Restaurant Review: Almacen Secreto

I'm a big fan of closed door restaurants and have slowly been checking each one off my list.  My latest pick was Almacen Secreto in Villa Crespo.  The reviews were pretty good on Guia Oleo and I had heard some good things about it.  I was also intrigued by the menu because there are a ton of options compared to most closed door restaurants with a fixed menu.

The neighborhood is slightly deserted which worried me a bit, but once you get inside, it's the cutest little place ever.  A lovely garden that would be awesome in the summer, cool paintings of the walls, overall good onda.  The menu is divided by region in Argentina so there are a lot of choices.  We read about the goat cheese provoleta, so ordered that right off the bat.  It was 30 pesos, but came in two HUGE chucks, one of which I brought home and just ate with my dinner!  Kind of expensive for an appetizer, but not when you consider the portion size.  Then we ordered the fish al horno de barro and cazuela de pollo.  The fish was good, but a little fatty for my taste and the veggies it came with were super boring.  The chicken was cooked in a cazuela, but not served as a stew like I expected.  It was ok, but nothing to write home about.  The bread was bomb and we had a little empanada to start which was also delish.

Overall, cute place and pretty good food, but nothing exceptional.  And if you go, don't get the pisco sour because it sucked.

Provoleta de queso de Cabra (1/2 portion)

Cazuela de Pollo

Pescado al horno

Musicos

Braised Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

If you're reading this post then there is about a 4% chance that you've read all my posts and know that Italian food is not my favorite.  Every few months or so, however, I get a craving for pasta and set out to make some ridiculous kitchen-sink, whatever I feel like putting in it pasta dish.  This night was no exception and it was great.  My new favorite move is slowly cooking chicken in liquid because it gets so tender and then using the liquid for the sauce.  See below for recipe and step by step pics.

Saute Onions

Add spices to onions

Add chicken

Add wine and tomato sauce

Voila

Ingredients:
1 bag of pasta
2 pata de pollo with bone
1 can of tomatoes perita
1 large onion chopped
1 head of broccoli, chopped
3/4 cup of red wine
1/4 cup of quasi creme
Spices ( salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, provencal, chili powder, sugar) - just about a 1/2 tsp of each to taste
Shredded cheese of choice

Directions: Saute onions and spices for 5-10 min.  Turn the heat up.  Remove skin from chicken and add to the hot pan, cook for 2 minutes.  Add wine and let it reduce.  Lower heat and add tomato sauce.  Let simmer and reduce for about 20 min.  Add quasi creme and let cook for 5-10 min more.  You can cook the chicken for as long as you like on low heat, but I didn't have time in this case.

Add broccoli and cook for about 5 min.  Remove chicken and broccoli and set aside.  Bring salted water to a boil and add pasta.  Let sauce thicken while pasta is cooking.  Shred chicken into bite-size pieces.  Once the pasta is ready drain the water and add it back to the pan.  Add the chicken and broccoli to the sauce and pour over pasta.  Top with shredded cheese and serve!

Homemade Granola

Baked granola

Although my blog may often come across as me complaining about how nothing in Argentina is as good as it is in the States, I must clarify that this is only the case for food.  If I was not Argentina's #1 fan, then I would not have lived here for 2.5 years.  With that said, the culinary staple that I miss the most in my diet is a good granola.  Nothing makes me happier than browsing the bulk granola bins at wholefoods and mixing almond vanilla crunch with ginger snap crunch and flaxseed crunch into one amazing bag of Anna's granola crunch (then mark it at the lowest bulk price of the 3, of course).  If I've lost you, please go to your nearest wholefoods immediately or consider moving to California. 

My point is that I've now run out of my granola medley, raisin bran crunch, peanut butter puffins, and all other breakfast reinforcements I brought back with me.  To make a long story, well, long… I made my own basic granola and am calling all chefs to send me their fav recipes because I need help finding an even better recipe!


Ingredients:
500 grams not-instant oats
200 grams slivered almonds
100 grams dried fruit (I used cranberries from the states)
1/4 cup maple syrup (reserve half for after cooking)
2 large spoonfuls of peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
Any extras (chocolate, coconut, other nuts, etc)

Directions: Spread oats onto baking sheet.  Add peanut butter and 1/2 of the maple syrup to a cup and warm up until the peanut butter melts into the syrup.  Spread over oats and coat each grain.  I use my hands for this part.  If the almonds are raw, put them in before baking.  If they are already toasted, add them after.  Add cinnamon and salt.

Bake in over on low-med heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.  Remove from over and add nuts and dried fruit.  Add the remaining syrup or honey and mix again.  Let cool.

