Matador Meets the Eastside

Eastsiders, get excited! A Westside favorite, the Matador, has crossed the lake and landed at none other than my former place of high scool employment (Bigtime Pizza) on the corner of Learly Way in downtown lilttle ol' Redmond!

Whew, that was a mouthful! And a Mexican mouthful in deed... is what I enjoyed a few weeks ago at the newly renovated restaurant.

Traveling to Ballard isnt that bad, but kind of a trek when you live in Kirkland. So, needless to say, avoiding a bridge and some homeless people to get to a fabulous Mexican joint, excited me greatly!

The Matador has a really cool bar with many a-cocktail-selection, and just a great atomosphere in general. They have TV's for game watching, a great fireplace to cozy around, and dim, orangy lighting that creates a sort of lair, posh, cave-like feel. I mean that in a good way. You get a seat in there and you never want to leave because you feel comfortable right when you walk in.

As I noted previously, I do not mess around with Margaritas. The Matador is a tequila bar, so they have a tantelizing selection of Mexico's gold (or white/silver if you like Patron). I generally like mine gold. So, I decided to start off my fiesta with a Cadillac Maragrita, which included my fav, Sauza Gold, a splash of triple sec, fresh lime juice and a float of Grand Marnier to top it all off. I get mine with salt of course. I had 3... I think.

After a few of these, you definitely need to soak them up with something crunchy, so on to the Tex Mex Spring Rolls. This wasnt my first choice, but after trying them, I was pleased with the group decision to order them - a bit of shredded chicken, corn, and a secret blend of herbs and spices, fried in spring roll wrappers. Served with sweet chile-sesame and avocado-sour cream sauces (I could have lapped up the remaing sauce - so good).

We also enjoyed chips and salsa - I am VERY picky when it comes to salsa. This salsa has more of a tomato puree type base, with what looked/tasted like different chili peppers and some garlic and onion. It isnt chunky, just the perfect texture to coat your chip - it doesnt drip nor tumble off the chip, which is so much easier to eat when drinking numerous Cadillac Margaritas.

For the main course, I typically stick with what I know... so I did in this case as well! Chicken tacos are always a winner in my book and every place does them slightly different. I would however, suggest trying one of their more fancy creations (http://www.matadorseattle.com/kitchen.html) but I was in the mood for tacos and they were fabulous.

As you can tell from my rave reviews, this place is hoppin' and I will definitely go back in very near future. After living in SoCal and frequently enjoying awesome Mexican food, it is hard to come by in the Northwest, but the Matador meets the criteria. I also recommend Cactus Restaurant in Kirkland and/or Madison Park.

Rating: 4 Stars I HEART this place!

*See below for rating system.

Fancy Broccoli

What is fancy Broccoli you ask? Also known as baby broccoli, Broccolini, is hybrid between broccoli and Gai Lan also known as Chinese chard.

Broccolini resembles a combination of aspargus stems and regular broccoli. In flavor as well. It is somewhat sweet and tender. Much more appealing than the woody, raw flavor of broccoli and the entire plant is edible.

When cooking broccolini, less is more. Requires minimal cooking time. Make sure when cooking is completed for vegtables, to immediatly dip them in cool water to stop the cooking.

I like to steem these guys for a few minutes, drain the water and suate them around in some oilve oil, minced garlic, s & p and a dash of red pepper flakes for some heat. They are also great roasted. Complementary to steak, chicken, pasta, pretty much anything hearty goes well with this light delight!

Enjoy!

Score: Tom Douglas (2), Tom Cruise (0)

I recently had the pleasure of dining at my second, of five Tom Douglas restaurants in Seattle. For those of you who don’t know who Tom Douglas is… get with it! Some would say he is a local celebrity of sorts… I would agree! He puts an amazing spin on American Classics you won’t soon find anywhere else.

My first T. Douglas experience occurred in March of 07. For my Dad’s birthday, we dined at the Dahlia Lounge, home of the infamous Coconut Cream Pie. It’s amazing, that’s all I have to say.

My most recent visit was to a neighboring T. Douglas spot that came highly recommended by a co-worker, the Palace Kitchen.

