Restaurant Review: Tribu Grill

Tribu Grill - lunch on March 30, 2014, 3 stars on yelp

My parents and I go out to lunch every Sunday after church. We usually go to the same handful of restaurants in their town, typically something close to our church or where I need to go afterwards to do my errands (cough*Target*cough). But once in awhile we'll go a bit farther than the norm and such was the case when we go to Tribu Grill.

Tribu opened up a few years ago and it's a Filipino restaurant. We actually don't eat at Filipino restaurants that often, not because we don't want to support them because we do. But my mom is such a good cook that there's seriously no Filipino restaurant as good as her cooking. My dad's side of the family also has some legendary cooks, you know, the kind who never measure anything, just cook by taste and crank out family favorites at the drop of a hat. That's how my mom cooks too and between her, my aunts and my cousins, they've set such a high bar that the rest of the family is spoiled. It's like being raised by people who make the best, most tender, flavorful steaks but when you go out to eat, everyone else serves beef jerky. I don't like beef jerky.

Daing na Bangus (milk fish)

But sometimes, we do take the plunge and Tribu is one of the few places we'll go for Filipino food. Because they're good. Their rice is good and their entrees are good. A lot of Filipino cooking is fried and badly made Filipino food is greasy and can be fatty. Tribu is a notch above that so it is one place my snobby taste buds enjoy. I ordered the Pork BBQ rice plate and the pork was tender and whatever marinade and sauce they used for it was delicious. I even ate more rice than I normally do because most Filipino dishes go really well with rice. Tribu's price points are fairly reasonable with some entrees under $10 and others reaching closer to $15.

BBQ Pork with Rice

The main reason I like to go to Tribu is to get the bibingka for dessert. There are several different kinds of bibingka and the one at Tribu is a cakey butter coconut cake baked in banana leaves, covered with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar, coconut, cheese and salted egg. The cheese and salted egg are traditional additions but I prefer it with just the butter, sugar and coconut. I think Tribu pre-makes their bibingka then just warms it up because it's always served warm yet this time, when we got to the middle, it was still a little cold. Fortunately that didn't detract from the taste. I think they make theirs with wheat flour rather than just rice flour as the texture was cakey more than chewy. Chewy is what you'd get with all rice flour like the other kind of bibingka I've made before. I like this kind too and need to go looking for recipes to duplicate Tribu's.

Bibingka

Inside of the bibingka

When we've gone to Tribu in the past, mostly when they first opened, they served their entrees in the more traditional bamboo servers lined with banana leaves. On our last visit, they seem to have gone mainstream with just regular plates. That's too bad as I liked that "native" feel. Chicken Inasal, below (from a prior visit), is grilled chicken with a special sauce. It's good but when I had it at Tribu, I thought it was a bit greasy. Which is odd, considering it's supposed to be grilled, not fried.

Chicken Inasal

Their Chicken BBQ, however, is delicious. Whatever marinade they use for the chicken is amazing and it's always fork tender. Granted, chicken's typically a safe bet but still, this is delicious. If you're trying to introduce someone to Filipino food, although this is pretty Americanized, it's a good choice.

Chicken BBQ

Pancit is a traditional Filipino noodle dish, as prevalent to Filipinos as chow mein is to the Chinese. I like pancit but rarely order it when we go out because, you guessed it, I love my mom's pancit and am prejudiced against everyone else's.

Pancit Miki Bihon

Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies

Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies - made dough March 29, 2014 from Averie Cooks

Whenever I search pinterest, when I see a picture of chubby, moist, yummy-looking cookies, even before I see the source site, I always think it's from Averie Cooks and 99% of the time I'm right. I've come to think of it as her baking signature and it's always the kind of cookies I like best: thick, chewy, moist and delicious. And I don't think I've ever been wrong whenever I make one of her cookie recipes. I'm not wrong on this one either.

