04/26 i kept driving past this restaurant called the "barking frog" and chuckling. so i decided to give it a shot tonight for dinner. the menu was pretty standard tex-mex fare. i ordered a very simple salad with carne asada.
the dinner itself was so-so, but the decor of this place? worth it. i mean look at this painting. i really need to find a copy of this for my living room!
04/27 my last dinner in sedona! there's a restaurant in town that everyone keeps recommending. "elote". it's supposed to be the best (and most authentic) mexican restaurant in the area. the chef has won numerous awards for his dishes. i was advised to get here early, as the tables always fill up, and there is usually a line out the door. being a singleton, i opted to eat at the bar.
i'm always on the look out for good mole sauce. so was excited to see a dish with mole poblano on the menu. and was even more intrigued when i saw what it was being served on. braised buffalo short ribs? not chicken? how very......south west...to have buffalo. i've only had buffalo meat ground, so was interested in trying a larger cut of meat from the animal. and anything in mole sauce makes me happy!
the meat was leaner, and darker than traditional beef. but with a great flavor. whatever method they used to braise the ribs yielded a very tender result. the meat was literally falling off of the bone into that wonderful dark sauce. the mole wasn't overly sweet. it was mildly spicy with a hint of smokiness. my only regret is that i wasn't able to finish this extremely hearty meal! i agree with everyone's recommendation. if you are in sedona, this is absolutely the one restaurant you have to try!
04/28 i'm back in phoenix for the night. i have an ungodly early flight in the morning, so am spending my last evening in arizona near the airport (woo). tonight is a fast food take out kind of night. which is lucky, because arizona? has in-n-out burgers!!!
one of the great tragedies of my life, is that while i briefly lived in southern california? i was a vegetarian. so never ate at in-n-out burger. which is considered a fast food delicacy to anyone from so-cal. it wasn't until many years later, on a return visit to la that i finally tried one for the first time. a single cheeseburger "animal style". i still maintain that five guys has the superior burger. but....for a fast food chain? these are pretty damn tasty! their claim is fresh, high quality ingredients. and you really can taste the difference. if you haven't had one of these burgers? and you ever get the chance? take it! and be sure to look on-line for the "secret menu". they don't advertise the animal style in the actual restaurants. but i recommend ordering your burger that way. tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions and a thousand island-ish spread. so good, but soooooo messy. get extra napkins!
04/29 home sweet home! i got in tonight and was starving after a long day of traveling. as soon as i dropped my luggage off, tony and i went over to guapo's. plantains and a chicken quesadilla for me tonight!
04/30 it's been a while since i've actually cooked a meal, so tonight i was anxious to get back in the kitchen. this is one of those recipes i've been meaning to try for a while. chicken breasts sautéed in a raspberry chipotle sauce. the sauce is pretty easy. a few tablespoons of raspberry jam mixed with diced chipotles in adobo sauce and a splash of cider vinegar. once mixed together, the sauce is boiled down until it's roughly the consistency of bbq sauce. then poured over chicken that has been sautéed in olive oil. the sauce was fantastic! sweet, spicy, smoky. a LOT of flavors.
for a side i made some mashed sweet potatoes, and threw in a few of the extra diced chipotles to mirror the flavors of the sauce. just enough to bring some heat to the dish, but not too much to overwhelm the flavors of the sweet potato. and then a little steamed broccoli to add some green to the plate. overall a relatively healthy meal, and a nice welcome back to the kitchen!
05/01 tonight we had a group of friends over for an informal wine tasting that focused solely on malbecs. since we didn't want our people drinking on an empty stomach, we of course had plenty of snacks laid out. i'll put up a separate post about the food.....and of course the wine!
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