I thought for sure we would have to wait, since the dining area is rater sparce. We actually were seated immediately in a smaller room within the larger room. The decor is very old-school Italian chic, complemented by dim lighting and dark wood tables/chairs.

So, onto my review! We started off with a local microbrew from Deschutes Brewery located in Portland, OR. I asked for the IPA but received the Porter, which was actually really good, but a little too robust for my taste.

We then needed something to start of the meal, so we ordered a smoked/dried pork sausage and some special blue cheese from Marion, MA. They went very well with each other and we were happy with our selection. Both sides are accompanied by stuffed green olives and some toasted/salted almonds… my fav! We also had some delicious bread dipped in the most amazing aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Next, on to the entrees… I had Washington chicken flavored with a side of kumquats and coco salt. This is seriously some of the best chicken I have ever had! The chicken is served with Brussels sprouts, which I also adore, and garlic mashed potatoes. The Brussels sprouts were roasted and tossed in butter and Madeira wine. The chicken is prepared in two huge halves, of which only one I could finish. I used the other half and the mashed potatoes for breakfast, which I describe below*.

On to dessert…yes, dessert. We had a lovely and very refreshing after-dinner-drink, the Grasshopper, which is a mix of green crème de menthe and white crème de cocoa which we drank while enjoying the huckleberry & pear cobbler topped with a ginger biscuit and lemon verbena ice cream. This is the perfect combination of fruit; tart, sweet huckleberries; mixed with mild pear. The biscuit lay atop the fruit mixture with a hint of ginger, which I didn’t realize at first taste but more in my aftertaste. The ice cream is hard to figure out - it tastes of lemon but more of a minty lemon, almost reminiscent of ginsing. Unexpected, but a delightful side to the warm cobbler.

I thoroughly enjoyed my eating experience at Palace Kitchen. Everything was absolutely delicious and I literally enjoyed every last bite.

Marguerite's Rating: 4 Stars

By the way, the explanation for the Tom Cruise reference is in light of a recent Seahawks/Redskins game Mr. Cruise attended. I thought it was lame that everyone made a big deal about it because HELLO, the boys were trying to win a playoff game. Therefore, zero points for TomKat.

Leftovers

I decided to get the most out of my leftovers by incorporating them into breakfast. I first chopped up chicken and tossed it around in a little bit of olive oil and sautéed until slightly crunchy. I mixed the leftover mash potatoes into potato pancakes, adding one egg and a little bit of seasoned flour. I served with some scrambled eggs and a bagel and tada!

For more information on Palace Kitchen or any other Tom Douglas restaurants, visit http://tomdouglas.com/palace/.

I love a good Rita!

As some of you know, I come from a long line of Margarita connoisseurs. My dad has been making mean margaritas for about a century now, so I learned from the best!

Margaritas were meant to be my signature drink – my middle name is Marguerite and my nickname is Marge. If only my first name was Rita! I have experimented with different mix flavors and tequilas and finally think I landed on a classic – a Marge-a-Rita.

Any who, this is how I do it. Please keep in mind, you can add, subtract, change-out, any old way you like. This is a very versatile drink.

What you’ll need to make the basic:
- Good Tequila*
- Lime Juice (I use the frozen lime-aid)
- Fresh Oranges
- Grand Marnier
- Limes to garnish
- Your favorite rim salt or sugar
- Ice
- A decent blender (never on the rocks for me if I can help it)

*Marguerite recommends Sauza. Jose is a bit too sharp for me, and Patron is too $$!

If you want to add a flavor like strawberry or mango, just add about a cup of the fresh fruit to the blended mix above. I am against the pre-mixed concentrate.

Steps to conception (for 4 strong drinks):
1. Poor 5-6 Shots of tequila into blender
2. Add 1 ½ cans of frozen lime-aid
3. Add 1 freshly squeezed orange
4. Add 2-3 cups ice
5. Blend
6. Rub lime around rim of glasses gently – then dip into salt or sugar
7. Poor blended mix into glasses and place lime wedge on the side
8. Just before serving, poor a shot of Grand Marnier into each drink
9. Take 2 Advil with a large glass of water before you go to bed to avoid hangovers ;)