Pudding cookies, aka cookies with pudding mix in them, are almost always soft in texture and moist, thanks to the pudding mix. Because this one is chocolate, you can add "fudgy" to the description as well. I thought this would pack more of a chocolate punch but it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, it's plenty chocolatey but it's not super, stop-your-molars-in-their-tracks chocolatey. That's not a bad thing because then you can eat more. Oh wait, that's just me. For optimal taste and texture, let these cool almost completely to room temperature. If you eat them when they're too warm, you'll miss out on the fudgy texture and instead just get gooey mush. In which case, just top it off with ice cream and eat like a decadent hot fudge sundae. Oh wait, that's just me again.

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 4-ounce package chocolate instant pudding mix (not sugar-free or cook n serve)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla; beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pudding mix and cocoa powder; beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, baking soda, and salt if using; beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
4. Add the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Reserve a handful of the chips and chunks to add to the last of the dough after you make into dough balls to make sure the chips are evenly distributed.
5. Using a large cookie scoop or a 1/4-cup measure, form dough into golf-ball-size dough balls. Place in refrigerator or freezer until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place dough balls on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until edges have set and tops are just set. Do not overbake. Cookies will firm up as they cool.

Butterscotch Bread Pudding

Butterscotch Bread Pudding - made March 29, 2014 from Kitch Me

I ran a 10K this morning. It was my first race in several years. I used to run a lot more races a few years ago but burned out after my third half marathon so while I kept up with the running (more or less), I stopped with the races. Until earlier this year when, thanks to the enabling efforts of a runner friend plus a temporary loss of sanity, I decided I would sign up for my fourth half marathon. It's on my bucket list to run a half in under 2 hours. The closest I've come to was 2:04 when I did the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon. That was on a mostly flat course and was the first half I'd ever run. I ran two more after that but they were in San Francisco and if you've ever been to SF, you know for the small land mass where they've got to chart 13.1 miles throughout the city, hills are inevitable. The best time I've done on a half in San Francisco was 2:08 because of those damned hills.

So I knew I had to choose a course with flat terrain if I had any hope of a sub-2 half. Which is why I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon in August. But since I hadn't run a race in the last 2 years and Disney needs a qualifying time to determine which corral you're put in, I had to run a 10K before June. Hence my 10K this morning. Otherwise I'd be put in the very last corral with the walkers. Erk. No thanks. Race report potentially to follow in a future blog post (I haven't decided yet).

What does all this have to do with Butterscotch Bread Pudding? Um, nothing. The closest connection is probably carbo-loading --> bread --> bread pudding. Except I made this a week ago and didn't eat it for the 10K as fuel nor should I probably advocate it for training. In any case, the main reason I made this is because I had a lot of milk to use up and this called for 4 cups. Which actually turned out to be too much. I've made bread pudding before and this is a lot of liquid for the amount of bread in the recipe. I ended up using over a pound of challah and even then I still had a lot of liquid. Contrary to the directions, I let the bread soak for several hours before I baked it. I don't think I baked it long enough although it had puffed up and the top was getting dry. When I sliced into it after it had cooled, there was still some liquid on the bottom that hadn't baked in yet the top was dry. Not a good combo. The taste was good and the top half of the bread pudding the next day was better since it had softened. But the bottom half was wet. Not moist but wet. To modify this recipe, I would recommend using a pound of bread and only 3/4 of the liquid mixture. Let it soak for several hours or overnight before baking.

10 3/4-oz day-old loaf bread, torn into small pieces (I used over a pound of challah)
4 cups milk
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread, milk, brown sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and butterscotch chips; mixture should be the consistency of oatmeal. Pour into prepared pan. (I let it soak in the mixture for over 4 hours.)
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until nearly set. Serve warm or cold.

