a teaspoon or two

Kicking of the (lunar) new year!

2012-01-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

There's has always been a very strong Chinese presence in the Philippines. Growing up in Manila, my circle of friends always included chinese/filipinos, or tsinoy friends. A relatively large ethnic group in the Philippines, tsinoys have influenced our food, customs, and our cultural traditions. So much so that it's hard to parse out what's chinese, filipino, or spanish for that matter.

Growing up Filipino can sometimes be confusing. There are so many ways that people self identify -- from the provinces where we were born to comparing our ethnic percentages. We say things like "I'm half spanish, a quarter filipino (I suppose technically "malay"), and a quarter chinese"! Truly, we do! Do people do this anywhere else in the world?

Even though some of our traditions are more chinese than traditionally filipino, cultural traditions are definitely something I miss from my childhood. Everyone is swept up in preparations for Chinese New Year. Coming so quickly after the western start to the year, which itself comes right after the long holiday season, it's the perfect excuse to focus on spiritual matters and find your center.

Part of the lunar new year tradition revolves around eating food deemed lucky by virtue of their round shape (like coins) or their names that evoke health, wealth, good fortune, and all things happy.

Pomelo, check! Tangerines, check! Dumplings, check! Chicken meat balls, check!

These little nuggets don't immediately come to mind when we think of lucky food to kick off the lunar new year. Nor are they traditional in any sense whatsoever. In my mind their circular shape, although not perfectly formed, make them eligible for inclusion into our lunar new year menu. That, plus they are simply addicting.

These meatballs are the circular interpretation of our of my favorite yakitori combinations -- negima or chicken thigh and a slice of tokyo negi (green onion) slathered in some tare. I've been obsessed with these negima balls and just yesterday rolled out 85 of these babies!

Topped off with some radish pickles, a few shiso leaves, and some nori, these negima balls are the perfect lunchbox stuffer or quick mid-week meal.

The recipe below makes about 40ish negima balls. Personally, I like to make these in 5 pound batches which comes up to about 85 negima balls. I fry them all up at the same time. Once they've cooled down I pop the negima balls into a ziplock bags in batches of 15 or 20, prior to glazing!

Perfect for a quick mid-week meal, all you need to do is defrost and glaze them.

Recipe for Negima Balls

For the negima balls

2 pounds ground chicken

5 dried shitake mushrooms (rehydrated and chopped)

5-7 stalks of green onions (finely chopped)

1 egg

panko

onion powder

salt and pepper

Mock tare sauce

soy sauce

chicken stock

brown sugar

sake

grated garlic

Reduce your mock tare -- The first question that inevitably comes up is why the "mock"? In my book a good tare is made with chicken trimmings -- most often the wing tips. Not only were we fresh out of wing tips, I didn't really have the time. So I substituted with chicken stock.

Notice the lack of measurements? Because you'll need to reduce the heck out of this sauce so that it becomes a glaze, I really do this to taste. It takes about 20 - 30 minutes to reduce around 2 cups of the sauce into a nice, thick glaze. Taste and adjust as you go.

Make the negima balls -- I really, really like green onions so I tend to put a copious amount in these negima balls. I'll leave it up to you to decide how much you can put in. After finely chopping your shitake mushrooms and green onions, all you really have to do is mix all the ingredients into a large bowl.

You'll need to judge exactly how much panko you need based on how wet your mixture ends up being. To test for texture, I like to roll a teaspoonfullortwo -- pun! -- between my palms. If the ball is too loose and doesn't come together, add more panko. Just enough to give the negima balls some structure.

I would suggest putting in a small amount of the spices into the mixture and then letting it sit in the fridge for about 3o minutes for the flavors to develop. Keep in mind that the negima balls will be glazed in the terriyaki sauce so while they shouldn't be bland, they shouldn't be too flavorful as well. These are subtle meatballs.

Rolling the negima balls -- I like to settle down with a movie to do this task. Makes the time go much faster. Depending on your meatball preference lightly roll out teaspoon or tablespoon sized balls between your palms. Be gentle.

If you're like me, you'll slightly obsess about the fact that once you set the negima balls down on a tray they have slightly frayed edges. Don't worry, you'll get a chance to smooth them over right before they do into the pan!

After rolling them all out, let them sit for another 30 minutes.

Pan fry the negima balls -- Before setting the negima balls into a non-stick pan, I like to lightly wet my palms and give the balls another roll to smoothen them out. There isn't a lot of fat in the mixture, so I add a very small amount of vegetable oil into the pan.

It took about 6 minutes to fry up a batch of these negima balls over medium heat. One way to tell if they are done is to lightly push down on them. If there's a little bit of resistance then they are done. If they feel like they are giving way too much, leave them in for about one more minute.

Fry them in batches and set them aside.

Bathe them in glaze -- Finally, it's time to glaze these babies! In the same pan over medium heat, combine a few tablespoons of your sauce with the negima balls. I like to keep the pan moving while the sugars in the sauce caramelize. It took about 4-6 minutes to glaze a dozen.

At this point there is only one thing left to do! Sit down and enjoy!!!

As you can tell, some of the photos were taken on my phone. Bear with them!

Coming soon!

2012-01-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

I've got a backlog of holiday and every-day recipes to share with you. Unfortunately, I've been having a little bit of trouble with the stories that need to go with the dishes.

Here's the problem. For the longest time I never made new year's resolutions. Mostly because I used to break each and everyone of them. Having said that, I picked up some healthy habits in 2011 that I really want to build on so 2012 has turned into a year of expectations!

It's been a busy few weeks.

I've been knitting like mad and am currently knitting #3 of the 25 scarves that I plan to make this year. Scarves #1 and #2 were done so quickly that I decided to take my knitting to the next level.

Hah! Shows you what I know.

I decided to knit a lace pattern scarf with a lace weight yarn. For the knitters out there, I went with a feather and fan pattern. This one. In other words, I am crazy.

I've had to start over a magical 8 times for one reason or another. And I had to rip out half the scarf TWICE in the past 4 days. All while muttering "there's a life lesson in here, somewhere" timed to soothing deep breaths.

Have I mentioned how it's been a busy few weeks?

Top that off with preparing to say goodbye to some friends who unexpectedly have to head back to Japan. For good. In a week.

Yep, I'm a little pre-occupied.

But, we all have to eat so here's a preview of what is coming your way soon!

Salt and Pepper Sparerib Nuggets

Pancit Palabok

Porchetta!

Between holidays

2011-12-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

We're in between holidays right now -- Christmas day has just passed and new year's eve is right around the corner. Perfect time to be be planning for 2012, wouldn't you say?

This lull between the holidays has traditionally been a time for planning ahead for the coming year. Thinking up dreams, places to see, things to do -- is often something I look forward to at year's end. And while it used to come so easily, I find that that's no longer true. It's been challenging to do any of this creative thinking.

And while I can't exactly pinpoint the reasons -- my advancing age, being burnt out, the over-all depressing state of the world -- what is clear is that the lack of planning has impacted how the past couple of years have unfolded.

I haven't exactly been felt like myself. Nothing too dramatic; I just used to be a lot bubblier, more spontaneous, and way more fun. I'm not really one for resolutions but this time of year presents the perfect opportunity for reflection and starting anew. And while I'm not in the right mood to be dreaming up large scale changes, I do want to make sure to take some steps to find my old self and have a little bit more fun.

Time. Food. Friends, both old and new. Put together, they lift my spirits in ways that I'm truly grateful for.

There's something soothing about the act of making some food. And there's something heartwarming about watching friends eat food we've carefully prepared. Thankfully, we've unplanned these holidays in away that lets these three things come together.

If there's one particular dish our friends ask for during the holidays, it's embutido. A staple during Filipino holidays, I've heard this dish described as a take on meatloaf; a meat stick; or meat roll. In essence it's a mixture of ground meats and veggies steamed into a log shape.

Trust me, it's way, way better than it sounds.

As it frequently unfolds, I really thought I was making a small batch of embutido this year. Starting with a total of 5 pounds of ground pork and chicken. Much of filipino cooking is based on tancha, which basically means to taste. In this respect, I am truly filipino. Ive never really bothered to measure or weigh any of my ingredients, so I never really knew how much embutido mix I would eventually end up with. I figured all that the add-ons would amount to about 2 pounds, tops.

Shows you what I know.

When all was said and done, we ended up with a whopping 12 pounds of embutido. That's 7 pounds of stuff that needed to get chopped and prepped. No wonder my arms are about to fall off!

Much like chicken soup, adobo, or spaghetti sauce -- there really isn't a right way to make embutido. Each family has their own traditional way of making them their own. I'm glad to share our version with you. And this time, I actually measured.

Best of wishes for the coming year!

Embutido
Make 24 half-pound rolls
I am sure this recipe can be scaled down to much smaller proportions. When the day comes that I really do make a smaller batch of embutido, I'll let you know.

Traditional ingredients
4 pounds ground pork
4 cans vienna sausage (mashed)
3 eggs
4 pieces chorizo del bilbao (finely chopped)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
8 roasted bell peppers (finely chopped)
2 cups of raisins
1 small jar of sweet pickle relish
3 large carrots (finely chopped)
seasonings to taste - salt, pepper, sweet paprika
4 dozen quail eggs for stuffing.

Mike and Pica's variation (in addition to traditional ingredients)
1 pound ground chicken
2 cans liver spread
1 cup of pimiento olives (finely chopped)
2 cups shredded fairly dry cheese (we used a mix of grana padano and gouda)

Before you start mixing up a batch, I've got a few tips to make your life easier.

First, plan ahead. The whole process takes about 2 days, mostly because I like to let the whole thing sit in the fridge overnight. It's best for everything to mingle before adjusting the final seasonings.

