Restaurant Review: The Top

All the hipsters are doing it: going to Gainesville's most "cool cat" esque restaurant, The Top. The prices are a bit up there for a college population, but at least you feel like the menu is more creative than The Swamp restaurant in town. The Swamp is right across from campus and the love of the (white) fraternities and sororities. It has a very normal menu with some crazy prices. It's pretty good, but I always like The Top way more. It's not just that The Swamp feels preppier, that's not a problem to me. Preps need a place to go, too, but the food at The Top seems to be a little more creative. That might be because a lot of the food has a vegetarian or vegan option.

Last night I got the southwestern spinach fettucini with tofu. I'm not a vegetarian and love meat but since my fellow Disher is a veg-head 93% of the time, I'm more open to the idea. Good move! It was delicious! Though I need more texture than meat substitutes too often fail to provide. The Top also has AMAZING burgers. Rashan and I will likely be heading here again some time this weekend to get one of those. Good times, good times. Oh! But two fails for me at the Top are the corn nuggets and fried green tomatoes. The nuggets are pretty popular but I'm not a fan of corn kernels in my food. These are basically like mini hushpuppies studded with corn. I did not appreciate the extra hard tomatoes with the cornmeal crust, either. My tomato pickiness should have been a clue to me but I wanted to try them. I think I'll pass on either of those henceforth.

Pink Shrimp & Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients

soft taco flour tortillas

1/2 pound fresh or thawed shrimp; a couple whole, most halved

two cans of black beans

1 can of enchilada sauce

1 cup of fresh salsa

3/4 cup of corn

cilantro

1 lime

colby jack cheese

oil

garlic

cumin

sea salt and pepper

guacamole

sour cream

Mince several (I used 5) cloves of garlic and place in bowl. Add peeled, rinsed, and cut shrimp to bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and liberal amounts of cumin. Roll a lime, cut and squeeze out about 1 tablespoon of juice onto the shrimp mixture. Tear cilantro from springs and rough chop to equal 1 tablespoon. Add to bowl. Stir to coat and incorporate. let sit.

In a medium sized pot, pour enough oil to coat bottom of pot plus some. Add several minced garlic cloves then turn burner on to medium-low heat. Let garlic infuse the oil for several minutes. Add two cans of black beans plus 1/4 a can of water. Add sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and cumin. Stir. Add 2 tablespoons of roughly chopped cilantro and all the juice from 1/2 lime used in shrimp bowl. Stir well. Turn heat up to high and let boil. Begin using spoon to mash the black beans. Mash and stir till water has evaporated and you're left with chunky applesauce consistency. Turn heat off and let water continue to evaporate.

In frying pan, cook shrimp mixture on med-high till they are ALMOST done. Remove from heat, add corn, and salsa to pan and stir.

In baking dish, pour enough enchilada sauce to cover bottom. Place one flour tortilla in dish. Scoop and spread black bean mash on tortilla. Using a slotted spoon, scoop and spread shrimp/corn/salsa mixture on top of black beans. Shred (or add shredded) cheese to the dish. Add next tortilla and repeat black bean, shrimp mixture, cheese steps. Repeat till desired layers are reached. Pour half of remaining enchilada sauce, all over and around the tortillas. Flip top tortilla and pour the rest on dry side. Top with copious amounts of shredded cheese.

Place baking dish in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve in wedges with dollops of lime infused guac and lime infused sour cream. Garnish with lime wedge and cilantro sprig.

Where Dey Do Dat At?

As you may or may not know, I went to an upscale party about two or three weeks ago. The invitation alone was something serious! First of all, there was a teaser's teaser. Then a teaser. Then the actual invite. The event was called 'Paparazzi' and on the invite, it said, "a Celebrities Only Red & Black Affair"

Cool! I love a party with a dress code or theme! Notsomuch the 'White Out's that are SOOOOOOOOOOO 2002 and are NEVER done right... ugh. I digress.

Seeing how I don't like to wear red that much, I had my Pentecost dress that I wear ONCE a year and hella black clothes. Ix-nay on the church dress. Little black dress would've been too boring so I opted for my short editor shorts and a thin long sleeve shirt. I am a firm believer in balance. Since all my legs were going to be out and I was going to wear heels, I knew better than to come out the house in a tube top or even a slinky camisole. For my red, I knew my patent leather pumps would be my pop. How boring would I have been if I wore black shoes?!!?