*Do not add dried fruit until after or it will burn and become too hard.

Guest post: Colombian Specialties from my Roommate!

La linda Joanna

I'm lucky enough to live with my fantastic Colombian friend Joanna.  When she gets herself in the kitchen, she GETS in the kitchen and whips up some of the best Colombian treats ever.  This week, she's done a guest post in memory of her recent cooking adventures.  Here's what she had to say (P.S. she wrote this entirely herself in English and I didn't change a thing, which makes me feel slightly bad about her having to put up with my Spanish after all these months!)

Joanna's Culinary Adventures:

Distance makes you do things you never thought you would. I always refused to cook; if there was anything in the house I used the least, it was the kitchen. Well, now it’s not any different, but because I miss my food, my flavors, my variety, and am tired of the same Argentine food, I decided to try a little harder and make something by myself. The result: success!

So this is what I did:

For Saturday’s lunch: Ajiaco Santafereño
For Sunday night: Patacones with cheese, tomato, ham and boiled corn

Wait, what is that you ask?

Well, it’s Colombian food. Ajiaco Santafereño is a typical soup of Bogotá, Colombia. The original Ajiaco is a potato-based soup and has three varieties of potatoes: criolla, sabanera and pastusa, but it’s not easy to find all those potatoes in Buenos Aires (I'm pretty sure they don't exist in here), so with the basic potato you find in Disco is fine. The other main ingredients are: chicken, guascas, cream and capers and accompany it with rice and avocado. If guasca is not added, the flavor changes a bit. Here’s a good recipe I found in the Washington Post.

Ajiaco Santafereño

Then I found green Plátanos (plantains) at Disco and I had to buy at least one, because that doesn’t happen very often. Sundays are dedicated to studying, so Anna and I are at home studying hard (sure) and we eat a lot (true). “We need energy to do it” Anna always says.  She is the chef, she loves doing it and she makes veeeery tasty dishes. But this time I made the dinner. Nothing special, but very Colombian: Patacones, cheese, ham, tomato and boiled corn.  Plantains become sweeter and less starchy as they ripen, but they also lose their firmness, so I like them better greener.  It’s fast and easy to do, here is a good recipe and don’t forget to sprinkle with salt when they are still hot. Patacones are a good fit for almost everything; you can eat them with rice and meat; as a snack with sauce; with fish and salad, or just the patacones with cheese if you have antojos. 

Patacones

Breakfast Tacos

Sausage, egg, potato, onion, and cheese tacos

These are the best!  Put them on the list for your next breakfast ASAP.  Soft fluffy eggs, potatoes, sausage, onion, cheese, and hot sauce in a warm tortilla.  Brunch at it's best!

Ingredients: (4-6 tacos)
1 large potato diced largely
8 Eggs beaten
1 onion
2 Sausage links (I cheated with my last remaining chicken apple sausage from the states, but chorizo or ham would be awesome too).
Cheese grated
1/2-1 tsp cumin
1/2-1tsp garlic salt
Ground pepper
Tortillas

Directions: Add a generous amount of oil to a large skillet.  Add the diced potatoes and cook with cumin and garlic salt for about 20 min on a low-med heat.  About 1/2 through add the onions.  When the potatoes are done cooking add the eggs and sausage (only if the meat is already cooked).  Turn the flame on low and slowly scramble the eggs.  Add pepper, more salt, and hot sauce to taste.  Serve on warmed tortillas and sprinkle with cheese.  THE BOMB!

Phuket Restaurant Review

I have heard about Phuket quite a lot, at least from the expat community.  It comes up in the top 10 of guia oleo all the time, and while I'm quite particular about my Thai food, I decided to give it a shot.  It was a nice change of pace from the empanada-tarta-licuado rotation, but it goes straight on the "good for Argentina, but I've had better" list.  Service was good and the place is understated and cute, but if I go back, I'm going straight for the noodles that I didn't get to try because were llama-ing the attention.  Overall, not bad and worth a try if you're in the neighborhood.

Green chicken curry

We asked for extra spicy to the point that the order form had 1 to 3 peppers next to each item and we made the waitress put an additional pepper and side note requesting as spicy as possible.  All those flecks are chili-peppers and this dish was HOT.  Almost overboard, but good.  Again, I've had better....

Ribs.  Se ve bien, no???

I always go for the short ribs in Argentina because they're such a rare treat.  These were pretty good, but a little too salty.  The sauce that came ALL over them was reduced too long and the flavors got too concentrated.  It could have been the bomb and are almost worth another shot. 

Ribs

This plate had onda por lo menos.