Second, toss all the fixings and seasonings together in a separate bowl before you mix them up with the ground meats. Don't mash everything together, you're not looking to make meat paste! I prefer to use my hands and mix everything together by lifting the meat from the bottom up. Like a fork lift. But with light fingers, instead of steel claws. You get the picture.

Step 1 - Set aside ground pork and chicken in a large bowl.

Step 2 - Prep everything that needs to be chopped and place into a separate bowl. Mix with mashed vienna sausage, liver spread, seasonings, and eggs. I like to do this to disturb the meat as little as possible. This is also a good time to boil and peel the quail eggs that will be stuffed into the embutido rolls. Preferably over a good christmas movie, while sipping some wine.

Step 3 - Mix the meats and the add-ons.

Step 4 - Let the meat rest overnight in the fridge.

Step 5 - Measure out half-pound balls and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Step 6 - Using aluminum foil, roll half-pound logs of embutido stuffed with quail eggs.

Step 7 - Steam the embutido for 45 minutes or bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Step 8 - Give away 10 pounds of embutido because honestly can you really eat all 12 pounds by yourself??

A happy (quiet) Christmas to you!

2011-12-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Manila, Christmas was my favorite time of year.

I loved the excessively long season that started as soon as temperatures cooled down -- in October -- and ended after the Feast of the Three Kings (aka January 6th).

I loved that having an extended family meant delivering food gifts to home after home. Just another reason to bake feverishly!

I loved waking up before the crack of dawn for the traditional 9-day Simbang Gabi, up until I inevitably succumbed to a cold or a fever on December 24th!

The season was entirely about being social; surrounded by friends and family. It was heaven!

And while age and a change in geography has changed the ways in which we enjoy and celebrate the holidays -- the heart of the season still holds true for us.

Friends. Family. Food. Generosity. and Warmth. All in a very California-way.

The season has been peppered with lingering dinners, extended teatimes, and walks in the park with the small circle of friends that has served as our family for a number of years. And thanks to k-dramas (I'll save that for another post), Skype, Facebook, and Google+, we've also been able to bond with family and friends near and far.

Christmas eve and Christmas day, however, will be quiet and low-key. And although we know which movies we are seeing -- Love Actually, Elf, and Serendipity -- we haven't decided exactly what appetizers we will be making.

A menu-less holiday -- certainly a first for me!

However you chose to spend the holidays -- and whatever food graces your tables -- I sincerely hope that your hearts are warm and full.

Although I can't promise a specific number of posts ever week Malou Nivera of Skip to Malou was right, I do miss writing. I'll try to make it over here more often!

Here's a little photo of Max, taking a breather from guarding all his presents under the tree!

Happy holidays!

Taking Stock.

2011-05-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say that in the months I've been gone from this blog was due to some major, preferably fabulous, event.

If only.

And while it's true that life could certainly be better, some things are much improved from late last year -- we've still got a home, jobs, are relatively healthy (if not completely sane), and last but not the least, (as far as I can tell) are unraptured.

Seriously though, I've often thought of writing about food again. Specially in the last few months when I've been comforted by kneading, baking, and plain old experimenting. It feels good to write about cooking again and I'm thankful about that.

What better time to take, rather, make stock than the weekend after you've survived yet another "the sky is falling" prediction? The first day of summer calls for a seafood stew, a teaspoonortwo style, courtesy of a ziplock full of shrimp heads.

Seafood Stew Recipe

Step 1: Saute, saute, and saute a flavor filled broth.

Saute chopped onions and whole garlic cloves in some vegetable oil.

Add shrimp heads and spend the next 15 minutes wallowing in the briny smell of shrimp fat oozing out of the little heads.

Add a dollop or two of tomato paste and let that brown for about 10 minutes.

Pop open a bottle of wine (white or red), a cup and a half worth of glugs of which are for the base - the rest is for you know who. (You!) With no more cheap reds fit for opening just for stew, we instead used some prosecco. At less than $10 a bottle at Trader Joe's, a bottle of Asti is a perfect substitution to a more traditional chardonnay.

Add some bay leaf, a whole lemon quartered, ateaspoonortwo of garlic powder, and as much water as needed to make a stew and let the base simmer for at least half and hour. At the end, salt and pepper to your taste.

Step 2: Strain and thicken broth.

I don't think anyone likes the idea of crushed shrimp shells in between their teeth, so I strongly suggest you strain the broth using a sieve. Go old school and mash out every last bit of flavor from the shells.

If you're like me and prefer your stew to be slightly thicker than a stew, take this extra step. In a small bowl, mash up some room temperature butter with ateaspoonortwo of flour. Add the bits of butter/flour into the broth until you get to a consistency that you like.

Step 3: Add you seafood.

The last step is easy peasy, specially of you've got access to this bad boy. A 2 pound bag of prepared seafood from your neighborhood Costco! You can also make your own seafood combination: mussels, crab, shrimp, and firm white fish are a popular combination in our house!

Remember that the broth needs to be at a simmer before you add those 2 pounds of seafood!

I find that I rather like tender seafood, the polar opposite of rubbery seafood. This means I use a slow simmer instead of a full boil.

Step 4: Serve it up!

Sprinkle some fresh herbs on a bowl of seafood stew and serve with some lemon wedge and crusty bread.

Dig in and don't forget the leftover wine!

Mashed potato biscuits

2010-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Like any thanksgiving hostess, I have my fair share of leftovers - prime rib, turkey, gravy - and no clue what to do with them!

Well, that's not exactly true, the turkey is being split between turkey noodle soup and turkey pot pie. Not right this very minute, but sometime soon. When it doesn't nauseate me to think the words "gobble, gobble".

The prime rib isn't really a problem, right? There's so many things to do with left over meat.

The mashed potatoes, however, are an issue. Every time we make em, I am stuck with a huge bowl the next day. And while I could certainly start off with less potatoes, I find myself making a big batch each time because I crave a "part two potato experience".

I have tried to pan fry them into mashed potato cakes. Fail.

I have tried to deep fry them into mashed potato balls. Uber fail.

But today, I found the winner! Mashed. Potato. Biscuits. Three words I would have never strung together if not for this Serious Eats recipe.

See, I have had also had epic failures with anything that calls for "kneading". Just the thought of failed breads and biscuits make me shudder. As soon as I saw the SE recipe though, I knew I was in for the definitive "part-two potato experience".

And yes, I have learned. I didn't so much knead as I did pat. Not fail!

And while the recipe below goes against free-form cooking nature, I did substitute buttermilk for sour cream and water. So somehow, I did make the recipe mine. But you knew I was going to do that right? This recipe did more than provide the part two potato experience I was craving. It helped me believe that I too could make a biscuit that was light and fluffy! It's like a whole new world of baking has opened up for me!

I have to warn you that as soon as these pillows of dough - seriously, they are soft, crumbly, and tender!!!!! - as soon as these babies come out of the oven, you will immediately split them in half and stick some butter in it.

Mike and I stood by the oven eating them as soon as the 1st batch came out. Batch #2 currently baking in the oven, and we've both calmed down enough to take photos.

Make these. They are heavenly!

Mashed Potato Biscuits
adapted from Serious Eats

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cold water

Pre-heat oven to 450°F. Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix with a fork to combine.

Cut the chilled butter into the dry ingredients by pulsing them together in a food processor. Add the mashed potatoes to the mixture and mix with a fork until the potatoes are evenly distributed throughout. I found that the fork wasn't up to the task. so I found that you can also use your fingers to mix and lightly press the dough together.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add beaten egg, sour cream, and cold water. Mix the dough until a loose dough forms. Turn out onto floured work surface and knead until the dough comes together. Remember to pat, pat instead of kneading!

Use a rolling pin to gently flatten and stretch out your dough. Can this be called dough? hahaha At any rate, once you have them at the desired thickeness around an inch or so you are in business!

Despite your spouses, significant other, backseat baker's objections, cut the dough into any shape or size you would like. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. This recipe yields 3 batches if you have a small toaster oven like I do. By the 3rd batch, you'll be brave enough to bake the biscuits at 450 as recommended and they will be much more golden brown than the photo up there! =)

In the last few minutes, I would stand around the oven with a knife and butter handy.

Enjoy!

Hawaiian Comfort on a Plate. Or Plates.

2010-10-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

What an awesome NBA season opener! Thanks to the celtics, I've got more than enough energy to spare. Definitely enough to get the long overdue Hawaii recap up!

Hawaii feels like a long time ago! Wait, the middle of September WAS a long time ago. With the gloomy and rainy bay area weather lately, unpacking our vacation memories is a welcome distraction.

Any bit of spare time is all about food for us; this means weeknights, weekends, and yes! vacations too! Oahu delivered food satisfaction in spades!

Truth be told, I had my misgivings about Waikiki. After all we had heard, time and again, that it was a tourist trap. And while this certainly was true, there was also something really charming and familiar about Oahu.

I loved the whole green vibe of Honolulu, it reminded me very much of Manila's large city, Makati. I loved the density as well. It was so common to see little mom and pop stores and restaurants at the bottom of some mid- or high-rise bulding. I am talking mom and pop and not national retailers. Although they had their fare share of that as well.

The food was amazing. It was so easy to find good food at different price points. Our hands down favorite was Helena's Hawaiian Food. We knew it was going to be good for a number of reasons.

First, our friends who had anything to do with living on the island swore by Helena's.

Second, it was a bit far from Waikiki. A 2-bus ride that took 30 minutes.

Funny story, we hoped on the bus (get yourself one of those multi-day passes) and asked the bus driver to let us off at a certain intersection to make sure we caught our connection. He wanted to know why we were headed out there. According to him "tourists don't go there". I said one word ... "Helena's" ... he chuckled and told us to "get on the bus".

That's a true story.

It was at this point that we were certain we were about to have something special.