Even my camera matches.

Anyhoot, there were some ladies who must not have internet and did NOT get the cyber memo.

Exhibit A

REALLY!?!? A faded maxi camouflage dress!??!?!

FADED CAMO!?!?

Where Dey Do Dat At?!!?

1. it's not red and/or black

2. it's faded

3. It's camo. I changed into a camo dress at my Sweet 16 back in 1998. Maaaaaybe you could've gotten a pass if this was 2001 and 'Survivor' was at the top of the charts. Maybe.

and what's going on with your friend!?!?!??!

Exhibit B

So perplexed by her. And for some weird reason, she's hiding the ginormous garbage bag of a purse she had...

Yo, what is UP with her shirt!? I just want to know

Where Dey Do Dat At?!!?

Walk of Shame

I am so disappointed in myself. I can't believe that despite how tired I was from moving in all day yesterday, I was already out of the house, but too lazy to go too far for food. And I wanted some Mexican. So instead of a 5-minute drive, I settled for Taco Bell. Please don't beat me. I got the volcano nachos and a ranchero taco. The former is what made me realize that walk from my car to my apartment with that bag in hand was indeed a walk of shame. And I SHOULD be ashamed! How can I call myself a fan of Mexican food and eat these half-stale sorry excuses for tortilla chips with yellow processed cheese spread product (vomit), red dye 40 tortilla strips, a mashed mess of refried beans and ground beef essence? The best thing was the pickled jalapenos. Those were delicious, but not enough. I know Taco Bell technically serves its purpose somewhere (Maine maybe?) but there's a delicious drive-thru Mexican joint in town so I will have to call this what it is: sad. The taco wasn't bad, I can admit, but that does not negate the walk of shame. *hangs head*

Herb Butter-and-Goat Cheese Linguine

• 4 Servings
• Prep 10 mins
• Cook 10 mins

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound linguine pasta
• 8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• 2 cups chopped multicolored heirloom tomatoes

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving a ladleful of the pasta cooking water.

2. While the pasta is working, in a serving bowl, add the crumbled goat cheese. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the white wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add the parsley, dill, tarragon and thyme. Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water.

3. Add the pasta to the goat cheese. Pour the herb sauce on top, season with pepper and toss for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and toss gently for another minute; season with salt and pepper.

I loved how easy and yet impressive this Rachael Ray recipe seemed and knew I wanted to make it. I'd never cooked with shallots, tarragon or fresh dill before so I wasn't nervous, more curious. Tarragon smells a bit like licorice and/or tea and can be a bit of an overwhelming flavor. Shallots are an awesome hybrid of garlic and onion taste. Amazing. I had skipped them for years, using onions instead, for so long because they looked scary and unfamiliar. But once you get the skin off they look very similar to an onion. Plus I've seen Rach cut enough of them that I knew what to do. Anyway the recipe was delicious. It would've been even heartier with some mushrooms, chicken or shrimp (or all 3 if you really want to go crazy).

Lime Margarita Cupcakes

If you know nothing else about me, you know I love lime and margaritas and lime margaritas. Perfect complements to my fave cuisine: Mexican food. Mmmm. All day mmmmm. So I decided to try these cupcakes from Rachael Ray magazine. DELICIOUS!

• 24 Servings
• Prep 55 min
• Cook 25 min

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks (12 ounces) butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, plus 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
• Grated peel of 4 limes, plus 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons gold tequila
• 1 drop green food coloring
• 1/2 cup large multicolored sugar crystals
• 24 lime wedge candies

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cupcake pans with baking liners. Using an electric mixer, beat 2 sticks butter and the granulated sugar until creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs, egg white and oil. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. In a large glass measuring cup, stir together the milk, 2 tablespoons lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. On low speed, mix in one-third of the wet mixture, then one-third of the dry mixture. Repeat twice, ending with the dry mixture. Mix in half of the grated lime peel.

3. Fill each baking liner about three-quarters full with batter. Bake until the cupcakes spring back when gently touched, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, using the electric mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter until creamy. Beat in 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat in the tequila, and the remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, lime peel, 1 teaspoon salt and the food coloring until smooth and creamy. Beat in the remaining 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar one-third at a time, until just soft enough to spread.

5. Spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Add the sugar crystals to a bowl; lay each frosted cupcake on its side in the bowl and gently rotate to form a rim of sugar. Top each cupcake with a lime wedge candy.

I made this as a cake because I realized my boyfriend didn't have cupcake tins. No problem. Just doubled the length of time in the oven and checked with a toothpick in the center. When it came out clean, it was ready. I thought the tequila would be stronger. It gave an interesting flavor to the frosting wasn't expected. I still liked it and Rashan really liked the cake.

Diner Disaster

Several new restaurants have opened up near my mom's house so we of course had to try some out while I'm home. Our first stop was to Sweet T's Diner. In a brand new building, the diner was a modern version of a retro cafe. It was cute. Above the "lunch counter" there were 3 giant flat screens but you couldn't hear any of them and they didn't have closed captioning... why? There's music on so what's the reasoning behind the tvs if you can't hear them and there is no sports programming? They could've at least had CC or even those boxes on the table where you tune to whichever station to which you want to listen.
The decor led me to believe the menu would be much more interesting than it was, but it took a page from most diners and spread the gamut of food options. The worst was definitely the Metro Cafe outside Atlanta near Stone Mountain. That menu had at least 4 different cuisines on 10 pages (Stop with the menu schizophrenia! You can't possibly keep that much fresh food.) and the worst service I have ever experienced.

But back to Sweet T's, since breakfast was served all day, my mom and I decided to go with the make your own omelets. I had cheddar, ham, spinach and mushrooms with a side of sausage, grits and a biscuit. The biscuits didn't come out with our meal but there was no explanation for why not and then I couldn't find my waitress to tell her. When we first got there, she seemed to be a good waitress but by the time we left she had too many tables apparently because she seemed overly harried and unable to focus... though there weren't that many people in the restaurant.

We sent the grits back before she got them on the table good because they were in clumps. When they first approached our table, I thought they were lumpy mashed potatoes. That's how thick they were. Not going to work. My mom and I got the home fries instead. After a period which took almost as long as our original meal, we got the home fries and they were undercooked. The biscuits were ugly and overly dense but tasted okay if a bit crunchy. No flake at all. I've seen frozen biscuits in the supermarket that looked better. (The kind that come individually frozen are AMAZING!!) You can't serve breakfast all day with that biscuit, though. This is the south. It needs work.

And worst of all: my omelet. WAY too much ham and a heavy hand with the salt. The mushrooms and spinach inside were delicious when I could find them but the salt in the egg and the salty ham combination forced me to massacre the omelet to get to the mushrooms and spinach, leaving an abundance of ham and egg on the plate. The side of sausage was good, but I had to ignore most of it as well to overcome the salty omelet. And it repeated on me. I woke up the next morning with heart ache. Thanks salt. I won't be going back.

Booty Bonanza

Open-toed booties are attacking me! With fringe, ruching, ties, grommet, woven, tall, short, heel, flat. Mess. These are all from Steve Madden, Nine West and Aldo.






I don't know whose idea it was to create these monstrosities but I beg of all of you: STOP!!

Not Picky, Aware of My Tastes

I have very specific likes and dislikes when it comes to food. I'm very open to trying (most) new things (I am not a fan of most Asian cuisines). A sample.

Tomatoes: only perfectly ripe. over or under and I won't eat it. And it must be on or in something. You will not see me eating tomato slices. And tomato soup? Disgusting.
Onions: Only cooked.
Nuts: yes, but not in or on my food.
Carrots: only raw, never cooked.
Broccoli: only cooked, never raw.
Apples: As long as they're not Granny Smith. Apples should be sweet. My fave are pink lady.
Peanut butter: yes but not as an ingredient in food and not with jelly.
Cheese: Love it! But only real ones, no Kraft singles or Velveeta for me.
Lettuce: as long as it's not iceberg.
Spinach: yes but I prefer baby spinach.
Turnips, beets, radishes, liver: No in any form.


That is a very, very short list.

It's Haute

Cupcakes.


Yes, the bakery concoction is what I'm talking about.


They are what's HAUTE.


Everywhere in Aventura, little kiosks of cupcakes are everywhere.

French Vanilla, Red Velvet, Death By Chocolate...

and don't start on the icings

well, I won't cause I don't like icing.


But yeah, get on that. No one is buying cakes, pies, or slices anymore. Its all about the mini cake.