Restaurant Review: Orenchi Ramen

Orenchi - dinner on March 26, 2014, 4-star rating and 2952 reviews on yelp

Outside Orenchi, 15 minutes before opening

I first went to Orenchi back in July of last year and always meant to write up the review but I couldn't find the pictures I took on my first visit. I finally went back there for dinner last week so I have another shot at it. I've actually been dying to write this review because the Orenchi experience is hysterical. It's funnier if you're not a huge, die-hard, I-live-for-ramen sort of person because then you'll think it's as crazy as I do. If you are a fanatical ramen lover, you'll just roll your eyes at me and tell me I don't get it. Fair enough.

Inside Orenchi, 10 minutes before opening

I met my friend Jenny there for dinner. She arrived 30 minutes before they opened and put our name down on the waiting list that Orenchi keeps in the foyer. We were #9. Still half an hour to go before opening and the waiting list was already 9 lines deep. I got there 15 minutes before opening and noticed people already gathered outside as I parked my car. I didn't think it was too bad but then I got inside and there were a lot more people inside the small foyer. And it got even more crowded with every minute that ticked by. As in, standing room only crowded. For ramen. My coworker, Queen of Cheap Eats, was the one who first told me about Orenchi and she's a seasoned veteran of the place. Her advice is to go before they open, put your name on the waiting list then go do your errands or whatever and just come back at opening time. Sound advice and I 'm glad Jenny got there when she did or we would've had to wait even longer. As it was, once they opened for business, it was very orderly as they called the names in order on the waiting list and started seating people. I don't know what time the #1 signup was there and I'm not sure I want to know. They must love ramen.

Inside Orenchi as they start seating people by the waiting list order

The interesting thing about Orenchi, beyond its wild popularity (check out their reviews on yelp, linked above), is it defies all conventional wisdom about owning, operating and growing a restaurant. First, their location sucks. Truly. It's in a dying strip mall next to a Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. There's not much else there so if you go to this strip mall, you're going there for a specific purpose, probably to go to Orenchi. Second, the place is small. One of the reasons there's always a crowd waiting to get in is they can't seat very many people at any one time. So customers wait. And wait. Third, they're only open a limited number of hours: 2 hours for lunch and 3-4 hours for dinner, depending on the day of the week. They're also closed on Mondays. It's like they don't want that many customers.

But the funny thing is, they get a huge number of customers day in, day out. Conventional wisdom aside, if your success metrics include a cult-like following who don't mind your location, your limited hours and wait times plus large crowds every single hour you're open, then Orenchi is any restaurateur's dream. Do you know of any other ramen place that has almost 3000 reviews that averages to 4 stars? It's mind boggling.

How do they do it? What's the secret sauce? For me, it always starts with the food. For any eating establishment to succeed, you have to serve good food. In Orenchi's case, since they're famous for their ramen, you should expect their ramen to be good. And it is. I took snapshots of parts of their menu so you can see their claim to fame, including boiling their broth for at least 18 hours before serving. For my part, while I'm no ramen expert, I will say their ramen is delicious. The broth is amazing and, unlike other ramen places, it's consistently good throughout the whole bowl, i.e. it doesn't get more salty as you keep eating it. The noodles are a perfect chewy consistency, the soft-boiled egg which so many reviewers rave about is perfectly done and the pork topping is delicious (I ordered it as an extra topping). Considering their popularity, their prices are pretty reasonable  - $9 for a standard bowl - and the portion sizes are decent, i.e. I can't imagine eating more than the serving they give you.

I was less thrilled with the appetizers though. The first time I went to Orenchi last year, I had gotten the Karaage. Too salty. The Chicken Karaage from Kahoo is better. This time around, I got the deep fried shrimp spring roll. Too greasy and I was disappointed that they used little shrimp plus fillers (roughage) for the filling instead of prawns or a mostly shrimp mixture. I wouldn't get either again. Jenny got the Wasabi Octopus as an appetizer. I don't eat raw or octopus so I have no idea what it tasted like and I forgot to ask Jenny if she liked it.

