Review: 5 Star Burgers - Albuquerque, New Mexico

This past Monday was Columbus Day. M and I both had the day off, and it was such a nice day! For lunch we went to the new Rt. 66 Malt Shop on Central only to find it closed...Sooo, instead we went to 5 Star Burgers on Wyoming and Academy. This hamburger spot was recently mentioned in USA Today's 51 Great Burgers list. Currently there are two 5 Star Burger restaurants; one here in Abq and the other in Taos. When looking at the prices, here are some things to remember about this place (they are pretty pricey):

• there beef is All Natural, hormone and antibiotic free Black Angus, ground fresh every day at Five Star
• No Trans Fats, anywhere
• Continually source products from New Mexico
• Recycled and biodegradable paper products
• Drink cups are made from recycled plastic
• Carry out containers are made from 100% recycled paper
• Energy efficient equipment
• Frying oils recycled for bio diesel fuel

Business was pretty good for a Monday afternoon. As I perused the menu, I was also eyeballing other people's burgers (M hates it when I do that, but I think it's a perfectly fine way to figure out what to get). I decided on the green chile cheese burger with Pepper Jack cheese and Green Chile mayo, and M chose the  5 Star Burger with Gorgonzola cheese and Applewood Smoked bacon. They'll cook your burger how you'd like it as well.

The burgers were really really tasty, and juicy! At some places when you order a burger well done it's served so dry. Having this one that was so juicy was a pleasant surprise. One thing that disappointed me were the fries. First they are not included with your burger, and when you're shelling out over $8 for one burger this is pretty disappointing. Second, we ordered some to split and they are not as generous of a portion as the burger and they weren't anything special.

I do like that they have a burger of the month, and if you follow them on twitter you can also find other deals. Today they were offering 10% off meals for APS teachers or maybe that's all the time. Not sure.

I'm posting the menu for you all to check out. What do you think, am I being a cheapskate?

Review: Thunder Road Steakhouse and Cantina - Albuquerque, New Mexico

My New York Strip

M's T-bone

Derek had the tacos del pescado (fish tacos)

Sacha had the Bistec del Mar (Flank Steak with Sauteed Crab and Asadero Cheese Sauce)

 
As I mentioned last week my friends and I were still celebrating my birthday by going to the Rt. 66 Casino over the weekend. M and I got a room because I wanted to party it up (yeah right), and I have to say that we were pretty impressed with the entire place as soon as we got there.

We arrived around 4, and immediately went upstairs to check out our room. We were on the 6th floor, and had a great view of the hotels' marquee and parking lot. Not that bad of a view, there were lots of lights and people coming and going, so we had a lot to look at. Once settled, we went down to the casino to find a drink. We found some really great margarita's at the new restaurant Thunder Road. In fact, the margarita's were so good that I quickly guzzled down the first one and found that I had room for a couple more. The bartender was really friendly and pointed out that they have a complimentary salsa bar with 12 salsas, fresh made tortillas, and a few other things to nibble on. This made my day because we weren't going to eat until 8, and I needed a snack.

After awhile we headed back up to the room, took a quick nap, and felt recharged for the night! We met some friends for dinner, and I think that we were all pretty impressed with the steakhouse. The food was good, the prices were decent, and there was live music. The band plays on a stage that above the bar! It was all pretty exciting.

See that police car? It is actually on the bar, and when the band comes up, the car goes into the ceiling!

Anyway, back to the food...I had a NY strip, that came with calabacitas and chile mashers. The mashers were excellent! They were loaded with green chile, butter, and garlic. I am definitely going to try and make these at home. M got the T-bone with mashers and beans. The steaks were cooked just right, and really juicy! I had another margarita to accompany my meal, and my buddy Derek had a Green Chile Rita that had quite the kick.

After dinner, we checked out the KXX Nightclub and did a little dancing. It was pretty crowded and the music was good! It was SO nice to have a room afterwards...

Overall, I really enjoyed the restaurant; and the casino for that matter. The atmosphere was fun, and the food was good and not too expensive. They offered generous portions as well. The waitstaff was attentive, and friendly. It's definitely worth the drive out; Rt. 66 is about 20 min west of Albuquerque on the Laguna Pueblo.

Birthday Party!

After work on Wednesday I went to my moms for a special birthday dinner. She and my sister-in-law prepared a fantastic feast! We had a dish my mom is famous for called french beef with rice. My sister-in-law made her famous green chile stew. Also, there were chicken wings, salad, and a ton of various side treats. For dessert we had a birthday cake, with 2 kinds of ice cream.

My mom even made candied apples. Yes, candied apples. Which I thought was funny, because I cannot remember my mom EVER making candied or caramel apples when we were little, even though I always wanted her too. I was too full to eat one on this night, but I had one the next day, and boy was it good. I found out later that she made them with apples from one of New Mexico's most famous apple orchards, Dixon Farms. That reminded me of another thing we never did as kids...picked apples!

Another birthday has come and gone, but the celebrations haven't! M is coming up from Alamogordo this weekend and we are going to eat dinner here and then party it up here. It's going to be so much fun! I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures, but the restaurant has a tequila bar, and my friends know how I am when it comes to margaritas!

Thanks again to all my FB friends for the birthday wishes! It made me feel so special!