It was, hands down, the BEST meal we had on the Island. It beat out lobster, onigiri galore, yakiniki, crack seed, and daily seafood jaunts.

Helena's dishes fantastic local food! The plates are small, true, but they really are quite filling!

The surprise hit for me was the lau lau squid. I wasn't even going to order this! The description and pictures I had seen so far weren't too appetizing. I was concerned about it's texture. But the owner suggested a number of times that we try the laulau. I noticed they had a number of versions, so I picked squid.

OMG, it was amazing! Creamy and smokey and I swear to god I could taste coconut milk.

Yes, the texture is soft and mushy, but the flavors pack soooo much of a punch that you forget all about the texture. All you care about is making sure there is a nice heaping of rice underneath this laulau.

Our second favorite - mind you, the distinction between rankings of first, second, third are negligible - so, our second favorite was the fried butterfish collar. Dang, that thing was crispy without the slightest bit of grease on it! It was so crispy that we are up the whole collar, bones and all.

There was also the Kalua Pork. While I enjoy crispy pork skin as much as your average Filipino, I am not a big fan of pork meat. Here I go with textures again, I had a mental problem with how potentially soft and stringy the pork was going to be. After all, doesn't the pork sit in that underground over for more than 8 hours?!?!

Again, Helena's proves me wrong. It was so tasty and smokey that I didn't mind the tenderness of the pork.

We also had the pipikaula ribs. I had expected this to be my favorite dish by virtue of my love affair with korean-style ribs. And while it was good and toothsome, it was quite a thick cut that the seasoning didn't make it's way through all the meat. Mind you, we still ate it all up.

This was not one of those times where Mike was going to leave tripe off the order. Since I had enjoyed all the other dishes so far, I made a small attempt to try the tripe. It was very tender and tasted clean. Which is saying a lot for tripe - it IS the stomach after all. The sauce was very similar to a typical Filipino dish - Kaldereta.

I just asked Mike what he remembered about the tripe and I just got an emphatic "it was GOOD". More than a month later. That's got to be a good sign.

If I had to pick a least favorite dish at Helena's it would be the tuna lomi. The most interesting thing about it was the tiny seaweeds on top. I really like strong flavored ceviche or kinilaw, so it could very well be I had wrong expectations.

Last but not the least, there were some raw Maui Onions accompanied by some Haupia. If you've never had it before, haupia is a coconut flavored jelly type dessert. It reminded me very much of a filipino delicacy, maja blanca.

Helena's serves what I imagine hawaiian comfort food would be. Hop on the bus, its worth it.

I.O.U.

2010-10-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I know, I know.

I owe you at least 3 more hawaii posts.

I've been sidelined by a wicked, horrible virus called ... the cold. They should name that sucker something else because I have been in bed for the past week. For your sake, I will share only the pleasantries of my long confinement, watching my backlog of episodes for 5 series' and then some. Other than that ... let's just say I wish I were back on vacation!

I should be well on my way to being healthy and post-ready in a few days. Just about time too cause the photos have been prepped for forever.

In the meantime, I hope you are all well. See you soon!

Reflections on travel

2010-09-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

As if something crucial depended on it, I am trying to decide on the first thing I should say about our trip to Oahu. Maybe it's important to me as a way to get some closure on our trip. A full 24-hours later, I can still feel the grip on the islands on me. Not for the reasons you all are probably expecting.

The requisite, it was fun, it was great, it was awesome - all of which are true - don't fully describe the impact of our trip. Going off the beaten path - in our case, Waikiki - was relatively easy with The Bus. We had some fantastic meals, the best of which was at Helena's, Ono's, and the International Marketplace.

The best excursion was to Hanauma Bay which brought me right back to my childhood summers in Boracay. Seeing families of turtles swimming a few feet from the shore along the sands of the North Shore was also amazing. I squealed each time one of them bobbed their heads above the water!

Still, if I were being honest, it wasn't the vacation I was expecting. I expected a week of mindless fun and carefree relaxation. I wanted to be a tourist. And while for a good part of the week I was, I also found myself being a traveler. Seeing through the Vegas-style illusion of Waikiki and into the toll of a tourist economy on the locals. That's really the root of my mixed feelings about Oahu.

The mountains, the sea, the air, and all their gifts - were as wonderful as I expected. If asked to pick the part of the island I loved best, I would chose the water and the wind. Each day I thought, I am going to miss the wind and the water most.

A city girl at heart, I loved the busyness of Waikiki - the density, diversity, and energy of the place. It's a little harder to put a finger on my least favorite part of the island - the forced Hawaiian-ess of it all. That, and the glaring economic disparity between the locals and the tourists.

As an outsider, I wonder if tourism is destroying the culture of Hawaii and all the people that call those islands their home.

In many respects Oahu reminded me of Manila - from the diversity of people, the density, the vegetation, and the huge span between rich and poor. And while my head knows that inequity should not happen anywhere in the world, my heart feels quite heavy to realize that Hawaii is part of our country too. I suppose the same circumstances - and maybe worse - can be said for countless other cities in the US and around the world. It just so happened that we decided to travel to Oahu instead of those other places.

Having said all that, we had so many good experiences. In a heartbeat, I would say to someone who was thinking about visiting, "Go!". I am trying to figure out if Mike will go for another trip - maybe to Kauai - in the very near future!

I promise that the fun stuff will follow in other posts.

breakfast of champions!

2010-09-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG

Just burned my mouth. This is all my friend, Terri's fault.

Folks, meet brick toast, aka "Taiwanese toast". This little snack is basically white bread baked with a custard-like topping. And by white bread I mean, proper Taiwanese white bread. The kind that is thick and slightly sticky. And by custard-like, I mean yema.

The filipinos just squealed! Trust me, I know!!!

Eating this toast is like being a kid again! In the middle of summer and you've just gotten back from playing outside all day and your yaya makes you a snack.

So fast forward x years into the future and I am somewhere in my 30's. It's early and yet I managed to make four slices of toast. Why, you ask? Cause I have been craving it for 36 hours that's why. Thanks, again, to my friend Terri.

It's lucky that I only had four slices of bread left over. I would have made a bakers dozen if I could.

To be honest, I thought Mike would give me his share. After all he really isn't big on sweets. Except for this toast. He ate all of his - and a bite of mine. And so just like that - poof! - they are gone.

Boo!

Glad it's a long weekend. I am headed to Sheng Kee - this time I will make sure to buy the thick sliced bread!

Brick Toast
based on this recipe

1/3 of a stick of butter
1/3 cup of powdered sugar
1/3 cup of powdered milk
1 egg yolk
*splash* of vanilla
4 slices of bread

Mix all ingredients into a smooth paste. Score the bread in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Spread paste on bread. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes.

At this point, my advice would be to let the bread cool down. But after smelling that in a warm over for 8 minutes you are going to want to chow down. Blow first!

* Terri and Shizuka - a splash if equal to a glug!

Crazy food weekend in Oakland!

2010-08-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Eat Real Festival 2010

Oakland Chinatown Streetfest

Tomato canning part two

Phew!

There is a LOT going on in the east bay this weekend. I love that each day of our weekend has a theme. Pork and fruit.

Let me explain.

I have a purely porky agenda today - sisig tacos, pork belly cuapao's, and more! We won't be getting to Eat Real - #erf2010 on twitter - until early afternoon today (Saturday). All I can say, is there better still be pork! The two carts I am most interested in are @Adobohobo and @SenorSisig - although I am sure that there will be other rockin food carts!

I'll do my best to take photos PRIOR to consumption.

At the same time, we are prepping for tomorrow's tomato canning marathon! The first one went really well and friends have been clamoring for another batch of canned tomatoes. We promise not to crack the bottles open until winter. Really.

This time around, we bought tomatoes in bulk! Thanks, Berkeley Bowl for saving me the time it would have taken to handpick each of the 50 or so pound of tomatoes we would have needed.

Most of today's prep though has to do with our contribution to breakfast and lunch. Swedish pancakes and vietnamese garlic noodles.

The pancake batter has been made and is resting in the fridge. My plan of attack is to cook them tonight so that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

The egg noodles - coated in a vietnamese caramel sauce and sprinkled with garlic, chives, and cilantro - will also probably need to be prepped tonight. All five pound of fresh egg noodles.

Here's a photo of a test batch I whipped up last night; it had fresh scallops in it. And while the photo won't win my any prizes, the combination of the salty caramel sauce with the egg noodles are divine. If you have ever had garlic noodles at any of the popular crab houses here in the bay area, I am fairly confident that this is the recipe!!!

So you see, I will need all that porky sustenance to make it through this food weekend.

I love it when things come full circle!

Happy saturday!

Say hello to my little friend .....

2010-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

A fitting image from the 1st day of our 4-day weekend! Larger post coming soon!

Dubose House

2010-08-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of last week getting to and leaving from North Carolina. The west coast - east coast route really does leave you worse for wear.

Specially if you are looking at weather that's 30 degrees warmer and a gazillion times more humid.

I exagerate. But not by much.

Southern hospitality, however, lives up to it's reputation! The staff of UNC's historic Dubose House were extremely gracious and helpful! The grounds, needless to say, were immaculate. I wish I had more time to see Raleigh and Durham but I had to speed on home to celebrate Mike's birthday - and our 8th wedding anniversary!

I did have time to take a walk around the grounds - after the temps had come down to a reasonable 90 degrees, thank you very much. It was kind of awesome to experience a summer thunderstorm again. The large, fat droplets of rain and the earthy smell of the damp ground reminded me very much of Manila.

Click the photo for a slightly larger set on Flickr.

A season of eggs.

2010-08-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

I would love nothing more than to say that my online absence has been due to all the summer fun we've been having. How I wish it were that. In reality, it's quite the reverse, really. It's been a stressful and frustrating time at work these past few months. And try as I might, it's been hard to not have that seep into my real and online life.