Wasabi Octopus

Service seemed pretty quick. Our ramen took awhile to come out and we wondered if it was because we had ordered appetizers and they were spacing out when they'd bring us the ramen. Otherwise, the wait staff moved quickly and were very nice. We sat at the counter to free up a table for the waiting list below us and could see into the kitchen where they were dishing out bowl after bowl of ramen. Before long, the tables were full yet I could see the same amount of people crowding in the foyer waiting their turn. The crowd didn't dissipate.

Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Roll

When we left, there was a good-sized crowd outside as well waiting to be able to get into the foyer so they could wait some more. From my friends who are regular patrons of Orenchi, this is a daily and nightly occurrence. I'm going to confess that while I thought their ramen was good and I'd certainly go back, I'm not such a ramen lover that I'd be willing to wait 15-30 minutes (or more) to get a table every time. The inconvenience isn't worth it to me but clearly, I'm outnumbered on that sentiment. Kudos to Orenchi for building such a loyal following....even though as a non-ramen fanatic, I think it's just a little bit crazy.

Orenchi Ramen with Pork Topping

Texas Lemon Cake

Texas Lemon Cake - made March 29, 2014 from Food.com

I've done Texas Fudge Cake, Texas Vanilla Cake (several kinds of each), the brownie version of Texas Fudge Cake, and Texas Fudge Cookies. With lemons still to use up, I was delighted to find a lemon version of Texas Cake. Because my one-track baking mind is never far from the Texas Cake incarnations.

Although it wasn't chocolate or vanilla, it has the same hallmarks of a traditional Texas Cake in that the liquid ingredients are brought to a boil, added to the dry ingredients, poured into a sheet pan (or, in my case, a 9 x 13 pan) and baked. The only main difference is you do let the cake cool before pouring the lemon frosting over it rather than letting the frosting melt into the warm cake. Otherwise it was just as easy to make. I thought it had a great cakey texture and the sweetness of the frosting paired well with the flavor of the cake. A lot of the lemon flavor is derived from lemon extract rather than lemon zest or juice so that's probably the only tweak I would make; cut back on the extract and add more zest and juice. You can also give this more of a lemon punch by adding zest to the glaze, mixed into the glaze itself or sprinkled on top.

I reserved a small amount of batter to bake in a taste test ramekin and thought it tasted good. It's also easier to eat warm with the icing melting over it if you bake it in a ramekin in case you ever want to serve slightly warm as a "spoon dessert".

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons lemon rind, grated
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon extract

Icing
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, eggs and sour cream. Beat at medium speed until blended.
3. Combine butter, water, lemon rind, lemon juice and lemon extract in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add to flour mixture, stirring well. Pour into a greased and floured 15 x 10 x 1-inch jelly roll pan.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can bake in a 9 x 13 pan but adjust for a longer baking time, 25-30 minutes.
5. Icing: Combine butter, milk and lemon extract in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until mixture is spreading consistency. Spread frosting on top of cake. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Butterscotch Toffee Shortbread Cookies

Butterscotch Toffee Shortbread Cookies - made dough March 21, baked March 30, 2014 from Taste of Home

I do most of my baking on the weekends and bring in what I've made to work on Mondays. I missed last Monday and apparently I threw my coworkers off. They insist I've "got them trained" to check the kitchen when they come in on Monday morning so missing last week was like not holding up my end of their Pavlovian conditioning. Okay, that's a lot of pressure. To alleviate it, I made up some cookie dough ahead of time just in case I get to any Sunday night and don't have an offering to bring in the next day. Nothing easier than taking out frozen cookie dough and baking off a couple of sheets at the last minute.

