Cantina 76

When this place first opened,  Neil and I checked it out.  We enjoyed it, but I remember thinking that it wasn't exactly my favorite.  Anyway, we got busy with having a baby and all that that entails and our dining out schedule was drastically altered.  I've been back to Cantina 76 a few times with friends for drinks and a snack, but not for a proper meal.  

Yesterday, my daughter and I decided we should eat lunch out.  Since the Vivver has recently became a queso fanatic, I thought, hmmm let's try out the Cantina again.  It's a local joint, it's close to home, they have queso.  Off we went.  

First, the server informed us that margaritas for two for one, so naturally, we couldn't pass up a deal like that.  Neil ordered his on the rocks, no salt.  This is important to remember.  He hates salt on, in, or near his margarita.  Next, we ordered chips with salsa, guacamole and queso.  Let's start here.  First, the margaritas arrived and after our server left the table, I realized Neil was muttering under his breath.  Yep. you guessed it.  Salt on the rim of his glass.  

Something else to remember about Neil.  Most of the time, he doesn't want to waste time calling the waitress back over, sending it back, waiting for a new one.  Waiting is not his strong suit.  So, he wiped the salt off the glass, but still wasn't a happy muchacho about it because, as I'm sure you can imagine, some of that salt always finds its way into the drink.  ~no bueno~

Now, the appetizers were a different story.  The salsa tasted very fresh; light bright fresh tomato flavor.  It had all the usual players: onion, cilantro, garlic and it was nice and spicy too.  The guacamole really surprised me because I've come to expect restaurant guac to disappoint me because I think my homemade guac is beyond compare.  This was pretty darn good for restaurant guacamole, however.  It was seasoned well and had nice, big chunks of buttery avocado in it!  The queso was also quite good...when I could manage to slide a chip in there, as the little queso afficianada was dominating the bowl.  The chips were a little thick for my taste and seemed as though they'd been made yesterday, but not inedible by any means.

I was starving, so I ordered two tacos:  the roasted chicken ( Roasted chicken with shredded cheese, pico de gallo and southwestern ranch) and the Peruvian shrimp ( Lightly fried shrimp, sweet sesame chili sauce, topped with a jalapeño cole slaw.)  Neil had been snacking earlier in the day, so he opted for just one fish taco (Fried tilapia with pickled jalapeños and a roasted poblano tartar.)  

This was my order

Mine were both very good but I think I liked the shrimp the best.  The shrimp were crisp with a light batter and the flavors of the chili sauce were very nice together.  I didn't pick up any jalapeno at all, but the slaw was still flavorful and worked well with the sauce.  I also enjoyed the chicken but I added a touch of salt and some Cholula hot sauce.  I felt like it just needed a little extra punch of something.  And, serving the roasted chicken at a hotter temp would have improved it as well.   

Peruvian shrimp taco

Roasted chicken taco

Neil's fish taco was a little lackluster in his book.  He's a jalapeno fanatic so he always asks for heavy jalapeno and usually asks for some on the side too, because rarely does anyone really understand HOW MANY peppers he's talking about.  So, his taco was fish, peppers and the poblano tartar.  Just as an observer, I bet adding some of the slaw from the shrimp taco would have added some crunch and personality to this one.  I asked Neil how it tasted and his reply was "like it looked."  You can draw your own conclusions from that...

Fish taco for Neil

 Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Cantina 76.  I see some small adjustments in their menu items I'd make if I owned the place, but no major overhauls are needed here.  The cool thing about this restaurant is their creative taco offerings.  They remind me of the Taco Boy at Folly Beach in regard to the different and interesting tacos that are featured.  Not many other places in Columbia are thinking outside of the taco/burrito box!  

I think sometimes being a home cook (who actually enjoys cooking) can be a little bit of a curse, because you become so analytical and if you make a dish at home that you love, then rarely does a restaurant version stack up.  But, don't get me wrong...I'm not gonna quit cookin' and I'm not gonna quit going out either!  (I do make a mean shrimp taco, though, if I do say so myself.)

 

Marco's Pizza

Marco's Pizza opened in recent months just down the street from my house.  I really didn't pay much attention to it because it just appeared to be another pizza chain.  But, I'll tell you what made me decide to try it out. I know a young guy who moved here from Michigan.  One afternoon he mentioned to me that he was picking up pizza from Marco's for dinner, but he lives across the river, which means he was actually making a trip for this pizza.  Hmmm...why would he do that?  What does he know that I don't?

So, I quizzed him.  He knew this franchise from back home and even worked there during school.  He loves this pizza so much, that it's worth driving from Cayce all the way over to Rosewood. Yes, my curiosity was indeed kindled.  Today was finally the day to give it a shot.

My beautiful girl started out as a very young one eating black olives by the handful, then graduated to having olive, pepperoni, sausage pizza with me and Neil.  I was so proud.  Then, she met other kids.  Before I knew what hit me, she was proclaiming "I only like cheese pizza!"  It was a dark day for me.  My child had succumbed to the boring, uneventful taste of the average kid.  Well, recently, in an effort to shake up the school lunches, I bought some salami from the deli. She went wild!  So, I seized the opportunity.  It went something like this:

"hey Viv, you know something?  Salami is pepperoni's cousin."

"Really? I love pepperoni."

"So, this means you want pepperoni on your pizza like the old days?"

"Oh yes!"   