Just when it feels like I was at rock bottom, a combination of great friends and good food helped bring back a little bit of perspective.

My version of comfort food during warm summer months has pretty much stayed the same. Always, always, there are tomatoes and their ever present little sidekick - crusty bread. A tomato panzanella has sustained us every weekend for the past three, in fact.

Weeknight meals have mostly been more warm, crusty bread. Soft, gooey brie. Tart, citrusy mango preserves. And the occasional cured meat.

Lately though, we've made new friends. Eggs and potatoes. Better known by their aliases, tortillas and frittatas! Simple, quick, and tasty wonders that come together in one pan.

I love them. Here are a few that have graced our tables quite frequently. One as recent as this morning!

ham, bell peppers, goat cheese fritata

jamon and onion tortilla

thyme and paprika tortilla

Our 8-inch skillet - a gift from my uncle - is one of my favorite pans. It is the perfect size for these 4-egg dishes. The fritatas and tortillas are so easy to make, you don't even need a recipe.

There are endless varieties of tortillas that you can make. All will involve the same basic steps.

You'll need a base - ours is always 4 eggs.

You'll need something inside all those fluffy eggs. Whatever filling strikes our fancy, we always start by sauteing them in some garlic infused olive oil.

We always finish off the dish under the broiler. Around 8 minutes should do it.

A word of caution, I would watch it closely while it's under the broiler. I prefer moist - not dry - tortillas so make sure there is still a bit of flex in your tortilla when you shake the pan around.

It's as easy as all that!

In the (moderate) heat of summer

2010-07-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to give you an update on our substantial containing gardening efforts because we have spent most of our time waiting and watering.

Plant viewing and plant watering. That's all we do. Religiously.

And finally it seems, I can ease up on the paranoia. After all, we have fruit. And have had them for a few weeks. And none of them have died.

I feel like tweeting #NotFail.

Hah.

So back to this year's batch - in my mind substantial compared to last years dismall two-plant effort.

This year, we have the following plants, drumroll please .....

CHERRY TOMATOES (TWO)

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES (SIX!)

SWEET BASIL (TWO)

SWEET PEPPER (TWO)

BELL PEPPERS (TWO)

not to mention

JABANERO

CALAMODIN

MEYER LEMON, and

THYME

phew

Summer Souffles

2010-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Has it really been more than a month since I alluded to comfort food from leftover herby sauce? It's been busy around here, what with jamming and major tomato canning, left and right.

So, what did happen to that left over sauce?

A quick addition of perfectly sweet summer corn kernels and here we have a perfect mid-week meal of .....

souffles in small jars!

I know what you're thinking, I was worried too! Surely, souffles are way too intensive for a week day meal, right? Nope, my friends! In truth I would go so far as to say that I made these souffles because I was lazy. I kid you not!

The souffles were soooo good! Light and fluffy from a structural perspective. But more than that, the light herby taste was fantastic!! didn't realize what a wonderful contrast it was to have hot food with a minty flavor! The mint and corn combination worked really well for us. It got a thumbs up for Mike. And he isn't one for souffles.

Summer Souffles

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
3 eggs, separated
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 corn cob
1 cup milk
a few handfuls of grated cheese
salt and pepper
1/2 cup herb sauce
butter for the jars or ramekins

Start off by shucking your corn. It's very easy. Cut off half an inch from one end of your corn cob so that it can stand upright in a fairly stable fashion. Run your knife down half of the corn cob, gently slicing into the corn kernels. Once around and I flip the corn over to slice off the other half.

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Saute the garlic and the corn kernels for a few minutes. Add the flour into the pan. I stir mine around for around 3 minutes, until it is slightly brown. At this point, its time to add in the warm milk. I don't really allow the sauce to boil, per se. I stir it continuously for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens up.

Take it off the heat and add in your cheese, which should promptly melt. At this point, I separate the eggs and beat the yolks for half a minute or so. I temper the yolks by adding a few dollops of the white sauce while stirring. Once tempered, add the yolks into the white sauce while whisking furiously. In goes the herb sauce and the mixture turns a lovely shade of green with flecks of fresh herbs!

At this point you could walk away if you needed to. I let the green goo cool for a few more minutes and then stick it in the fridge. I like the consistency of the souffle better when everything is cold. When we are ready to eat, I beat the egg whites until they are stiff and fold it into the souffle batter.

The batter goes into previously buttered and chilled jars and everything is speedily - but carefully! - placed into a pre-heated 375 degree oven. As usual, cooking times will depend on your (a) ovens and (b) cooking vessels. Mine are tiny ball preserve jars and they needed around 20 minutes. Give or take. I watched them very carefully.

You'll want to dive into these babies as soon as they are out of the oven. Don't stop to take pictures as you'll progressively watch them deflate with each shot. Not that I did ... I'm just saying.

Happy summer souffle-ing!

Just tomato.

2010-07-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

Fifty pounds of tomato.

Oh, and eight adults, one baby, three dogs, and two cats. And viola! Close to 16 quarts of pure tomato love!

I know what you're thinking. Fifty pounds is a lot! Considering that each tomato had to be washed, scored, submerged in boiling water, transferred to an ice bath, peeled, cored and seeded. Oh and squeeze to a pulp. And then simmered to reduce and concentrate. Phew!

I don't want you to think it wasn't loads of fun because it was! This was the first time we've done something like this with our friends, and judging from the reactions, it won't be the last time.

Although we had set up specific areas for each stage - wash and score; boil and ice; peel; core and seed; and mash - the whole process was done with less precision than we had envisioned! We were in a home kitchen after all.

I kind of chuckle at how naive we were at the beginning and how exhausting it was to realize we had one more box of tomatoes to go! An unexpected boost came from the fellas! Yey Carl, Kenny, and Mike! it has to be said, they wanted nothing to do with our canning idea. In fact, Mike was trying to talk me down the ledge that was hand picking each of the fifty pounds of tomato. You heard me right. I hand selected each and every organic tomato.

It was so sweet of the guys to come into the rotation! I shudder to think how long it would have taken if only Shizuka, Terri, and I had worked on this. Yes, as originally planned, I must mention.

So after an exhausting day, here we are! We canned a total of 16 quarts of "just tomato". After around 2 hours at a hard simmer, the tomatoes had reduced to a chunky consistency. All we added was a small amount of sauce and some acid.

It's really quite a lovely soft shade of -- well, tomato! Red or pink just don't seem to fit the bill. So I am calling it. A new color named "tomato".

The little can to the left is a mango preserve. Canned the day before the tomato canning party. I know, I'm crazy.

Herbs and sunshine!

2010-07-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Winner, winner, herby dinner. You heard me.

It's been crazy herb season around here. And while farmers' markets feature any given herb you might be interested in, I speak of my newly minted favorite trio of herbs. Mint. Basil. and Cilantro. Pun intended.

Just the thought alone of these three together in a dish is refreshing! But then you realize that there is cream in your future. And that you make this concoction in a blender. All of it.

Call it summer bliss.

It all started with an Herby Summer Udon recipe spied in the San Francisco chronicle. It involved parsley, high on my list of herby dislikes. And udon, currently not residing in our cupboards. No problem! Once the idea had caught on, the recipe was easy enough to tweak with a substitution here and there.

Hands down the easiest sauce you will ever assemble. The pay off is tremendous. Trust me. Currently spooning some serious comfort food application for this sauce as we speak, er type. But that's for another post. For now, meet our summer herby pasta!

These unflattering photos don't do any justice to the sauce. The failure is mine and mine alone. I have a true knack for taking ugly photos. The version using the flash on my point and shoot is even more wormy looking!

Herby Summer Pasta

olive oil
ginger slivers
shallots, minced
2 cups cilantro, chopped
2 cups mint, chopped
2 cups basil, chopped
crema mexicana (sub with sour cream)
half a lemon
salt and pepper
maple syrup

If you are anything like me, you'll need the following tips.

It's easier to blitz this baby in the blender if you do not shake off all that water from rinsing your herbs. There isn't too much liquid in this sauce, so those drops of water on your herbs will help the blender.

Chop up those herbs. Y'all probably already knew that. I didn't .... so there.

All that is left to do is to PUT IT ALL IN THE BLENDER. Seriously. Put the herbs in there. Followed by the ginger, shallots, and olive oil. Everything but the salt, pepper, and maple syrup. You'll want to add those after you've tasted the sauce.

Serve over angel hair pasta that's slightly cooled. We served this room temperature and it was a hit! As you can see theres more sauce left over. Another post coming soon. One where the mint makes a HUGE difference!

Kitchen experimentation.

2010-06-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

overly ripe bananas on the brink of being tossed out. left over sabayon from tiramisu. and an avocado that was bruised and cracked after taking a tumble from an overly full refrigerator. what's a girl to do?

well, if you are me, and you happen to be on an extended weekend, you experiment! unlike in the States, most of the avocados you come across in the Philippines are used in one sweet form or another.

avocado shake. summer favorite!
native fruit salad (all fresh tropical fruit). tasty!
cubed avocado, with milk and ice. refreshing!!!

so it's no wonder that my brain immediately processed

sabayon + fruit = bread

voila! meet the moistest banana avocado bread you'll ever meet. hopefully, not the ONLY banana avocado bread you ever meet.

the bread smells fantastic while it is baking!!! really banana-ey! the avocado, butter, and sabayon work to make an extremely moist bread. the batter was in a 350-degree oven for 40-minutes. I am a little rusty around the oven and I knew I didn't want some overly dry loaf so when I stuck a toothpick in and it came out clean, I thought it was done.

low and behold, after about an hour of cooling down, the cake was extremely moist. not in a lip-smacking good way. it was moist in a "I need more time in the oven" way. *smiles* the ends of the bread were F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. and there was no way I was going to junk the cake.

again, what's a girl to do?

