ROC - Old Pueblo Grill

I’m back in Rochester for my Mom’s birthday weekend which means catching up with old friends!

Last minute plans when visiting home are the only way I get to see people so I was super excited when my friend Andy texted me and told me to come out for dinner with him. Andy and I are old RIT Hockey buddies so I haven’t seen him in literal years although we have our nerdy Snapchat streak going full of office dogs and getting through our 9-5s we don’t actually see each other very often.

Andy isn’t actually from Rochester but after college I left and he stayed and has been a great source for food recommendations so he picked the place for dinner.

LOCATION: 55 RUSSELL ST., ROCHESTER, NY 14607

I’ve never been to Old Pueblo Grill before and it’s never actually come up in any of the food blogs I follow but that’s not uncommon. Rochester always has new little spots popping up and I feel like there’s always a ton to discover and find. I’m never against tacos and Old Pueblo actually has the ever elusive elote that I always crave and can never find so I was ready to go!

When it comes to tex mex style food I’m always more of a fan of tacos vs. burritos though Andy said everything at this place is good so I couldn’t pick wrong. I decide to go for a taco bundle and got 3 for $13 which isn’t a bad deal. Of course I had to pick the Baja Fish Taco, and the Al Pastor. Both of which are my go to choices when trying new taco places to get a feel for the flavors. I find this deal often and usually that third option is my wild card where I pick a special for that place or see if there’s something different that they’re doing. I had a few options but decided to go with the Chorizo N’ Potato Taco. I love potatoes, of course, so that’s usually the draw for me.

Clearly, these tacos are PACKED and I’m totally here for it. I honestly only ate two tacos at dinner and took the last one home and these are not clean tacos to eat. They’re so full that it’s hard to eat everything cleanly but it’s worth the money. Everything has amazing flavors and the right amount of sauces so nothing felt dry. They use corn tortillas which are a must for me and I would order all of these again. Even the Chorizo and Potato taco held up for a late second dinner reheat. It still had great flavor later and even after a quick microwave it wasn’t dry or gross in texture. Love that reheat test.

Now, as I mentioned before, old Pueblo also has elote which I haven’t really been able to find around Rochester at all (though I can’t say I’ve looked TOO hard recently) so of course I had to order one to go too. However, instead of a regular elote, which is a corn on the cob with crema, cotija cheese, and tajin, I had to go the extra mile and try the Flamin’ Hot Elote. Which, as you can probably guess, is elote rolled in flaming hot cheetoes. I was not disappointed.

This corn was a hilarious color that I was a little embarrassed to eat outside around people judging me so this was also part of the late night snack. The corn itself was pretty good as we are in summer and are in the midst of corn season and this thing had a kick to it! I enjoyed it though I would say that the cheetoes did get a little soggy in my reheat and travel time letting it sit so I won’t really knock it because if I ate it fresh, it probably would’ve been better. It was a little too creamy for me and I wanted to feel more of that crunch from the corn but it was really good in flavor. I love this so much and it was fun to try one time. I would absolutely go for a regular elote next time and now that I know where I can get one, I’ll be back to Old Pueblo Grill for sure.

Dessert Person - Funfetti Birthday Cake

It’s Caleb’s birthday and while he’s not a cake person, I was talking about making myself a funfetti cake for my own birthday in September and he though that sounded nice for his birthday now instead. I didn’t think he would want a birthday cake but I was happy to make this for him instead.

It was a little nerve wracking because I was making it for us to bring to his parent’s house and if it wasn’t good, there would be no other birthday cake. Pressure.

I took the recipe from Claire Saffitz’ book Dessert Person and this was my first cake I’ve ever made from scratch so it wasn’t anything I’d had in my wheelhouse. Luckily Claire had a video as well and I followed along with her cookbook.

Caleb did wan’t a 2layer cake instead of a 3 layer and Claire calls for 9in pans for this recipe but I got 8in pans so I was really testing myself with this one. Luckily Claire does it the pro way where she measures all the ingredients by weight so it was easier for me to divide into thirds and adjust it that way. I just had to adjust the timing of my bake because of my differing pan size and because my oven is old and is finicky with heat.