This was an easy dough to make, especially if you get the Heath bar baking bits (includes toffee and milk chocolate) rather than having to chop up whole Heath bars. I get mine by the bag from the baking aisle at Target. The original directions say to roll out the dough and cut with a cookie cutter. To be honest, I don't have that kind of time. Plus I don't like cutting out cookies when it also means trying to slice through toffee bits and butterscotch chips with a cookie cutter - messy. Instead, I split the dough in half and rolled into logs then wrapped the logs in wax paper, put them in a freezer bag and stored them in the freezer until I needed them, aka Sunday night. If you freeze the logs rather than chilling them in the refrigerator, let them thaw for about 10 minutes before you turn your oven on to preheat. They'll be easier to cut cleanly and evenly. If you try to cut the frozen logs, they're harder to slice properly and may even crumble. I didn't really time these in the oven and although the directions say to bake for 10-12 minutes, this is one cookie you don't want to underbake or you won't get the snappy shortbread texture. Bake until golden brown almost all over and the middles are still a little pale. These were nice little shortbread cookies, especially with the crunch from the toffee bits and the extra flavor from the butterscotch chips. One of my coworkers came into my office and confessed she "took three". Can't ask for a better endorsement than that.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butterscotch chips, finely chopped
1/2 cup milk chocolate English toffee bits

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in butterscotch chips and toffee bits. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut with a floured 2-inch fluted round cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Alternatively, roll dough into logs, wrap in wax paper and chill or freeze until ready to use. If freezing, allow to thaw for 10 minutes before slicing.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Let's Talk About Treatsie Again

Treatsie - March 19, 2014, 2nd order

I had first heard of and blogged about Treatsie last month when I ordered a taster box for myself and a 3-month subscription for a friend's birthday. My friend loved the first box she received and is looking forward to the next two. I myself enjoyed the taster box and meant to go back to order again but time got away from me (WHY is it already the end of March?!?).

But since I had ordered, I was in their customer database and have been getting promotional emails from them. I hadn't had any time to take advantage of them as most of the coupons have only had a 24-hour shelf life and I've been too busy to follow up. But I got one on March 19 for National Chocolate Caramel Day with a coupon for 20% off "any caramel product". Caramel, did you say? Back to the website I went.

CC Made Classic Caramel Popcorn

The Treatsie website is rather efficiently organized. You can browse products by certain filters: new arrivals, best selling, type, brand, by box and by flavor. Since I was there for a purpose, I went through the Flavor navigation route and clicked on "Caramel" to see what I could use the coupon on. The first product that caught my eye was CC Made Classic Caramel Popcorn. My mouse finger involuntarily twitched and that caramel popcorn was in my shopping cart before my brain finished processing "....corn". Mission accomplished.

But wait! Did you know Treatsie only charges a flat $5 shipping fee no matter if you order 1 item or 20? The finance nerd in me insisted I had to leverage that flat fee. I was going to pay that $5 anyway and if I only got the caramel popcorn, wow, that was a little unfair to burden that poor popcorn with all of the shipping cost. But hey, if I added the Tcho Tchunky Tchotella and the Almond Toffee with Milk Chocolate, they could share the expense. And I had a 20% coupon that applied to my entire order as long as one item was a caramel product so it was really like getting free shipping as long as I bought at least $25 worth of treats. See, I excel at rationalization.

Toffee made of ingredients I recognize

Except....after I loaded up my shopping cart and entered the coupon code, I got an error message saying none of the items in my cart qualified for the discount. Um, CARAMEL popcorn doesn't qualify for the caramel discount? Splutter. Why? Now, normally, when I run into issues like this, I would just give up and not bother to proceed. It's discretionary spend and calories I didn't need anyway so I can be just as easily talked out of ordering as I can in persuading myself to order. If I had been on amazon or Target or Costco's website, I would've just walked at that point. But Treatsie is a small business promoting other small businesses so I was willing to make a little extra effort to put my order in and give them the business. And it had almost nothing to do with suddenly wanting some caramel corn.

I emailed the contact email listed on their site, forwarding the promo email I'd received, explaining the caramel item in my order, how I had found it by clicking on "caramel" in their Flavor section, asked if there was a glitch, and if not, what products qualified for the discount? To my (pleasant) surprise, I received a response within minutes from Jamie, the co-founder of Treatsie, explaining they had originally set up the coupon code for caramels (e.g. the actual caramels they sell on their site) but that I had brought up a good point so they changed it so that the coupon could also be used for products that had caramel in them. Like my popcorn.