I sliced up that baby and stuck it back into the oven for another 40 minutes. and there you have it! a relatively successful kitchen experiment. the bread slices are fragrant, incredibly tasty, and moist! in a "this is a great recipe for moist bread" kind of way. *smiles*

slices before going back in the oven for round 2

it's obviously a banana bread in smell and taste. the avocado lends a subtle green tinge to the bread, and a faint creamy, slightly bitter taste. and I think it's cute how there are little cubes of avocado scattered about the bread. I obviously didn't mash it up that well. no matter, I like it! I can taste the faint rum flavor of the sabayon. I think the sabayon is probably responsible for the overly moist nature - and slight heft - of the bread.

a few changes I want to try in the next batch are:

leaving out the sabayon and adding some pine nuts for texture and crunch,
using only 2 eggs, instead of 3 (whipping the whites separately),
baking them as mini-muffins, instead of in a loaf pan, or
divvying up the batter into two loaf pans.

it's a good thing that avocados and bananas are quite easy to find because I think this recipe is a keeper.

Banana Avocado Bread
reflects adjustments

mash and mix group A ingredients:
3 ultra ripe bananas
1 1/2 medium size avocado
~~1 cup rum flavored sabayon~~

cream together group B ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup of sugar
3 2 egg yolks
splash of vanilla
~~1/2 cup~~ a few tbsps milk

whip group C ingredient:
2 egg whites until it has peaks that hold

dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda

once you have completed all the initial instructions for each group of ingredients, butter your baking vessel. this could either be 2 loaf pans or mini muffin holders.

mix together group A and B. gently add in all the dry ingredients. once these all come together, GENTLY fold in the eggs whites. don't worry if you don't end up with a completely mixed-in batter. i think having streaks - not lumps! - of egg whites across the batter is fine. it's important not to mix the batter too much since this inevitably negates all that work you put into whipping up those egg whites. plus, you'll end up with a denser product, probably not what you want. we want lift, people! so don't over beat.

the batter goes into your preferred baking vessel and then into an over pre-heated to 350-degrees. ultimately, the amount of time your batter will need in the oven depends on the baking dish you selected. use baking times you normally associate with your muffin or loaf tins.

i learned the hard way that 40-minutes is not enough for a completely full loaf pan. but you probably already knew that! ha ha ha

The Oakland Banh Mi Expedition.

2010-06-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

three pit stops. six banh mi. one vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk. two people.

welcome to the oakland banh mi ~~expedition~~ tour. there are obviously more than 3 fantastic veitnamese places along international boulevard. why else would it be called "little saigon"? unfortunately, despite our best efforts we've accepted that our tummies can only take so much.

meet the three contenders, all representing east oakland:

bun mam soc trang
cam huong cafe
banh mi ba le

we did a quick dash between these three places because we wanted to try them all at the same time. to be as objective as possible, right. well let me tell you, do not - NOT - drive around hungry with a growing pile of banh mi sandwiches in your car. it is torture! patience is so not my virtue.

pit stop# 1: bun mam soc trang

this place was not located along international boulevard. instead it's at 14th and 18th, still within a mile from the other two spots. it was in a quiet part of east oakland; a fairly new operation - mike is already planning a second expedition further into the summer - that is very clean and presentable. not the "hole in the wall" that generally equals salivating in our book. no worries, we set that bias aside.

obviously it's name starts with "bun" and the sit-down menu looks really appetizing. the smell of grilled meats was incredible too! * we must stick to the mission * sigh.

so we order two banh mi's: grilled pork and stewed pork. the stewed pork is not available. double sigh. it's just past noon! boo! we switch to a meatball banh mi.

grilled pork (left) and meatball (right) banh mi

boy some things just happen for a reason! i mean, take a look at that meatball banh mi!!! the meatball was moist, juicy, and had a balanced sweet/salty/spicy flavor explosion going on! there were generous amounts of filling (vegetable and meatball) in this bahn mi, and it was the hands down meatball winner. it was my own personal banh mi winner of this ~~expedition~~ tour!

mike and i were split on the grilled pork. he liked it very much, in fact it was the grilled pork banh mi winner for him. i found the pork tasty enough but there wasn't enough of it. for me, the flavor alone wasn't enough to make up for the lack of meat and veggies!

verdict: winner meatball for mike and pica. #1 grilled pork for mike! advance to the second round. you can find bun mam soc trang yelp reviews here.

pit stop# 2: cam huong cafe

this place is located smack dab in the middle of little saigon in oakland, at 7th and international. it was difficult to find on-street parking so we parked in front of the resaurant/deli in a 12-minute only space, only to find as we were leaving that there was a parking lot across the street. cute!

so this place had a very different feel from bun mam. it's more traditional asian fast food deli with some hot turo-turo (literally "point point") dishes and a huge selection of to go items.

he's not too happy about this picture.

i keep trying to tell him "it's about the deli" hee hee

goodies to go

it's tough to focus with so many options but we were here for banh mi. they were out of the beef wrapped with onion banh mi. boo! what the heck, people. i will be back just for that, it sounds too good to pass up! we figured we should stay consistent, eh? i mean, to be fair and all.

here we are, a grilled pork and a meatball sandwich from cam huong - that's meatball on the left and grilled pork on the right.

finally, i get that sweet and salty, charred pork taste that i have been searching for! as you can see, they weren't stingy with the fillings either. there was more than enough meat and veggies to go around. there were lots of jalapeno too! so if you are like me, an asian with a slightly wimpy approach to spice, remember to ask them for your "spicy to go"! the grilled pork banh mi was my favorite of the bunch! mike voted this his #2 grilled pork sandwich, he really liked the flavor of bun mam's grilled pork banh mi.

grilled pork close up

meatball close up

we were both in agreement that the meatball banh mi was ok. it was not stellar, like bun mam's version. it seemed "plain" although don't take this to mean it was tasteless. it seemed like an ordinary grilled meatball, and it was a little on the dry side.

verdict: #2 grilled pork choice for pica; mike doesn't care either way. both of us pass on the meatball. advancing to the 2nd round mostly cause i have to have the grilled beef wrapped in onion banh mi. you can find cam huong cafe's yelp reviews here.

pit stop# 3: banh mi ba le

we've arrived at pit stop #3; does this really have to end? so there are a number of "ba le" places in oakland, and i would guess around the country as well. i have no idea if it's a chain or not, but you see them everywhere! this particular place was on the corner of 19th and international. can you spot the place across the street? yup, that's boccalone all right!

this place suited the phrase "hole in the wall" to a T. they didn't do much - anything? - to the store at all! other than shove some fridges and shelves in place, as stick up some banners and pictures! those are neither good nor bad, just part of the ambiance!

there was a big selection of banh mi, and as the name implies - it's banh mi and to go bentos only at this place. there is no sitting area at all.

that bus stop warning cautions you that any stopping in front of the store will set you back $980ish!

if that doesn't encourage you to walk a few feet, i don't know what will!

looks like a beef jerky bento

grilled pork bento

i can't tell if it's good or bad that they had everything they advertised! at this point, we had about had all we could stand of the drool inducing smell wafting out of our growing pile of banh mi! we hurriedly put in an order for one grilled beef (right) so we got that plus a grilled pork (left). no meatball this time around.

i don't know if they got our order wrong, but the grilled pork turned out to be grilled slices of pork sausage. i could see the cubes of pork fat in the sausage and boy it was tasty!!!! it was a fantastic salty/sweet combination.

is someone keeping track of how many salty/sweet comments i've had today? as you can probably tell, i love sweet and savory flavors together!

anyway, mike and i both agreed that this was a damn tasty grilled pork banh mi; although mike was not as excited about the fact that it was a "sausage". also, the butter that they slathered on the bread seemed to have a garlic flavor to it. lovely!

we were absolutely split on the grilled beef banh mi. mike loved the lemongrass flavor and the sesame seeds sprinkled about the meat. i had problems with the fact that the meat was thinly sliced and did not look grilled to me. i will admit though, that the lemon grass was a nice contrast to all the salty/sweet pork we had just had in almost every banh mi. i still think its a poor adaptation of korean style kalbi flavor. mike liked it.

i have to say, i liked the baguettes least at ba le. although the grilled pork baguette looks like it can hold up, the grilled beef baguette was too soft. it had almost no discernible crunch.

verdict: #1 grilled pork for pica; #2 for mike. mike liked the grilled beef, but i don't know that he would be back for it; whereas i pass on the grilled beef. the thing is, this place was not too exciting, and with nowhere to sit, we probably won't be back. you can find banh mi ba le yelp reviews here.

in case you are wondering, we split all the banh mi in half. there was no way we could've each eaten three whole banh mi each. maybe when we were younger .....

bun mam and cam huong warrant a second trip each. and meatball and grilled pork sausage banh mi both deserve a little bit more attention from me.

Coming home to this.

2010-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

some things are just better when home made: cookies, preserves, and little bottles of oven dried tomatoes.

thanks to mike, we are adding kimchi pork to that list. it's the ultimate fast food! apart from slices of uncured pork belly - available at most asian grocery stores - chances are you already have most of the ingredients to this little stir fry.

before discovering this dish in korean restuarants, i would never had thought that pork and kimchi would pair up so well in a wok. although i adore kimchi, i also enjoy the tempering that happens when kimchi meets wok. i think this dish - homemade or restaurant version - is the best introduction to kimchi for a newbie. you don't get the full-on kimchi experience, there is plenty going on to distract you from all that pickled vegetable, but you start to get a sense of the unique tastes and textures in a good kimchi!

we typically order this dish whenever it's featured on a menu, but i think those days are over. mike's homemade version rocked a spicy, sour, and slightly sweet flavor! hands-down my favorite version.

