them at Grille 620 in Ellicott City. The ones I had there were wrapped in flour tortillas, rather than the usual corn, and I think it made all the difference. Flour tortillas have relatively little flavor, so the elements inside can sing out. Corn tortillas have a little more going for them, and I feel they work better with bolder fillings.

My blog, my opinion. I don't care if flour tortillas aren't traditional. Neither am I. (And if they're good enough for Bobby Flay, they're good enough for me.)

Fish tacos usually involve some sort of white fish, plus a slaw, and a crema. Lots of times there will be pickled onions involved, too, which is my favorite part. Oh, and guacamole. I also added a tomatillo salsa, which is easy peasy to make, and tastes great on just about any other kind of taco you can imagine as well.

Pickled Red Onions

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 red onion

Combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pint jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously to dissolve sugar and salt. Slice the red onion thinly and place into a colander or sieve. Put a couple cups of water on to boil; when boiled, pour over the red onion in the sieve. Shake all of the water off, then pack onion into the jar. If the vinegar doesn't come up over the onion, add a little more. Seal jar and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Tomatillo Salsa

4-5 tomatillos
2 jalapeno peppers
3 scallions
Handful fresh cilantro
1 small clove garlic
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
Pinch cumin
Salt, to taste

Remove husks from tomatillos, rinse them and cut into quarters. Stem and deseed the jalapenos (leave some seeds in, if you want more heat). Remove root end from scallions and chop remainder into 1" pieces.

Put tomatillos, jalapenos, scallions, cilantro, and garlic into a blender and puree. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar, cumin, and salt. Cook about 5 minutes, until mixture darkens. Taste for seasoning, adding more sugar or salt if you think it needs it. It should mostly be tart, but not sour.



Posted on Minxeats.com.