Beyond Los Angeles: Santa Fe

 

Hello everyone, 

For those of you who have not treated themselves to a trip to the Southwest, I recommend making time and enjoying a three day weekend in this marvelous city. I travelled there with a friend of mine who is a similar food fanatic and we prepped ourselves for a weekend of overindulgence. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the great places to eat and drink in beautiful Santa Fe, NM! 

RAMADA INN – ALBUQUERQUE (admittedly, not Santa Fe)

Nothing fancy about this place, but they had a continental breakfast that included a chafing dish full of hundreds of cocktail meatballs and a tub of picante sauce. Most bizarre breakfast? Perhaps. 

SANTA FE MOTEL & INN

Firstly, this is a very reasonable place to stay. For about $120 a night, this place includes colorful, fun rooms in addition to a giant menu binder in the lobby and a great continental breakfast. They have a spread that includes breakfast burritos, organic oatmeal with similarly organic maple syrup, bread fresh from the Sage Bakery across the street, and a variety of fruit. I don’t know about everyone else, but I can eat at least a $50 value…. 

KOHNAMI SUSHI RESTAURANT – Friday Dinner Stop #1

Having already planned to eat several times that evening, our first stop was for something lighter. Or at least lighter-ish. The fish here was very fresh, the prices reasonable, and we particularly enjoyed the Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll which consisted of spicy tuna, avocado and cream cheese. 

DEL CHARRO SALOON – Friday Dinner Stop #2 (…and Saturday)

Although the nachos are so good we went back two days in a row, the real draw for this place is the house margarita. For $6 you get an entire SHAKER of this delicious blend. 

COWGIRL – Friday Bar Stop 

After being in the bar for under 2 minutes, I met someone from my home county and got bought a shot by a local for “looking nice.” Made friends with another local, and then another – this city is ripe for socializing. 

ATOMIC CAFE – Friday Dinner Stop #3

One of our new local friends took us to this late night eatery where she enjoyed the fish tacos and we split a pizza. Decent after hours snacks. 

FIVE AND DIME – Daytime Snack Stop

Frito pie. Apparently a Santa Fe classic. Here’s the recipe: you cut open a bag of Fritos, fill with beef chili, throw on some cheese and eat it… out of the bag. It was good, I think, although that may take some heavy justification.

LA FONDA – Saturday Lunch

New. Mexican. Buffet. We practically injured ourselves sampling everything from this amazing spread, my personal favorite being the soups. This place also has the best margarita out of the ones I tasted.

 

CAFE PARIS – Sunday “Brunch Dessert”

This cafe felt like something out of the movies. We enjoyed some white wine (they also offer champagne and a good sized wine list), creme brulée and a fruit tart. It has lovely murals on the wall as well as an outside patio. The proprietress was very very nice, and I would recommend this place to anyone. It is located on Burro Alley (above). 

So buy a cheap Southwest Airlines ticket and head over already! There’s eating to be done! 

The Blessing of Devil Cookies

Not Devil’s Food, mind you, but rather the addictive, guilty glory that is Paula Deen’s “Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies.” That is right, GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES. Considering I like my baked goods undercooked, this ‘gooey’ is a much more health-conscious alternative.  

This recipe first came my way from a friend who was lucky enough to catch Paula one afternoon and then nice enough to fill me in on the details. What I now give you is surprisingly easy and will earn you several brownie points (or cookie points, as it were) from the grateful recipients. 

(from http://www.foodnetwork.com)

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature 
1 stick butter, at room temperature 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix 
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

[Dana’s Note: You will have to refrigerate for several hours – see below – so no need to do this before mixing the dough.]

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and “gooey.” Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

 

…see? Easy!

Now for my tips: 

#1: This dough is STICKY, so unless you want to look like one of those dirty kids from the Clorox commercials, be sure to keep it in the refrigerator between baking batches (after the initial two hours). 

#2: I found that a small bowl filled with powdered sugar is the best for coating the dough – you can roll the ball around like a truffle. Beware though: the powdered sugar tends to get absorbed into the greasy dough, so roll fast and shove ’em in the oven! 

#3: I cannot emphasize enough how useful it is to have wire cooling racks. They aren’t necessary, sure, but after several embarrassing moments of giving someone cookies lumped together in mountain form, I figured it was worth it. 

Enjoy, and go bribe your coworkers.