Mike's Kimchi Pork

minced garlicdiced onion
uncured pork belly slices
kimchi and lots of it!
lots of green onion, cut into 2 inch pieces
siracha or chili flakes
salt and pepper
steamed rice for serving

over medium heat, in a hot wok, saute some minced garlic until fragrant. we always - always - use copious amounts of garlic. i love how it smells and how it tastes! it would not be abnormal, for example, to start off this dish with a whole bulb of garlic. yes, a bulb. not a clove. *smiles*

never, never burn your garlic though. it turns an awful kind of bitter that not even the strongest garlic love could save.

once the onions are translucent, add your pork belly. uncured pork belly is typically sold in long strips. we cut ours so that they are about 3 or 4 inches long. also, we like to leave our pork unseasoned. there's tons of flavor from the kimchi so i wouldn't worry about gross tasteless pork - which i can't stand, by the way! make sure the pork is cooked most of the way through since you won't be "cooking" the kimchi much, really.

a few minutes before the pork is completely done - it's key to have soft and supple pieces of pork, no rubber allowed! - it's time to kimchify the dish. we used lots of kimchi, a little over a cup for less than a pound of pork. the mound of green onions go in at the same time.

stir fry for a few minutes to make give the kimchi a chance to let it's juices flow. season with siracha - or chili flakes - salt and pepper. serve up over steamed rice.

enjoy!

Ups and Downs.

2010-06-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

If the past two weeks were a movie, it would be called "Ups and Downs". Or rather, Downs and Ups. I am hoping to ride the "up" part for the foreseeable future. This very moment, for example, I am basking in self-satisfaction. The kind brought about by the faintly yeasty, sweet smell of rolls baking in the oven. In my own home. Nice.

But first, let's recap the past week.

It started last weekend. With me spending Friday thru Monday at home, under medical house arrest. The culprit was asthma. The kind that makes your ribs hurt from all the wheezing and coughing. Why all the rest, you ask? I had a big conference coming up and I needed to dazzle, or at the least function.

Gah.

I functioned. From Tuesday through Thursday evening. Through the humid 90-degree heat in St. Louis. Running in and around, up and down the cavernous hotel at Union Station. You know that feeling that you are just trying to hold on. For just one more minute. Then one more hour. And finally you can't take it anymore? Well, that's how my luck went. It held through mid-day Thursday. There was a 2-hour window to walk around and grab a bite to eat. The little bit I saw of downtown St. Louis was great. A little oasis called the City Garden.

So about that melt-down. Contrary to what you may think, I didn't have the melt down. My luggage did. On a packed train to the airport. With an hour until my flight. Did I mention it was 90-degree weather.

Oh and the TSA's confiscation of my water bottle. The water bottle that I love - because it has an internal filter. I H.A.T.E. plastic water bottles. From both sides of the argument: the environment and economics. With 10 minutes until boarding, I surrendered my lovely water bottle. And of course, one last hiccup. Our layover was delayed in Vegas. Seriously, at this point, I just want it all to end.

It's been a full 3-days since my misadventure. And truly, it doesn't seem so bad from this far away. And it's all thanks to a pan de sal sponge. If you aren't familiar with pan de sal, it's a filipino roll that is a staple in every filipino home. Contrary to the "sal" (aka salt) in it's name, this bread is sweeter than it is salty.

Confession time though - I free styled the recipe. Which means that I got ultra soft and feathery buns. But a traditional pan de sal they were not. They were, however, tasty enough for me to take in deep breaths of the sweet smelling rolls and let some of the stress out and the satisfaction in. The plain buns were sprinkled with some salt flakes. The buns that are adorned with a thyme leaf each are filled with corned beef. Yet another typical example of filipino comfort food. Yum.

I will be testing out a more traditional batch soon and I'll let you know how that goes.

Before I let you go, here are some photos of our budding bell peppers and tomatoes!

Happy weekend!

On track for summer ....

2010-05-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

We are on track for another yummy tomato season, people!

On February 28th, I started my first ever batch of heirloom tomato seedlings. I was very nervous about growing these little babies myself since heirlooms are notoriously persnickety. But opportunity presented itself in the form of our kitchen bay window which gets a fair amount of morning sun. Perfect for a mini-green house!

We took great pains to care for these little babies consistently, making sure they were not over watered - I have perfected this form of torture on many a tomato plant - had equal opportunities for sunning, and had a daily dose of conversation and hand - or leaf - holding. Boy did they grow! I transplanted them twice - first into small plastic cups and then to larger ones with supporting stakes.

We planted four kinds of heirlooms: Rainbows End, German Johnson, Big Rainbow, and Black Krim. I picked these varieties because they seemed like an interesting mix of tomatoes to have handy. I guess we will find out just how easy - or difficult - these particular heirlooms are, right?

We grew at least 60 seedlings - two per peat pellet. After a few weeks we thinned the seedling, only leaving the strongest in each pellet. This is where consistency pays off. We waited. And waited. We waited for the first true leaves to sprout. We waited for the trunks to grow thicker. And we waited for the weather to improve.

I grew some of the seedlings in smaller pots and one in a larger orchid pot. These plants grew taller and had thicker stalks than the ones that were in the plastic cups. If I had to guess, this extra growth had to do with being in a bigger pot with more soil. Regardless of size, the seedlings smelled awesome! Really fresh and tomatoey. It was wonderful to stroke their soft and feathery leaves. My excitement is unparalleled!

Why plant so many? I had wanted to give the seedlings away as gifts. It's true what they say "it's better to give than receive". My co-workers went nuts! I am glad I grew so many to give away!

Finally this weekend - roughly 90 days from when we started - we bought 8-gallon homes for each remaining plant. I am beyond excited to report that we bought tomato cages as well. Every year, I wait too long into the season and only think about stakes when the plants are unwieldy. Each season, I regret it. It's been so bad that I cannot stand the sight of those green stakes.

This year we finally - finally - planned ahead of time. Excuse me for the immense feeling of self satisfaction. I am sure it will dissipate as soon as the tomato problems set in. For now, I am wallowing in excitement and anticipation. And seven tomato plants - two of which are cherry tomato hybrids, courtesy of our friends Kenny and Terri.

Here's one more photo to enjoy this memorial day weekend.

Overcast and gloomy.

2010-05-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

Are apt descriptions of Oakland's weather for the past few days. For many Losties, it ain't about the weather, brotha!

What do you make when you need a pick-me-up? Warm, gooey, saucy, or cheesy normally hits the spot for me. This time around we made soup. Chicken and corn soup, to be exact.

I feel myself perking up just thinking about it.

It started with a carcass of an organic chicken that I simmered away in a pot with celery, carrots, and an onion. And freshly shucked corn that was purchased along the roadside - five corn cobs for $1. I love seasonal bounty - cheaper and tastier!

It was as easy as simmering the chicken and veggies for about an hour and a half, plopping in some left over homemade dumplings and the corn kernels. Top with cilantro and soothe the blues away.

Easy as one, two, three!

Edible Schoolyards

2010-05-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Travel is an obviously a perk of my job. The fact that I often meet wonderful and amazing people who are making a real difference in their community is probably one of the best perks I can imagine.

The folks from The Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans are no different. Oh wait, they are quite different from many schools in the country. In the SJ Green Charter School, students and members of the community learn about food. They grow and cook healthy good. And somehow rebuild their community along the way.

See for yourself.

It's the weekend!

2010-05-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

We were promised sunshine this weekend. And true to form, it's overcast. Too london-ey for my tastes.

Still, I am happy that it's a weekend. One where we have no plans, have made no promises, and have no commitments. So basically, I get to do whatever my sadgey self wants. When I want.

Yes.

So here I am, composing this post five weeks after the actual trip. *insert sheepish grin here*

I had a chance to walk around and see more of the city the last time I was in New Orleans. I absolutely love how the city is laid out. All the old architecture lined up on short walkable blocks. Little quirky and charming street fronts that have evolved - and withstood! - many many years.

There are balconies everywhere! And in the French Quarter, balconies make the perfect sense. There is always something interesting to watch in this neighborhood from musicians and poets, to tourists and locals constantly pacing up and down, in and out the little shops. Most of which are still small, locally owned businesses.

And little paseos that transport you from the mundane to the colorful. I love it! The urban equivalent of windows to a city's soul.

It's quite the understatement to say that the New Orleans is a food town. From cheap eats to meals that will make your wallet scream ouch, from the new and exciting to the old yet well-worn, the city has it all. And it's all good.

I went on an etouffee hunt each day that I was in town, and the tastiest one was at a place, ironically enough, called the Gumbo Shop. From the street all you spy is the little sign announcing the Gumbo Shop. Nothing special at all about the sign. And then you see the hallway leading to the courtyard. And you have to smile. And check it out, of course.

Despite the five weeks since that meal, I still remember how thick, briny, and tasty the crawfish etouffee was. They must have made the roux with crawfish stock. The vegetables had dissolved into the thick and flavorful sauce that clung to the white rice. They were generous with the crawfish too. My kind of town. It was amazing.

Which was a little sad for Lucille's in Colorado. I was just there this week, and had their version of the etouffee. Good, but not NOLA good.

That's a wrap for now. Maybe if Max and I step outside, we can coax the sun out of hiding.

Happy weekend!

Strawberry shortcake

2010-05-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

This is ridiculous! I have not been able to get this strawberry shortcake out of my mind. Nor my belly.

Crumbly shortcake that somehow stays crisp amidst the pool of strawberry juice. Check!

Fresh cream. Check!

Fresh, sweet strawberries. Double Check!

I've had this not-so-little snack for two days in a row. I mean c'mon, damn you Betty! By the way, their newly opened Oakland location - corner of Grand and Broadway - is open Tuesday through Friday. Beware of the strawberry-crack-cake. *smiles*

Apologies for the grainy phone photo. I just had to show you and I didn't want to wait. We all know how well that goes.