Wow. Okay, this is why I love supporting small businesses. Timely response. Check. Straightforward explanation. Got it. Reasonable accommodation. Double check. And I got to communicate with someone empowered to make the change and who did make the change immediately. I got a straight response, I didn't get fobbed off and I wasn't given excuses. Right after I got Jamie's response, I completed my order, including the coupon code and everything was processed without a hitch. By Jamie's response and follow through, Treatsie just ensured they got a repeat customer by a simple, common sense handling of the situation. So many times you hear horror stories about customer service issues but this isn't one of them.

By the way? The stuff I ordered? Top notch. Can't wait to try more treats....as soon as I log more miles on the treadmill.

Momofuku Milk Bar Corn Cookies

Momofuku Milk Bar Corn Cookie Mix - made March 22, 2014, recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi

Have you heard of Momofuku Milk Bar? I hadn't until I received this cookie mix and their baking book as a gift last year. According to their website, "Momofuku Milk Bar is the bakery-inspired dessert branch of David Chang's Momofuku Restaurant Group". Okay, I confess I had never heard of the Momofuku Restaurant Group either. But that could be explained by the fact that their brick and mortar locations are only in New York City and Toronto, not exactly within my culinary eating sphere unless I hop on a plane. Which I've been known to do but it's been years since I was in New York City and a couple of decades since I've been to Toronto.

Nevertheless, if there's one type of box mix I don't turn my nose up at, it's this kind: high end product made by a small business and focused on taste and quality rather than mass production with ingredients I can't pronounce. And you can buy it at Williams Sonoma, not Safeway. I've never had a cornmeal cookie so I didn't know what to expect. I'm not a huge fan of cornmeal or cornbread since I don't generally like the grittiness and, to me, the taste is just okay. But I was game to try this. Like all high-end mixes, it comes with the dry ingredients and the recipe instructions to add butter and egg.

The instructions gave me a bit of pause because it calls for beating the butter, sugar mix, and egg for 10 minutes. 10 minutes? Geez, that's a lifetime in cookie mixing. When you beat a cookie batter that much, you're adding a lot of air into it which conventional wisdom says will lead to a cakey cookie. And we know how I scorn those. But I was committed to seeing it through and for once I didn't cheat and think I knew better than the Momofuku people. I followed their instructions to the letter. Although I admit, I turned the mixer off as soon as the 10 minutes were up and not a second more. After adding the dry ingredients, I ended up with a cookie dough that looked like thick cornmeal batter. I portioned it into golf-sized dough balls and froze them to bake off later.

You can see from the dome shape that the cookies didn't spread very much, just a little at the edges. I baked off one cookie in my little toaster/convection oven and took a bite after it had been out for 10 minutes, like I normally do with chocolate chip cookies. Ugh, too gooey. So I let it cool completely and tried it again. That's when things got interesting. The outer edges and some cornmeal-y bits on top had cooled to an airy crispness and, contrary to my expectations from that 10-minute mixing period, the cookie wasn't cakey. Instead it was almost "fudgy". It was moist, a bit dense and chewy which is how I like my cookies and the airy crispness was a great contrast to the "fudginess" of the middle.

So I loved the texture of this cookie. However, I wasn't sure at first if I liked the taste. Usually I know after one bite whether I like the taste of something or not. Not so with this cookie. I ate the whole thing and I still wasn't sure. It had a cornmeal aftertaste I didn't think I was fond of but I was so lured in by the texture that I was conflicted. So the next day, I baked another cookie, let it cool properly and tried it once more. It took a few bites but by the last bite of that second cookie, I had convinced myself I did like both taste and texture. It took a little getting used to but my taste buds acclimated to the flavor and I really, really liked the texture. On the third day, I baked a third cookie just to be sure. I'm nothing if not thorough. Yup, I like these cookies.

