Date Night Restaurant Review

For the last two weeks running, Darren and I have tried new restaurants on our Friday night dinners out. Darren chose Oregano's for his last dinner pick, and we were both left questioning why we waited so long to try it out. Maybe he'll write about it sometime.

This past Friday, I chose Inka Fest. I had driven by it several times, but it isn't much to look at, so I hesitated. Last summer, we had a certificate to a different Peruvian place, and it was okay, but not good enough to go out of our way to go again. I think we will be returning to Inka Fest.

It was nearly empty when we got there; however, we were pretty early for dinner at just after 5:00. We were greeted at the door by two people who told us we could sit anywhere. As there was only one other group in the place, we really could. The decor is not exciting, but there are some neat Peruvian wall decorations. The service was fast and really friendly. 

We started with the choclo con queso and platano frito. If you've never had Peruvian corn, I highly recommend it. We've had it twice now and have enjoyed it both times. The fresh cheese and sauces they have are excellent, and make this a great appetizer. The fried plantains were soft and sweet, and very tasty.

For our main dishes, I had chaufa de pollo (chicken fried rice). It was excellent, and the portion was huge!  The chicken was all white meat, and the rice was flavorful and filled with egg and chicken bits. Darren had the aji de gallina, which is a chicken stew with rice and a hard-boiled egg. His dish was good, but was very mild. Since he tends to like spicier foods, it wasn't his favorite, but was still a good dish. One of the best parts of our meal was the price. We got two appetizer/sides, two entrees, and drinks for less than $40.00 with tip. It's definitely budget friendly, and I had leftovers to take home. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who likes to try different types of food. Good food, friendly service, and great prices!

Brown Sugar Pound Cake Cupcakes with Browned Butter Glaze

You may or may not know that I am a high school teacher. I teach chemistry and physics in Phoenix. School got out two weeks ago, and my seniors graduated. I will miss them dearly, and I wish them all the best in the future.

Then I spent a week writing evaluations, and now I am enjoying my summer. One of my plans is to blog more regularly. I have a plan for three posts a week. We'll see how it goes. 

I am so used to planning my school week on Sundays that I really didn't know what to do with myself this past weekend. One of my tall girls suggested I bake something, and I had seen this recipe a few days prior, so I took some butter out of the freezer and got started.

I creamed the butter and brown sugar according to the directions, and then added the eggs.

The one change that I did make the the recipe was that I added some vanilla bean paste to the batter. I didn't measure it, I just added a dollop of the stuff, but probably about two teaspoons. I first discovered vanilla bean paste last winter when I was making Christmas treats.

Then I alternated the sifted flour and buttermilk.

The batter is pretty thick. I used an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups, because I read that using the scoop makes perfect cupcakes, but I would suggest using less than a full scoop. Most of my cup cakes extended over the tops by a lot.

Once the first batch came out of the oven, I started browning the butter.

The recipe mentions removing the solid bits from the browned butter, and there were a lot of them.

I measured the sugar, added vanilla and vanilla bean paste, and mixed in the butter.

Then I added milk one splash at a time until the glaze was creamy and pourable.

Then I glazed the cupcakes. I put them on a rack over a parchment-lined baking sheet.

We let the glaze set for a while and then ate a delicious cuppy cake with a tall glass of cold milk.

The cake is fantastic. I think it would make an excellent bundt cake. The edges are amazing due to the brown sugar. I might try different glazes or frostings. I like the browned butter glaze, but it was a little weird at first.

Enjoy summer!

Things I Need to Post

I have a lot of pictures of several recipes that Darren and I need to find time to post.

Cast Iron Seared Steaks

Buffalo Nuggets

Asian-Inspired Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Corn and Black Bean Dip

Sangria

Bread Pudding

If you're interested in any of these recipes,  just leave a comment, and I'll post the printable recipe.