Same old song and dance

2010-04-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, inconsistency bugs me!

Work has taken over my life. Yes - almost the entire spectrum of hours in any given day for most of the week has been devoted to work. It's just not food for this blog.

Which is why there are many many silent days. Sorry!

I am hoping to get some photos up from my trip to New Orleans a few weeks ago. And there is that shrimp etouffe that needs to be replicated. Plus all things spring!

Lot's of things to tune in to. Soon.

I promise.

Color and texture

2010-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we took a little car trip or "pasyal" as Max has come to know it. Among any number of lazy sunday drives we could've taken, we took one to San Jose because we wanted to make a stop at the San Jose Tofu Company - a small mom-and-pop shop in Japantown.

It's this tiny, tiny place where the make and sell fresh tofu products - from blocks, to sweet tofu, soy milk, and soy pulp! At such affordable prices too!

One silken block of tofu became the centerpiece of today's post which also features a canvas of white made up of three mushroom varieties.

The different sizes and the different shades of cream and white just made me so happy! It occurred to me though that once everything was sliced, diced, and cooked the color and texture of the dish would be so boring. Which is why we have these little babies ...

After the chopping - and photo taking - it was a quick 10 minutes from wok to table. Fast and good! Pretty and healthy!

Mushroom Stir Fry with Fresh Tofu

Ingredients
1 block of fresh tofu or packaged silken tofu, left whole
3 different types of mushrooms, sliced
3 stalks of celery, sliced on a bias
handful of baby carrots, sliced on a bias
garlic, chopped
onion, chopped
ginger, slivered
splash of soy sauce
splash of fish sauce
some water - or stock!
salt and pepper
cornstartcj slurry
green onions for garnish

On a wok, over high heat, saute the garlic, onions, and ginger slices in some peanut oil. Once fragrant and translucent, add in the mushrooms - I add in the mushroom stems before the caps since these take a little longer to cook - and cook for a few minutes. Throw in the rest of the veggies - carrots and celery in my case - and soon after the stock and the seasoning.

Bring to a quick boil and in goes the cornstarch slurry. It's really that quick!

As you can see in the photo, the tofu was untouched and left in all its raw and silken glory. Mine was even a tad cold! Surrounded by that soupy mushroomy mix ... it was really good! So good that I took the leftovers to work the next day for lunch.

With no rice!

Enjoy!

Absence

2010-04-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm back from back-to-back work trips to DC and New Orleans.

There was no time - and frankly, no energy either - for any food adventures in DC. New Orleans, however, was a different matter. I went on an etouffee adventure and I found one that I am incredibly obsessed with replicating at home. Albeit with shrimp and not crawfish.

I have some NOLA photos to share but it will have to wait a little bit more. Because I am sick.

Of course. Sigh.

See you in a few.

Secret Ingredient - shrimp stock

2010-04-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be interesting to do a series of posts on secret ingredients. Little touches that make a dish surprising, interesting, and a little unusual.

The first secret ingredient I would like to share is shrimp stock. A few weeks ago I had peeled some prawns and made a stock from the head and shells. It's been sitting in our freezer, waiting for inspiration to strike!

Well, our meat-laden easter lunch provided just the right motivation for something quick, easy, and - more importantly - light. Mike put together a rather tasty and quick stir-fry using some left over veggies we had laying around.

Instead of our normal method of adding some water to the veggies, he added the shrimp stock instead. It's the "thing" that made this stir-fry. The stock added a nice, complex taste to what would've been just ordinary vegetables. The briny flavor from the shrimp stock really complemented the crisp, fresh veggies.

The next time you find yourself peeling some shrimp - throw the shells into a pot with some water and boil away. Strain the broth and freeze for an indefinite amount of time.

Shrimp Stock

Place the shrimp heads and shells into a pot and add just enough water to cover the tops of the shells. Bring the water to a boil and let simmer for around 10 minutes. Strain the shrimp stock and freeze until ready for use.

Easy Stir Fry

jicama, sliced
carrots, juliened
bean sprouts
sweat peas
tofu, juliened
garlic and onions
shrimp stock

Saute the onions and garlic in some vegetable oil. Add your vegetables and stir fry on high heat for a few minutes. Add your shrimp stock and season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

I find that the key to crisp vegetables is to cook them quickly over high heat.

Closer to the perfect pancake

2010-04-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

3 eggs, whole
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy creme
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 to 1/2 cups of flour
dash of salt

I can take a deep breath now.

I decided to experiment on swedish pancakes this morning - making up a recipe based on instinct. "Cooking from the gut" happens quite often in our house - and the part where we forget all the little things that went into a good dish happens just as frequently.

Not today.

I love - L.O.V.E - swedish pancakes. Let me rephrase - not knowing many swedes, and never having been to Sweden - I love what I think are swedish pancakes. Flatter than an american style pancake (think IHOP, or Denny's, or any diner for that matter) yet thicker than a french crepe. The pancake of my dreams are slightly chewy.

I tested a recipe from Mark Bittman - who obviously has been to Sweden and quite probably can call on a few Swedes as his friends. These pancakes were fluffy, tender, yet thicker than I wanted.

Sidenote: Can something be fluffy yet hefty? Hmmm

They were very good - in fact, my mother loved them! Sadly, they were not the ideal pancake of my dreams.

I resolved to try another batch this morning - while the not-quite-failure-of-a-recipe was still fresh in my mind. I decided to tweak not only the ingredients but the method. I am happy to report, I am a huge step closer to my version of the perfect swedish pancake!

Here's a list of the tweaks I made:

First major change was using the eggs, whole. Bittman separated the egg whites and beat them until they had stiff peaks. The whites were then folded into the batter. This was the obvious "culprit" for the fluffy conditions to my pancake. Nix.
Bittman's recipe calls for much less liquid - in the form of milk. I noticed that the batter was quite thick. To make a thinner batter - plus to compensate for the fact I only had cream - I upped the cream to 1 full cup plus added 1/2 a cup of water.
The amount of flour you use will just have to depend on how your batter "feels". Aim for something half as thin as a regular pancake.
Note a tweak but definitely a lesson learned - swirl a small amount of batter into the pan before each pancake - it makes a huge difference on how silky the pancakes are.

The pancakes have the right consistently, they taste great, and they thin out in the hot pan just perfectly. There is still something missing though. The slight chew or resistance that I like when I bite down on the pancake. And I think I know why this is. A number of the recipes I've read say you need to let the batter rest. For a few hours.

Just how early should I get started on breakfast on the weekends.

=)

Si, se puede.

2010-03-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's Cesar Chavez day and I am ashamed to say I don't know much about the man. I have some vague notions of him fighting for farmers rights, but that's about it. Thank you google!

It blows my mind how the 1950's seem so far away, but in many respects it isn't. Cesar Chavez helped farmers stand up for their rights - things like fair wages, humane living conditions, and freedom from discrimination. The same things that Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for - at the same time!

Shouldn't sixty years should be enough time for us to get things right?

Today, many farming families still bear the burden of unfair circumstances, exploitation, and discrimination. It makes me think that today shouldn't be a holiday. So instead of some lighthearted posts about swedish pancakes, I am going to leave it at that.

If you haven't already, go look up the man. Maybe along the way he can inspire you - like he just did for me - to take a little step towards making sure that we don't need another sixty years to make things right.

I finally get it.

Everyday pate

2010-03-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

I've just found the antidote to a long week.

Homemade chicken liver pate.

If you grew up like I did, with parents concerned about the providing you with nutritious meals, you probably had your fare share of liver and onions. The liver was always overcooked and rubbery and the onions were awfully strong; the most unappealing food memory of my childhood.

This chicken liver pate has nothing to do with that dish from my childhood. The pate is creamy and smooth, slightly sweet, with a little peppery bite - and an absolute pleasure to eat!

I hovered over the toaster and ate the bread slices as they crisped up. It was that good!

Chicken Liver Pate

1 pound of chicken livers (trimmed and cleaned)
1 shallot, minced
pinch of dried thyme
few splashes of rum (we used Pyrat)
1/2 cup cold butter, cut in cubes
extra butter for saute
splash of sherry vinegar
splash of cream
a bit of sugar
salt and pepper (lots of pepper)

Saute minced shallot and thyme in a saute pan. Once translucent - and over medium heat - add in the chicken livers. I cook the livers until they are SLIGHTLY firm to the touch - definitely, not until they are rubbery. In my case, it took a little less than 10 minutes. Half way through this, I added a few splashes of rum.

When the livers are just about cooked, I transfer the contents from the pan into a food processor and blitz away while slowly adding in the cold butter cubes. Once the butter is incorporated, I add in some heavy cream, and all the other seasonings.

At this point the pate will still be a little runny, don't worry - it needs to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. This is where you sit and take a break. Go read a book. Or watch a Lost episode. Just don't touch the pot. Or the jar. You know what I mean.

By this stage - the stage of restraint - you would have probably spent all of 30-minutes at most making the cheapest kind of luxury food there is. That wasn't such a bad use of your time eh?

This recipe makes 3 little pots of pate, too much for one night of eating (as hard as we tried!). So I "seal" the pate by pouring some melted butter over the cold and set pate. Do not do this while the pate is still runny, the butter will sink to the bottom. You don't want that. Trust me.

KFC

2010-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ever so often, typically on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I find myself craving some fried chicken. And when the mood strikes, it's always - ALWAYS - time for korean friend chicken (kfc).

We've made this chicken for more years than I can remember and there was a time when we referred to this as "chicken teriyaki". It's not as sweet as a japanese teriyaki though, and I've since discovered that it's probably closer to korean-style fried chicken. Whatever you decide to call it - it'll be delicious!