I also gave myself time and baked the cake the night before we left for his parent’s house and frosted it there.

I did have a minor issue with the cream cheese frosting and didn’t incorporate everything perfectly so mine did have very small lumps of sugar and whatnot. it wasn’t really an issue with the overall texture of the cake and in the end, I covered it in sprinkles so it worked out great.

The cake as a whole came out better than I hoped. It wasn’t dry or overly sweet. WIth the frosting, it was well balanced and it was a good cake. I’m no pro but I’m not bad either.

TikTok Baked Pasta 'Hack'

I can’t say that I’m a TikTok enthusiast or that I use it at all (I’m a little old for that and don’t need ANOTHER form of social media to burn my time) but I do hear about some trends and this was one I had to give in to and try.

For those who don’t know, there’s a viral trend/hack where you bake a block of feta and 2 pints of grape tomatoes with some garlic and other seasoning then add cooked pasta and mix. Bam. Meal made. This is so appealing because of the ease of the recipe. Throw it in the oven, boil some pasta, and your meal is made, only it looks fancier, like you knew what you were doing all along.

Of course I had to give it a shot but I don’t have the app so I googled it and found this simple recipe from delish.

This is really as simple as it seems. There’s no crazy editing or fake out in the end. I love that its easy and its a mix up of the regular pasta with jarred sauce. For us, the feta/tomato combo was a little too acidic and wasn’t as creamy or satisfying in that way. I know there are a bunch of variations so I might try something else next time but as a tester - this was pretty good. The combo wasn’t bad at all and it was super easy and had minimal clean up. I can totally see the appeal.

Homemade Crunchwraps!

Nothing crazy in terms of recipes today but we decided to mix things up a TINY bit and make our own crunch wraps at home. I know this is super popular and they’re really not THAT hard to make but it’s just time consuming. We usually make our own ‘burrito bowls’ at home and do the veggies, beans, meat, and rice all in a bowl that we mix and eat sans tortilla but Caleb watched a youtube video recently and they made their own crunch wraps so here we are.

I made everything per usual, rice, beans, pork, onions and peppers, and Caleb helped me fry small corn tortilas to use for crunch on the inside.

Then I assembled it (Caleb wasn’t sure he could fold it correctly and I used to work at Chipotle so I’m well acquainted with a tortilla). The problem with making this at home is that the tortillas at Chipotle and Moes are actually bigger than usual ones in the grocery store.

I made mine first as a tester and it worked okay though it was tricky to flip into the pan so that the bottom would seal with cheese and not open up while cooking. Caleb’s came out more aesthetically pleasing though they both tasted equally fine.

It was a good meal but I would say, it’s not worth the effort to do this all the time. Burrito bowls are a weekly staple and they’re much easier with just about the same ingredients.

Final verdict: want a crunch wrap or a stack? Got to Moe’s or Taco bell. They have a system and the time to do it. Fun to try once or twice though.

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion - Pork Katsu

It’s a sushi kind of day but sushi alone doesn’t sustain me (because it’s too expensive to buy enough to be full…) so today, along with my ebi rolls, I’ve opted for a Pork Katsu Bento Lunch Special.

LOCATION: 47 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY, 13045

A bento lunch comes with gyoza, a California roll, white rice, and a side of soup or salad (miso soup not pictured).

Bento meals are what I tend to get when we use to eat there but I haven’t gotten it as a takeout meal before and I haven’t gotten the Pork Katsu before. I love the little take out bento box this meal came in with the cute little compartments.

Everything is pretty standard, it’s hard to mess up a California roll, and white rice. I would also guess they don’t make their gyoza in house that it’s a pretty standard gyoza that’s cooked well but nothing impressive.

The pork katsu was really the leap this time and it did come with a sweet sauce that I dipped the meat into to eat with rice. Overall, the flavor was fine but the pork was dry and I was a little sad. Not a bento protein I would choose again but not inedible.

The reason I go to Wild Ginger so often is because of the wide menu and the fact that it’s the only place that has authentic Asian food that doesn’t make me sad. I can only eat so much American Chinese takeout. Cross Katsu off the list but I’ll be back again for something else.