I presented this list at our Fellowship of Retired Persons meeting last month and a number of people asked me to post it on my website.  So, here it is.

Some of these are ‘off the beaten path’.  There are other dishes in area to try (e.g. Perry’s porkchop), but these are likely some that you may not have had yet.  They are in no particular order.

1. The “Stone Bowl” at Korean BBQ (435 El Dorado)

The best way to describe this is like fried rice prepared tableside.  Very fun experience.

2. Grilled Pork Vietnamese Sandwich at Nobi (528 & Blackhawk)

A crispy French roll with grilled pork, shredded carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapenos.  If you want it less spicy, make sure to ask for no jalapenos.

3. Jerk Chicken at D’Caribbean Curry Spot (2548 Broadway St, Pearland)

Everything here is an experience in the Caribbean.  Make sure to try the doubles – chickpeas in a zesty sauce in a flatbread.

4. Seafood Gumbo at Floyds (Pearland)

The best gumbo around!  Shrimp are perfectly cooked.

5. Bratwurst at King’s Biergarten (1329 East Broadway)

In same location as King’s Carwash across from Floyds.  Very authentic German food.

6. Pupusa at King Chicken (548 West Nasa Parkway)

Think of a pupusa as a thick stuffed tortilla with a cole slaw side.  Pretty tasty!

7. Fried Chicken at Pollo Campero (702 W Bay Area Blvd)

A Guatemalan chain.  Very good chicken and sides.

8. Vanilla Iced Nirvana at Dunn Bros Coffee

Cold brewed coffee with vanilla and cream.  A good smooth afternoon treat!

9. Homemade tamale plate at Alamo Tamales (13914 Highway 3 – near 2351)

Tamales with chili and queso.  Not for those on a diet.

10. Philly Cheese steak at Antonini’s Subs (Med Center Blvd and hwy 3)

He’s from New Jersey, but he makes a pretty good cheese steak.  You will get messy, but it’s worth it.

Refried beans are almost an afterthought on most Tex-Mex plates – just something there to fill the plate out and make your $7.99 Fajita plate worth the money.  Most people would say they could take it or leave it when it comes to refried beans, especially the ones from a can that we usually open to go along with our ground beef tacos on Wednesday night.  But good refried beans don’t need to be too much work and the reward is well worth it.  Take the extra time and cook some up – you’ll change your thoughts about refried beans forever!

Homemade Refried Beans

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

3 oz salt pork, bacon, or chorizo

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp cilantro

Cook salt pork over med-low heat until all the fat has rendered from the meat.  Remove meat from pan and set aside for later.  Increase heat to med-high and add onion and jalapenos.  Cook until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add beans and broth and mash until almost smooth.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until thick, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in cooked salt pork and cilantro and serve!

I had such great hopes.  Pie?  Breakfast?  How could you go wrong?  Well…  Let’s just say they figured something out.  I’m disappointed in The Pie Garden.  It had such great potential, but, so far, it has failed at almost every step.  Service?  Lacking.  Food?  Underwhelming.  Pie?  Not homemade.  In fact, I took this picture on opening day of boxes of frozen pies in the dumpster on opening day:

Boxes of pies at Pie Garden dumpster

To add insult to injury, I asked them to bring me their best pie and they brought me a piece of apple pie. (Notice the box above!)  Combine this with the bad service, the inconsistent hours (thought they opened at 6 am, yet not open this morning), and the overcooked, straight from restaurant supply food and the Pie Garden falls on all accounts.

It really is sad.  I gave them a number of chances, yet they continue to disappoint.  Hopefully they’ll be able to turn things around.  Until then, I’m still in search of a decent breakfast on a weekday and a good slice of pie.

As we approach February and soon March, I’ve decided to put together a bracket of 64 desserts and pair them in a March-madness type bracket to determine the ultimate dessert (at least of 2011). Below is the list I have compiled, but I’d like to hear your thoughts about what I missed. Please, if you do propose to add a dessert also select one for removal and the reason. Once I have a good list I will put together a bracket and we’ll start the tournament!

A couple of ground rules:

1. Please don’t choose some specific dessert from a particular person or place. I’m sure one place does something better than anywhere, but that’s not really an overall picture.

2. Please don’t select something obscure that most people wouldn’t have heard of. I’m sure there are plenty of desserts that I need to try, but, again, not really an overall picture thing.

3. No candy. Yes, we all love candy, but it’s more of a snack and not a dessert.

4. This is for fun, and not money. If your favorite isn’t listed or doesn’t make the final bracket or isn’t seated high enough, sorry. Maybe you should take me to lunch and buy me that dessert to convince me!

With no further ado, here is the initial list of 64 (in no particular order)!

1. Apple pie
2. Cherry pie
3. Pecan pie
4. Pumpkin pie
5. Strawberry pie
6. Chocolate pudding
7. Vanilla pudding
8. Banana pudding
9. Chocolate Meringue pie
10. Lemon meringue pie
11. lemon chess pie
12. chocolate-pecan pie (derby pie)
13. peanut butter pie
14. chocolate souflee
15. vanilla ice cream
16. chocolate ice cream
17. brownies
18. chocolate chip cookies
19. sugar cookies
20. oatmeal raisin cookies
21. blondies
22. snickerdoodles
23. thin mints
24. cheesecake
25. turtle cheesecake
26. birthday cake
27. chocolate layered cake
28. banana’s foster
29. red velvet cake
30. chocolate molten cake
31. creme brulee
32. chocolate mousse
33. key lime pie
34. bread pudding
35. pumpkin cake roll
36. fancy cupcake
37. napoleon
38. pastry
39. plain donut
40. filled donut
41. peach cobbler
42. cherry cobbler
43. blackberry cobbler
44. pound cake
45. jello
46. pop-sickle
47. ice cream shake/malt
48. ice cream with mix-in
49. churro
50. sopapillas
51. flan
52. cream puffs
53. eclair
54. strudel
55. coffee cake
56. gingerbread
57. ice cream sundae
58. banana split
59. banana bread
60. carrot cake
61. banana cream pie
62. chocolate pots de creame
63. crepes
64. coconut cream pie

Please excuse the spelling errors.  Enjoy!