Spuds

I just cannot begin to tell you about the love of a good auld spud us Irish have. Now you may think that this is stereotypical, but boy is it true - we are all simply stone mad for the potato over on the Green Isle. Chipped, fried, baked, roasted, steamed, whipped, mashed, chopped, grated, sliced, cubed, boiled, caked … we love 'em any which way we can get 'em. The more we can get, the more we will eat! They are served with lasagne, spaghetti, salad and more… and the add-ons are just limitless. Kerry Gold Irish Butter with a pinch of salt are the favourite local toppings, but as we all know the Americans love their sour cream, chives and bacon bits on top.

Being such a staple of the Irish diet for so many past generations, it is no surprise that our country fell to pieces many years ago during what was called the 'potato famine.' This historical tragedy is actually what led to the mass emigration to the US.

As a kid growing up in Ireland, I somehow managed to hate every single type of vegetable on earth. I refused profusely to eat anything even remotely plant related, but the potato was the one garden based species that I would allow near me and approved of to make an appearance on my plate. Although a potato is generally referred to as a vegetable, it is actually very high in starch and not a very good vegetable at all. I guess I really didn’t like any veggies after all, since a potato can hardly be considered a vegetable!

Through the years, I have kept this traditional love (or outlandish craving as you might call it) close to my heart (and mouth). To this day, I continue to share the spud in all its glory with everyone in my life… and so throughout our future entries, you will find the potato in numerous dishes and stories that we share with you. Try 'em, you'll love 'em.

-Jean

Will Walk for Food

My roommate likes to work out. As in, she goes to the gym at least four times a week. She even rides her bike to the gym. I wouldn’t say that I am opposed to working out. However, let’s just say that I do not belong to a gym (mostly due to the fact that I cannot afford a facility that I deem bacteria-free enough… but that is another story), and I am a horrible runner. This leaves me with a few options for exercise. I could hike (which I like to do on the weekends… Temescal, not Runyon), I could bike (but this seems rather risky to me, considering the percentage of bad drivers on the Los Angeles roads), or I could walk (ding ding ding!).

Since I am not an avid gym-rat, my roommate and I rarely get the chance to partake in any activity that causes our heart rates to rise together. So when I mention that I would like to go for a walk for fitness purposes, she generally agrees to join me. This was the case last night. Originally, the plan was to walk to the beach, cruise up the boardwalk, and maybe get a little crazy on the Montana Avenue stairs. But then someone threw out the idea of eating out, and our brilliant plan was born- why not walk to dinner!? After some discussion, we decided this was definitely the best idea ever and that we must be geniuses to have come up with it. Now, where to go? The restaurant had to be far enough away to warrant calling the walk ‘exercise.’ The cuisine also needed to be at least semi-healthy, because the whole point of combining the exercise and dinner experiences was to promote wellness. After tossing several ideas around and still having no solid destination in mind, we gave up and decided just to walk in a southwest direction. This would point us toward downtown Santa Monica and the Third Street Promenade, with the option to continue on to Main Street.

There was some debate as to which street would be the most likely to have an eatery that met our criteria, but eventually we decided on Fourth Street. This turned out to be the second best idea of the night. We were covering ground quickly and beginning to lose hope of finding something in the Promenade area, when we passed a sign in a window. The sign read, “$3 tacos and half-off margaritas, 4 to 7 p.m.” Come again? It didn’t take much arm-twisting to get us in that door. We had arrived at our place of nourishment for the evening: Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger’s Border Grill.

We chose bar seats, since our attire was more appropriate for a Flirty Girl Fitness workout DVD than a dining room, after all. And I know I said we were trying to make healthy choices, but who can resist a $5 El Charro Reposado margarita? (Actually, after drinking mine, I think a better choice probably would have been a $4 house sangria or maybe a $5.50 mango Bacardi mojito. The margaritas were a bit sweet for both of our tastes.) Wanting to live on the edge, we ordered a jalapeño popper to start ($3). As a fun incentive to try the other poppers, the menu states, “If you can finish the first three (Fresno, jalapeño and serrano), then the habanero chile popper is on us!” We decided this was a little too intense for a Tuesday evening, but the idea was fun nonetheless. The popper was decent, although not especially spicy or exciting. We also tried a poblano quesadilla with Manchego, panela, and Cotija cheeses ($5). The flavors of the quesadilla, combined with the chipotle salsa were well matched, but again, not exceptional. Several bites tasted more like the flour tortilla than anything else. I guess that’s what happens when you pay $5 for a quesadilla.

The stars of the meal were definitely the Border Tacos. A taco platter lets you choose three tacos and is an even better bargain than advertised! You can choose any three tacos from the eight varieties (each made with a homemade corn tortilla) for just $8. I suppose we did add freshly mashed guacamole for $0.75, which brought our taco total to $8.75, but I’m still going to go with calling it a pretty good deal. Jaime, being a vegetarian- or pescatarian to be more specific- knew immediately that she wanted a grilled fish taco (with cucumber grapefruit citrus slaw and lime crema). This sounded nice and refreshing to me, so we went with two of these. There were a couple of other meatless options, but the fish seemed the most likely to please our palates. Thanks to a recommendation by the not-so-attentive bartender, I went with the adobo roasted lamb for the third. Although our guy seemed more interested in doing everything behind the bar besides helping us, I will say that I am happy I took his suggestion. The lamb was tender and flavorful, and the Manchego cheese and poblano chile added just the right accents without covering the flavor of the meat.

Overall, we felt the meal was a success. Even if we weren’t blown away by all of our selections, each item we tried was tasty and something we would eat again. It’s also hard to complain when the entire meal, including drinks and tip was under $20 each. After a short pep-talk, we were ready to take on the second leg of our workout, the walk home. Feeling content, but not over-full, the exactly one-mile walk was pleasant and energizing. And we both had the satisfaction of knowing that we walked two miles and discovered $3 tacos, all in one evening.

www.bordergrill.com

-Katrina

ChowBellas!

Chow, as in eat, Bellas, as in pretty young gals. ChowBellas.

 

Two eager, witty, fun loving foodivas.  One American, one Irish, with one passion. Worldwide travelers, avid cooks and enthusiastic tastemakers. After years of combined restaurant and hotel work, culinary and hotel management schooling, hours of kitchen experimenting and countless dining experiences, our forks have crossed and we are finally united. Obsessions encompassing menu design, devotion to trying new spots around town, entertaining, creating and sharing adventures and dabbling with any ingredient thrown our way have developed our palates into the women we are today.

 

Two inspired, bantering foodies, with a longing to share. Daily requests for suggestions as to where to eat, where to drink, what to cook, what to serve… questions pertaining to all things epicurean... have led us to create ChowBellas. An empty plate on which to share our opinions, thoughts, likes, dislikes, successes, failures, and any other concoction we may have relating to our appetites. 

 

Coming up with a name for our new endeavor was a challenging recipe in itself. It needed to be charming but not kitschy, relevant but not sterile, witty but not over the top, knowledgeable but without pretense. These morsels are our daily life stories on paper; our love for food in written form to be served to our friends and strangers alike. We hope you enjoy sharing these bites with us and truly look forward to our journey ahead.

Chow,  

Jean & Katrina