For the past decade I’ve been responsible for cooking the Seder dinner. It’s gotten more elaborate over the years – particularly the desserts because we get invited over to a friends house for one of the Seder meals.

Last year I created rosewater meringues dipped in rum syrup. It was delicate, light, kosher and surprisingly good. This year I made two deserts. One to bring to our friends’ Seder and one for fun. The one to bring to their Seder is the famous François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies. To keep completely kosher, I had to grind my own sugar. Although the soft white powder looked good in the food processor when I was done … it was still very coarse. Other than that, the recipe was followed to a “T” (as in “Tanuch”) and came out very, very good. Our hostess will be pleased.

The second dessert I made didn’t turn out so well – Crème brûlée. The cream over-boiled, the custard didn’t set (even keeping it in the oven an extra 1/2 hour didn’t help), and because there was less custard (I lost about a cup of cream to it over-boiling), the sugar ratio was too high and made it too sweet. The ramekins were too small, so the extra 1/2 cup of cinnamon sugar spread amongst the 2-inch tops was too much and I didn’t have a torch.

Surprisingly, the top sugar melted perfectly in the oven at the high broiler setting. And other than it being to sweet, the flavor was spot-on. And they looked cool. At least they’re kosher. So I learned the following – watch your cream carefully … once it starts to boil, it can overflow or burn within seconds. I used 5 yolks … next time I’ll use 6 or 7 to help it set better. Some potato starch would have helped it to set, too. Finally, when adding the sugar on top, skip what the directions say and make the portions fit the ramekin size. A thin layer of sugar is better than a thick one.

What I didn’t like about Stevie Ray’s soft fish tacos:

1. Too spicy hot. My taste buds were so preoccupied fighting the chili burns that it couldn’t taste anything else. I tried to tone down the flavor with sour cream and salad but the salad seemed permeated by the same spice only hotter!

2. Fish strips were too short – almost like curds. They either piled up or flopped out of the taco. You remember the school cafeteria progression? Steaks on Monday, Hamburger on Tuesday, spaghetti and Meatballs on Wednesday, mystery meatloaf on Thursday, etc… I felt like it was Wednesday and some other customer who got there before me had the full fillet.

3. Too wet. The corn tortillas were soggy and messy. This also made the corn tortillas droopy, putting more pressure on the dry structure and causing them to split more.

4. Soft corn tortillas weren’t softened. Whatever parts weren’t dripping in soggy mess were splitting apart, as mentioned earlier.

5. Condiments were old. The guacamole was brownish green and the sour cream was coagulated.

6. Sides did not compliment the meal. The “coleslaw” seemed to have been soaked in the cayenne pepper which meant that trying to cool your tongue by eating the only side you had to the meal made the experience even more painful.

7. With the old condiments, lack of original sides and geometrically placed tacos sagging around the sides of the platter, the dish appeared as appetizing as fast food. I already had an ill conceived idea of what dinner experience my mouth would suffer in the next half hour.

Thoughts on solutions:
1. Use a milder Creole spice rather than the spicy Cajun variety.

2. Use more butter than before to keep the fillets from breaking apart while cooking and cut the fish fillets into longer strips AFTER they’ve been pan fried with a very sharp knife. If cut prior to frying, coat them in an egg-white spice mix to hold the structure of the flesh and lock in the flavor.

3. Dry on one platter, wet on another. Even if the wet platter is a bowl in the center – keep the wet away from the dry. And drain the oil off the fish before sticking them in the corn tortillas. Add well drained – very well drained – ingredients to the taco like slightly under ripe tomatoes and black beans. These add flavor without the squish.

4. Press corn tortillas in very hot steam to soften them. Try sprinkling a little cheese all over a slightly moist corn tortilla (this will add structure) then super heat it in a dry pan. That will make it pliable. Also offer a flour tortilla option.

5. Repeat after me … fresher is better. That aside – guacamole turns brown in about half an hour after it’s been exposed to air. Lime or lemon juice help deter the oxidation process. Only make guacamole on an as need basis. Don’t make a bowl of it at 10 AM to scoop out at 5 PM. Yuck! To keep sour cream from coagulating, use a fattier option and mix with a little bit of whole milk. Also – plain sour cream? Be more original. Use plain white yogurt or sour cream infused with sun-dried tomatoes. That tang will give a twist that will make conversation.

6. There’s got to be something more original or flavorful than chopped white lettuce soaked in cayenne pepper. Rice. Rice and fish go great together. So does polenta. Try a little gumbo on the side. These make interesting sides that compliment the dish, not detract from it.

7. Take a plating course. Look at foodie blogs to see how plates are arranged. Don’t place in symmetrical patterns flat across the plate, but use some level of vertical direction. Add a sliced and twisted orange with a sprig of cilantro over the top to add zest and appeal.

That’s it.

I enjoy restaurants that make effort in providing healthy and natural dishes. Stevie Ray’s Eastside Grill is one of the few mainstream restaurants that put forth this effort.

It’s “mainstream” because it’s not another Adams Mountain Cafe, Dale Street Cafe, Gertrudes or Olive Branch. In other words, it doesn’t appear to cater specifically to health nuts. You can order fish and chips or burgers like most other American food restaurants, but it’s not some disgusting MSG laden chain like Applebees, Red Robin, TGIF or others similar. Even my son who has an arsenal of food allergies can eat the burgers from the kids menu.

The restaurant is very family oriented with old classic cartoons beaming from television sets around the dining hall to the model trains that circle above your head. It also has a classy feel, which is unusual for family restaurants and gives this eating locale a character and charm of its own.

Instead of bringing out the typical complimentary oily GMO chips and salsa or fatty flavored fries, it’s a plate full of crunchy carrot sticks with dressing to dip them in. When you order regular fries, it’s potato strings, oil and salt. You can ask for healthy options when ordering and the waitresses and waiters are quick with their answers which I take as a queue that they are asked these questions often and the restaurant is becoming more known in the circles of natural food eaters as an enjoyable outing.

They offer an interesting burger that most people might first wince at. Imagine a bacon burger with peanut butter instead of ketchup. Don’t laugh. Think about oriental food – Chiang Mai steaks, or Szechuan Beef – and you’ll recall the combination of nutty and meaty timbre throughout the meal. The burger seems to be one of the local favorites because of its unique yet pleasing flavor.

I had the fish tacos, which was probably one of the lesser items on the menu. Even the side condiments were sad in appearance and texture. The owner of the restaurant seems attentive and desirous of his customer’s comments but was busy waiting on tables so I left a comment on their cards for him to get to later. I was thinking today of what could have made the fish tacos great and thought up some points on how to improve them. That’s what the next blog will be about.

For now, do better than me and if you order something that you don’t like, tell the waitress or waiter and have it fixed. These are not the type of chefs that would spit in your food like those who work in other places (especially chain or snobbish restaurants – and there are plenty of horror stories out there that are too disgusting to mention). These are chefs and employees who work closely with the cheerful owner who takes humble honor in running his business.

I give it four and a half out of six forks.