Lunch at Mary and Tito's

Mary and Tito's Cafe is an old style family restaurant located on 4th Street NW a little bit north of downtown and the I-40 freeway.

The original route 66 (from 1926 to 1937) came west from Texas into New Mexico but turned north at Santa Rosa (east of Albuquerque) to go through Santa Fe before heading south to Albuquerque and entered the town on 4th Street.

Although many of the tourist related businesses from that era like motels have closed down, the street still has a lot of local businesses including some very good restaurants.

Mary & Tito's has been going for 50 years now with good food and very reasonable prices in a cozy atnosphere. Tito died several years ago and Mary just died this year, but the family continue to run an excellent cafe.

Jukebox by the front door

Main Dining Room

 We arrived at 11:30 on a Saturday and the cafe quickly filled up with the Saturday lunch crowd including a family group that enjoyed this table for 6.

Checkout counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hadn't enjoyed a tamale yet for the Christmas holiday, so I chose this large combination plate with a tamale, cheese and onion enchilada (hiding under the green chile) and taco. As part of the excellent service we received, the taco which often gets wet in the sauce on a combination plate was served on a separate plate!

Large Combo Plate with Tamale, Enchilada and Taco

 The food was all delicious and the green chile was tasty and spicy although the carne adovada filling for the tamale was a little under marinated.

Carne Adovada Stuffed Sopaipilla

Honey enjoyed the Carne Adovada Mexican Turnover, also known as a stuffed sopaipilla. The carne adovada in the stuffed sopaipilla, on the other hand, was thoroughly marinated and was quite good!

Sopaipillas are a New Mexico specialty, made from rolled strips of dough that are deep fried and bubble up when they fry. They're delicious when you tear open the bubble and add honey!

Or, as in this case, you can stuff a filling into the sopaipilla.

Usually they are served as a side dish with a meal. Size varies but I've never seen sopaipillas this large as a side dish!

Prices are quite reasonable with the most expensive item being only $8.75. Breakfast is served until 11:30.

The Essential Great Steak Sauce Challenge

Sometimes, it's fun to mimic the sort of food testing done in a more serious way by shows like Cook's Country/America's Test Kitchen or long established magazines like Consumer Reports. So, when we were out shopping a couple days ago we decided to test A-1, our sons' favorite steak sauce against house brands from Wal Mart (Great Value) and Albertson's (Essential Everyday).

Our sons definitely prefer A-1 and almost soak their steaks in it when we serve them (which isn't that often). But, we bought 3 bone-in New York strip steaks to use for the test (7 minutes each side under High broil one rack down from the top).

Three sauces in bowls for blind testing

 I set up for the test by pouring sauce in three bowls and taking this picture to identify which sauce was in which bowl.

Essential Everyday, A-1, and Great Value

 Then I prepared a large batch of mashed potatoes (which the boys really like) and broiling the steaks.

Dinner for Four

After heating some left-over gravy and vegetables, we were ready for dinner.

One son wasn't feeling well and didn't do the taste challenge. The other son correctly identified the A-1 sauce and didn't like the other two sauces.

My assessment was a little closer. The Essential Everyday has more raisin paste than corn syrup and a little more carb's. It also adds tamarinds! That may be why it has a slightly redder color and more tomato taste compared to the spice.

The Wal Mart Great Value sauce had about the same balance of spice and tomato taste as A-1. But, A-1 definitely has a spicier taste. If I were choosing a substitute for A-1, I would pick the Great Value. 


Any of them would be acceptable for casual dining. But, it's easy to see why Kraft's A-1 is the preferred brand.

I began my holiday cooking this afternoon by preparing a batch of Fantasy Fudge.

Hope you all enjoy the holidays!

Holiday Cranberry Relish

This is really just a basic cranberry sauce with a couple additions, but I've found I really like this combination.

1 12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
2 medium apples, cored and chopped
1 navel orange, cut and shredded in a blender or food processor

1. Rinse the cranberries in water and pick out any bad or soft ones. Drain the cranberries.

2. Heat the cranberries in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan over medium high heat with the sugar, water and cinnamon till it boils. Stir frequently and boil for about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the orange and apples.

4. Refrigerate for at least one hour and serve.