Review: The Range Cafe - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Wednesday was my birthday, and my boss treated me to lunch at a famous local dive called The Range Cafe. When I was in cooking school, I got to go on a field trip to, at that time, the only location in the town of Bernallilo. We went to check out all of the in house desserts and had a great talk with the owners about running a restaurant and cooking. I don't really remember all the details, but I know that it took forever to get there! So, I was glad when they started expanding throughout the city, and now they have 3 locations. I keep hoping that they'll take over the old Carrow's on the corner of Zuni and San Mateo. It would be so nice if it was just down the street...

This place is famous for it's eclectic interior design, and delicious home style cooking. Oh, and their bakery (I can't forget that!). I have enjoyed just about everything that I have sampled and a few of my favorites are the Eggs Benedict, Meatloaf Sandwich, Huevos con Queso, and the B.L.O.A.E.T.M. (bacon, lettuce, onion, avocado, english muffin, tomato, and mayo).

On this particular visit I stuck with something I know best, and had the meatloaf sandwich with a side salad. It of course was delicious...the waiter was really cool, and for dessert he brought me a slice of a heavenly chocolate cake that tasted like a brownie.

I, of course, recommend the Range.We were seated right away, the service was great, we got our food fairly quickly, and the food was served hot and delicious!

I only suggest that if you're headed there for breakfast or lunch, get there early! We arrived around 11:30 and had no problems having a party of 6 seated right away, but the restaurant filled up fast and there was a wait when we left.

I hope that my wish comes true!

Recipe: Deep Dish Apple Pie

I have never made an apple pie before! Not even in culinary school. I was more partial to cream pies (especially coconut). Since we're in apple season, I decided to give it a whirl. The recipe was pretty easy to follow, and it tasted really really good. My only complaint is that after baking  I couldn't get the slices to stay in shape. Can anyone tell why this happened? The only thing I could think of is that my apple slices should've been thinner...

See what happened when I sliced into it!

 Here's the recipe (courtesy of Food Network):

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 2 pounds Macintosh Apples, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecan pieces (we did not use nuts)
• 1 recipe Pie Dough, recipe follows
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the apples and saute for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, lemon juice and flour. Continue to saute for 2 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat. Mix in the pecans. Cool the mixture.

Lightly dust a surface with flour. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each half to 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8-inch thick. Fold 1 circle of dough in fourths. Carefully lift the dough and place in a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Unfold the pie dough and spoon the apples into the pie shell. Place the second round of dough over the apples. Using a sharp knife cut away the excess dough. Using your fingers, crimp the edges of the pie firmly to seal the dough completely. With the same sharp knife, make 3 slits, about 4 inches long and 2 inches apart, across the pie dough. Brush with the beaten egg, place the pie in the oven, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  
Pie Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons ice water

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingers, work in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and work with your fingers until the water is incorporated and the dough comes together. Add more water as needed just until the dough comes together, being careful not to over mix. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Recipe: Korean Bulgogi

M and I both chose recipes to cook last weekend. I chose meatloaf, and he chose this Korean Bulgogi recipe. He eats it all the time; there are limited food choices on the base where he works, but there's a Korean lady who sells beef and pork bulgogi at lunchtime.

It was an all day event on Saturday to find the ingredients. Well it wouldn't have been, but I accidentally left an important ingredient off of the list when we visited Talin Market.

The preparation wasn't hard at all. Basically you just throw everything into a food processor and let it do all of the work. The meat needs to marinate for 24 hrs, and then you just throw it on the grill. The final outcome was 맛있은! (hopefully this means delicious) 

Here's the recipe (courtesy of the Food Network):

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Korean chile bean paste (gochu-jan)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup thin soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup sesame seed oil
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 pounds hanger steak, sinew removed
• Sliced green scallions, for garnish
• Fried shallots, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a food processor, add chile paste, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar, soy and black pepper. Blend well than drizzle in the oils. While still running, add the scallions and cilantro. Check for seasoning. It should not be salty since salt is added right before grilling. Remove 1/2 cup of the marinade and reserve for sauce. In a dish, completely coat the hanger with remaining marinade and let marinate overnight. On a hot, oiled grill, season hanger with salt and grill, about 8 minutes for medium-rare. Slice up meat into small strips and serve over rice.

By the way, the meatloaf never happened!

New Mexico State Fair Fun!

This is my favorite time of year in Albuquerque! I love the weather and the vibe that the city has when the state fair, balloon fiesta, harvest festivals, and fresh green chile arrive.

Last weekend, M and I had a hot date at the fair. I was so excited to go because I hadn't been in a few years and M had never been at all. I made mental lists of all the things that I wanted to show him, and all of the things that I wanted to eat. We didn't make through either list, but we had a great time trying.

Here's the $8.75 turkey leg that we shared, and the $4.75 fried snickers bar. The Turkey leg was amazing, my first ever! I normally get the sausage on a stick but decided to switch it up a bit. We both had never ventured to the dark side of the fried candy bar so we decided to go there too. My thoughts, it was delicious!!!! Nothing like ooey gooey chocolate, caramel, and nuts melted together and battered with a light and fluffy pancake-ish batter. We also had some Cotton Candy and some SUPER Nachos that I couldn't get a good photo of.

We rode some rides, saw some animals, played some games, and visited the snake lady. We had a blast!