Woo Hoo!  My baby is back!  Tonight, we're just the two of us, so we decided to get pizza. What better time to try out Marco's?  I showed Viv the website and the photo of the "Pepperoni Magnifico."  She was down with it.  We ordered ours with the garlic crust (recommended by my buddy Patrick) and the antipasto salad.  I opted to order online, which gave me a pick-up time of 25 minutes. Not bad at all!  Delivery around here always takes longer than that, and since the place is about a minute and a half down the street, picking it up was certainly no bother.

The verdict?  I liked this pizza, but at this point can't proclaim it my favorite.  I mean, it was just pepperoni.  I like a little more action on my pizza, so I definitely want to try some of the other specialty pizzas, or design my own. They have a cool ingredient list, so it could get fun.  The other thing that I like is you get LOTS of choices...the website asked me if we wanted garlic crust, parmesan crust, extra sauce, light sauce, heavy cheese, no cheese, extra this, extra that, split in halves?  I ordered the antipasto salad which was pretty good too.  It was topped with ham, salami, black olives, tomatoes and mozzarella. I didn't order dressing since I have lots of great ones here at home.

Overall, I'd say that I am glad to have another pizza choice so close to home. After all, variety is key in my life.   

  

Potstickers!

Asian cuisine, of all descriptions, is one of my all-time favorites. So much so that my first foray into Chinese cooking came when I was in high school. I discovered that my mom had a Chinese cookbook that I'd never even seen before.  I just happened upon it on the bookshelf. I began reading it and quickly realized that it was a pretty complicated and authentic cookbook.  But, despite the pretty intense techniques described on those pages, I was enthralled and undaunted. Thinking back, it was my early high school years when cooking really became interesting to me. A complicated recipe didn't intimidate me because I had no experience, therefore, no fear of failure.  Just follow the instructions.  I remember tackling fried rice from this book I found. I think I really surprised my family.  

Next, came my French club's "cafe" at school.  Traditionally, the "cafe" was really just a bake sale.  Well, as French club prez, this simply would not do for me.  I hit the books, experimented at home, and the day of our sale, we trucked in a microwave to the courtyard at Irmo High School and served up a lunch plate of chicken crepes, green beans amandine and a croissant, in addition to the usual French baked goods.  It was a resounding success.  

NOT a photo of my 1985 crepes, but you get the idea

We may have served more than the cafeteria that day.  Well, ok, not really, but I know our diners were much more pleased that those who had the obligatory rectangular pizza, iceberg salad with ranch & fake bacon bits and bowls of french fries.  (I mean, really? Who decided to serve fries in a BOWL?)

So, back to Asia...I credit my friend Susannah for teaching me to make what I simply call dumplings but most of you know as "potstickers."  First, do you know why they are called that?  You must brown the bottoms well before adding water to steam them.  If you don't, they'll stick to that pot like they have super glue on them.  Many a cook has lost a pan to a bad case of true pot-stickers. While she was in law school, Susannah had a bunch of us over for a casual get-together.  I wandered into the kitchen for a beer to find her finishing up her dumplings and heating up a pan.  She had my attention.  And, I've been making my own ever since.

After Viv's school Halloween carnival, we came home to make dumplings.  Btw: she's a "glampire."  Ya know, a glamorous vampire.

 I make them differently depending on what I've got.  Suze always used ground pork, which back in the glorious early 90's wasn't easy to find.  In fact, I'd usually go to the Fresh Market and buy good looking pork then have them grind it up.  Then, I started using ground turkey, which works just as well, but needs a little extra seasoning because, you know, it's turkey.  I've added soy sauce, ginger, water chestnuts, cabbage, green onion, bamboo shoots, garlic...whatever I have available.  Twist up those little babies and they're cooked and ready to eat in minutes.

Tonight, I had the great pleasure to teach Viv how to make them.  Gotta hand it to her...I showed her how to do it twice and then left her to it as I tended to our veggie/chicken rice.  The kid picked right up on it and made the majority of them all by herself.  Then, feeling confident, she invited Neil into the kitchen for her to "teach" him how to make them.  As is so often the case with kids, having made them herself, she loved them and devoured them.  And, just to see the confidence exuding from her as she took charge of the project was delightful.  And, under her tutelage, Neil twisted up some fine dumplings himself!

She got the hang of it pretty quick!

Now she's schoolin' daddy

Add your filling, then fold 'em up!

Ready to go into the pan

Plate 'em up while they're hot!

Wanna make some?  Buy some wonton wrappers and assemble any combination of ingredients you like.  Adding some soy sauce, ginger, garlic, etc. to the meat mixture is important, I think.  Tonight we used ground pork, fresh ginger, minced water chestnuts & green onion.  Scoop about a 1.5 tsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper.  Dip your finger in water and wet all four edges of the wonton.  Fold two corners up to meet, then bring the other corners in and pinch it all together to make a little "purse" shape.  Heat a pan with a thin layer of oil in it.  When hot (medium-high heat) place the dumplings in the pan.  Cook until the bottoms brown and the dumplings release on their own.  (Shake the pan and see if they will move around on their own.)  When this happens, add a quarter cup of so of water and cover to let them steam.  **Tip** Hold the lid in front of you, angled over the pan as you add water so you don't get spattered**  Steam them until the wonton wrapper becomes translucent.  I always take one out and cut into it to make sure the meat is cooked through. Serve with a simple dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and some fresh ginger & sliced green onion.

These are so simple yet so flippin' good!  And quick, once you get them all assembled.  And, they also freeze well.  Try it out and let me know what you think!