Restaurant Review - Pampas, Palo Alto

On Sunday night a group of us went to Pampas Restaurant in Palo Alto to celebrate a birthday.

 
 Pampas is a Brazillian Churascaria.  I had the rodizio.  That is the "meat buffet".  The servers come around carrying skewers of different meats and carve you off a hunk.  The rodizio is priced at $44. That includes all the meat you can eat, plus the unlimited side bar that consists of salads, pastas, cheeses, vegetables, and a bunch of other stuff. 

This is a list of the meats.

Picanha traditional Brazilian cut of top sirloin seasoned with rock salt and olive oil
Cordeiro leg of lamb marinated with garlic and mint
Costela de Cordeiro lamb chop marinated with garlic and ginger
Lombo pork loin with coriander adobo
Medalhão com Alho tenderloin filet seasoned with garlic and herbs
Medalhão com Queijo tenderloin filet with parmesan
Maminha tri–tip seasoned with rock salt and olive oil
Frango chicken thighs marinated with smoked paprika and lemon
Frango Picante chicken legs marinated with garlic, chili peppers, and vinegar
Linguiça house-made Brazilian pork sausage
Abacaxi slow-roasted pineapple
Peru turkey breast wrapped in smoked bacon
Fraldinha skirt steak with onion-herb marinade
Coração de Frango marinated chicken hearts (available upon request)

The meats were all delicious! My favorite was the Picanha.  So good!  And, I even ate a chicken heart! 

For dessert I had the Chocolate Torte. It was served with caramel ice cream and a toffee made with brazil nuts, and bacon.  Yummy!

The best part of the night was after dinner. We got to go into the kitchen and meet Chef Nikki Baverso.  She is the executive chef, at just 26 years old.  That's about the coolest thing ever!  She was so great explaining how things work and even said she would be happy to take some of us on for a stage!

Orange and Mango Jerky Review

I was recently asked to review Spencers Orange and Mango Jerky from Jerky.com.

I am a huge fan of beef jerky and consider it a mainstay of my go to proteins for on the go snacks.  I was looking forward to trying these new flavors from Spencers.  The packages are labled "sweet and spicy".   As much as it pains me to say it, these just didn't do it for me.  At first, when I opened the packages and got a wiff of the smell, my mouth watered but after one bite, the spicieness just overpowered everything else.  I couldn't even taste the beef flavor.  And after a few chews the beef kind of turned to a mushy paste in my mouth.  I am sad that these, for me, did not live up to the other Jerky.com products that I know and love.

pomegrantes!

Pomegrantes are a powerful healthy snack and the juice has a number of benefits. For instance, did you know that when you compare a glass of pomegranate juice and a glass of red wine, tests found that ounce for ounce, pomegranate juice has 17% more polyphenol antioxidants than red wine. There are more polyphenol antioxidants in POM Wonderful pomegranate juice than other drinks.

A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed improved blood flow to the heart in patients drinking 8oz. daily of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice for 3 months.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Janny at Pom Wonderful asking if I would like to review some samples of their pomegrante juice. Naturally, I said yes. Because I love samples and I love pomegrantes! A few days ago, I received a box stuffed full of the fruity, tangy nectar! I looked over all the recipes on the Pom Wonderful site and settled on the Pom Velvet Cake. Similar to a red velvet cake, it was moist and tender. The recipe calls for the pomegante juice to be added to the 1/2 and 1/2, apple cider vinegar mixture. I iced it with the cream cheese frosting recipe included on the site with the cake recipe. Together its delicious!



YUMMY!


In the coming days I plan to make some pomegrante syrup, and I also am thinking about something with lamb or pork. Look for those posts soon!

Thanks, Janny and Pom Wondeful.

Product Review - Pineapple Jerky

i was recently asked to review pineapple jerky from jerky.com.

I was so pleasantly surprised. The Pineapple Jerky is sweet and tart. It contains only pineapples and honey. One ring was the perfect afternoon snack. It was filling and delicious. The slices look like pretty yellow flowers. The honey is just the right touch of sweetness. I ate one plain as a snack, cut one into pieces and added it to yogurt and added a third to a salad.

I love all things jerky and can't wait to try some of the many jerky types that Jerky.com has to offer from beef jerky to ostrich jerky and venison jerky!

Amano Chocolate - Review

I was lucky enough to get one of the bars of Amano Chocolate's Jembrana to taste and review in response to a Blake makes giveaway.

This 70% dark chocolate is sourced from Bali. I am not typically a big fan of dark chocolate as I usually find it bitter, but the Jembrana Chocolate is so smooth and creamy as it melts that I completely forgot that it was dark chocolate.

I give this chocolate two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Oh yeah, I accidentally (?) received two shipments of this bar so I am sharing the second bar with Mrs. L over at Pages, Pucks, and Pantry who has offered to give a review also.

Product Review - Batter Blaster

Do you love pancakes and waffles but hate the hassle of making batter? This product is for you!

The Original Batter Blaster is a great alternative to making batter from a box of from scratch. At a recent brunch party I had, a friend brought a batter blaster. While I had already made the batter for the waffles for that day, she left the blaster at my house. I tried it a few days later. All I can say is "where have you been all my life?" This product is so convenient and the end result is a tasty quick pancake or waffle. In three days, I have used the whole can, but this is something I will be buying again and keeping on hand.

another chocolate review...

Blake from blake makes had a giveaway recently.

This time it was chocolate from Amano Artisan Chocolates.


All of the bars were tasty, but I found that my favorite was the Madagasgar. To me it had the smoothest feel in my mouth as it melted and no bitter after taste. My next favorite was the Cuyauga. I found the Ocumare too bitter for my tastes but I know that some people like that.

All of these bars are made with single source beans and real tahitian vanilla beans.

They were all deliciously wonderful. Many thanks to Blake and Bridget, and the fine folks at Amano Chocolates.

hagen daz sez...

help the honeybees.

in case you didn't know... honey bees are endangered. hagen daz has a new program designed to help raise money for bee research.

if you buy a pint of this

they donate money

if you buy one of these snappy tee shirts


they donate money.

so bee healthy, eat your honey and buy hagen daz!

by the way, that ice cream pictured above is like an orgasm in your mouth.

TCHO Chocolate = YUM!

i was one of the lucky ones. i received a sample of TCHO chocolate to try after reading about the giveaway last tuesday on Blake Makes.

the dark chocolate sample was deep, smooth, creamy as it slowly melted in my mouth. i could taste a hint of citrus in the finish. my brain kicked into overdrive asking for more when i finished the last bite.

the coffee i was drinking at the time only enhanced the flavor. yummy! and TCHO is LOCAL!!! they are on pier 17 in san francisco.