If you don't have access to the Momofuku Milk Bar Corn Cookie, here's the recipe from their baking book. It has ingredients I don't normally stock and would have to buy as specialty ingredients so it might be cheaper to buy the mix if you can get it, unless you plan to bake multiple batches of this then the investment in corn flour and corn powder might be worth it. I recommend freezing the cookie dough first, baking from frozen dough and only baking until the edges are golden brown and the middle isn't shiny or raw looking. Eat at room temperature for optimal texture. The directions from the book says to flatten the cookie dough balls but I like my cookies puffy so I skipped that step. It also says to beat the dough for 7-8 minutes but the mix said to beat for 10. Mine still came out with the great texture by beating for 10 minutes.

16 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cups (225 g) flour
1/4 cup (45 grams) corn flour
2/3 cup (65 grams) freeze-dried corn powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop or a 1/3-cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature; they will not bake properly.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute if not.
6. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Pie review: Heidi's Pies

Heidi's Pies - visited on March 12, 2014

Earlier in March, I was giving a presentation at a Business Forecast Summit being held an hour away from my house. It was an all-day thing although fortunately my session was only an hour. At the end of the day, I was anxious to beat the traffic home. My normal commute to my office is less than 20 minutes but this was far enough away that I was facing at least an hour on the road each way, more during the afternoon commute. I'm one of those people who cannot handle long commutes. I live and work where I do for a reason. Mainly so I don't experience road rage every time I get into my car. Fortunately, this was a once-in-awhile thing so I figured I could suck it up this time.

What made it palatable is I also figured, since I was in the neighborhood anyway, I would stop off at Heidi's Pies on my way home. This was literally on the way back from the summit as Heidi's is located just off the freeway (or one of the freeways) I needed to take to get home. I've been meaning to try out Heidi's Pies ever since my coworker, Queen of Cheap Eats, told me about it. But it was too far away for me to make a special trip for it, especially with the price of gas these days, so I wasn't able to go until now. Since I didn't go for a meal but just came for a slice of pie to go, I can't really classify this as a restaurant review and they're technically not a bakery. So I guess it's more accurately a "pie review".

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I liked the baker's racks full of whole pies waiting to be called upon behind the counter. They also had a big flat screen TV near the front that kept flashing a loop of the different pies being offered. I think I had some vision of a small business, non-chain version of a Marie Callendars, like a cozy diner out of the 50s. But you know the drawback with anything out of the 50s? It's more than 60 years old. Flat screen TV notwithstanding, Heidi's Pies did feel a bit "old" when I walked in. I was there late afternoon so it was too early for dinner and the place was almost completely empty. It actually looks smaller on the inside than the outside would have it appear.

But I wasn't there for a meal. I just wanted a slice of pie to go. Being me, it had to be a slice of the apple pie. There was one lady behind the counter who was very nice, called me "hon", and packaged up my pie slice very promptly. It was a good-size piece but I admit to being taken aback that it was $5.45. The place wasn't exactly swanky-cute like Susie Cakes in swanky-expensive Menlo Park and I think I expected such a no-frills place not to have a frilly price. But never mind, I told myself, maybe the slice would be so good, it would be worth almost the cost of a whole pie.

As I expected, afternoon/evening commute traffic was bad so I had over an hour to wonder about it. Add in some additional time when I made myself be a grown up and have dinner first before breaking into my pie dessert. I'd like to be able to tell you this was the best pie I've ever eaten. However, I can't. It was good, not bad, not great. I don't think it was worth $5.45 to be honest; it was good but not something I'd go miles out of my way for. But, as always, I'm glad I tried it and now I know. If I was in the neighborhood again, I'd probably go once more and try a different flavor. Queen of Cheap Eats says their banana cream pie is awesome so that goes on my foodie bucket list.

Ice cream addition is mine - you can't have apple pie without ice cream