This dish is relatively easy to make. No brining necessary, no egg-then-flour-then egg- then breading coating necessary. Simply dredge unseasoned chicken thighs through unseasoned flour and then fry them up over medium heat until they are done - nice and crispy. From the pan, the piping hot pieces of crispy heaven are dunked into a bath of ginger, garlic, and soy - soaking in all that goodness. You only soak the pieces for half a minute or so to ensure the chicken stays crispy! We always serve the sauce on the side anyway - you'll need it to brighten the steamed rice that is a must with this dish!

As you can imagine, the magic to KFC lays in the sauce. The basic ingredients are soy sauce, grated ginger, grated garlic, and sugar. We like to add a couple of sesame touches to ours - both from the seeds and toasted sesame oil. Mike likes a touch of heat to his food, so a small amount of chili flakes go into the sauce as well. I suggest making the sauce about an hour ahead of time so that all the ingredients can come together.

Among the variations of this sauce that I've tried includes replacing some of the sugar with grated korean pears - ala korean ribs. I didn't happen to have any this time around, but I didn't think it hurt the sauce in anyway.

Garlic Ginger Sauce for KFC

low sodium soy sauce
brown sugar
toasted sesame oil
lemon juice
grated ginger
grated garlic
spring onions
sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients and set aside while the chicken is frying.

Roasted Lamb

2010-03-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

I can't recall exactly when, but I've stumbled across a post or two about about pomegranate molasses. Luckily for us, there are many ethnic markets around here, and we snapped up a bottle at one of our weekly fruit, olive, and cheese runs.

You probably guessed it; the bottle of pom molasses has been in our cupboards for at least a couple of months. Luckily, it doesn't look like it will expire anytime soon.

We were craving some lamb last week, but we wanted something different than our normal marinade - olive oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic, and thyme. Which is how we stumbled upon Alton Brown's recipe for Grilled Leg of Lamb Recipe. This was one of the rare times that we had exactly what a recipe required. Sure, minus the lamb the recipe calls for exactly three ingredients - I had them all!

The lamb went into its marinade in the morning and was rolled up in twine when we got home from work. It's still a bit chilly in the evenings so this baby went into the oven set at 375. I can't tell you how long it was in the oven, cause I don't remember. It was one of those things where you pull out the pan and touch the meat to feel if it's cooked enough.

While the meat was resting, I reduced the drippings by half and reseasoned the marinade. Once reduced in half, throw in a few pats of cold butter to thicken the sauce.

The sauce drizzled over the still-pinkish lamb slices, sprinkled with cilantro makes for an Ooh lah lah moment. Just take a look at the photo!

The molasses adds a tangy and citrusy flavor to the lamb. Think lemon but tangier. The word molasses makes me think of a thick sweetener oozing out of a bottle. Thankfully, the pomegranate molasses isn't that at all! The sweetness is very subtle and not overwhelming; providing just the right amount to counter the tang.

I would change very little the next time we make this dish - I suspect that will be sooner rather than later. I am thinking kebabs. And an overnight marinade.

If you care about the sides at all, we served this with some roasted baby potatoes and asparagus.

Travel quirk

2010-03-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing about traveling .... For a good number of reasons, I tend to stay away from room service.

Let's face it - your average hotel serves some pretty boring food at already inflated prices. Topped off with your local tax, a hefty delivery fee, PLUS anywhere from fifteen to twenty percent service charge. Talk about a $200 burger.

I wonder what that cobb salad is going to cost .....

Cost, while certainly a factor, is not the biggest reason I avoid room service. It's the clean up. The one that needs to happen before the room service arrives. The harried tossing of luggage, and backpacks into the closet. The lining up of sneakers and conference shoes.

After a 5 hour flight into Dulles, an hour shuttle ride into downtown DC, the last thing I think about is the orderly dispersal of belongings. I am a tosser - backpack and purse onto a chair, laptop on the bed, and the innards of my luggage exposed.

My name is Pica, and I am not tidy. And I need to dash.

Time out

2010-03-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

Still there?

Thanks for hanging in there. I haven't been very present on the blog because I've been frustrated a lot. And stressed out. And exhausted. Who want's to hear all that?

Not me. And I would guess you're not interested either.

What you may be interested in is last week's time out from the gloom.

It happened rather spontaneously on a Friday. It involved friends. And drinks. And sticks.

Lots of sticks.

And it ended with a very off-key rendition of Wonderwall. In the car.

Click on the sticks to see the entire set.

Homecooked filipino meals

2010-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Our friends love coming over for filipino food, most specially Mike's pancit bihon. Pancit means noodles and bihon is the specific type of noodle.

Friday was one of those nights. Both dishes were done in around 45 minutes. Just the right amount of time for catching up with a drink!

Notice that I said it was Mike's pancit bihon .. which basically means I left him to do his thing. Below is his account of the steps necessary to make the pancit.

First step is to soak the bihon in water for around 10 minutes to soften. In the meantime, chop some vegetables - ours had carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, and string beans - and your protein - we had shrimp and fish balls. This is the most time consuming step of the process so once you have this done you only have a bit more to go.

Now to the cooking part.

Saute some onions and garlic, followed by your veggies and protein. Next in add a cup of water or so and some fish sauce to taste. At this point it will be "soupy". Don't worry, the noodles will take care of that. Fish out the veggies, leaving the broth in the wok. Next into the wok are the drained noodles which need some time to absorb all that liquid. At this point, taste the noodles and adjust with water and fish sauce if necessary. When the noodles are done - it won't take that long, maybe 5-7 minutes for a pound of noodles - add in all the "sahog" - which translates to ingredients, meaning the veggies and protein. Mix em up and serve with lemon wedges, it was really good! Much better than you can get at any filipino restaurant. I don't know why they can't get it right.

The other protein for the meal came in the form of chicken wings. The wings were marinated overnight in fish sauce, garlic, sugar, and minced cilantro. I stuck these in an oven at 375 for 15 minutes on each side and then broiled them for about 3 minutes. In hindsight, I should have broiled them longer, but I was worried that they were going to burn.

In warmer weather, I would cook these on the grill.

There you have it, two very easy meals for a weeknight dinner with friends.

Good eats.

PMC (Pork, Mustard, and Cream)

2010-02-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

I seem to have gotten my mojo back. From zero posts in three weeks, to three posts in one day! How's that for bouncing back?

You'll appreciate why I came back for another round of posts. Tonight's dinner was so good. And easy. I just had to share.

PMC. Or - pork, mustard and cream - if you please. This was a cinch to prepare. Trust me. I don't have that much mojo to spare.

We had a piece of pork loin. I would say about a pound or pound and a half worth. I sliced it into 8 rounds; each of which was sandwiched between some plastic wrap and lightly pounded till they were about 3-inches across.

In a non stick pan, heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil and brown the pork cutlets. You may need to do this in batches, in which case set aside the cutlets as they are done. Once all the pork is browned, throw in two tablespoons of butter into the pan. Add 3 cloves of garlic that have been slivered as well as some dried thyme. The bottom of your pan will be nice and brown with fond. Don't panic. That's a good sign.

Deglaze the pan with your liquid of choice. I had water. It worked. I also squeezed in half a lemon into the pan, two teaspoons of dijon mustard, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The cutlets go back in the sauce to simmer for around seven minutes. My cutlets were thin so they didn't really take too long to cook. Once done, I took the cutlets out so I could swirl some cream into the pan and make sure the sauce was tasty enough.

Spectacular.

And quick.

Serendipity on the road

2010-02-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

Musts

2010-02-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

Every Seattle trip starts and ends the same way....

Still here.

2010-02-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Wow.

It's really been three weeks since my last post. Work and life sort of took over.

And I'm a little burned out.

I should be back soon. Hopefully so will you.

Until then, enjoy the very springlike weather!

Comfort on the road

2010-01-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

On our first day in Colorado, Mike spied yelp reviews for Lucille's cajun and creole food in Longmont, Colorado. They've got a few other branches in Boulder and Denver and we figured if it was good enough for the locals ....

Lucille's is tucked away in the historic part of Longmont, along Kimbark Street which reminds me of old Sacramento. Lined up in a row are well maintained homes, most with front porches, with rows of mature trees on either side of the street.

Lucille's was our first taste of Colorado, and it was a great introduction.

We started with your slightly-better-than-the-diner-average cup of coffee. Vastly improved by four ginourmous fresh from the kitchen beignets. The beignets were a little denser than the ones I had in Cafe DuMonde in New Orleans but a quick dip in the coffee fixed made it all good. Strangely enough, all that dusting of confectioner's sugar did NOT make the beignets too sweet. Did I mention they were ginormous? Of course at the end of the meal, we heard other diners ordering half a serving. Go figure.

That's not where it ends though. We were hungry.

Bring on the gumbo. I really enjoyed this gumbo and what I am assuming was the base of this stew - the roux. It had a very deep flavor, as if the meat in it had been simmered for hours. The stew had meat in it - I am assuming pork - but the best thing - the BEST - about it was the sausage. I loved it! It had the right amount of garlic and spices for me. I am glad I do NOT know any creole and cajun places in the Oakland. I would be in serious trouble. Take into account that I don't like blisteringly hot food so this mild - but FLAVORFUL - gumbo hit the spot for me!

Mike also had the shrimp po'boy. It was his first "fresh" po'boy and he really enjoyed it. The shrimp had a really light batter and the dressing was a wasabi based mayonnaise that added a nice kick to the sandwich. The bread was toasted but I think lacking the heft and substance to keep up with the fillings. Mike really enjoyed this po'boy. I thought it was good, but not Verti Marte good.

So is anyone wondering what the heck we are doing in Longmont, Colorado? Snow isn't the first thing I think of when planning a vacay! I am here for work and Mike was nice enough to come with. I will be traveling again most of next week, so it's nice to be together some place new. That's the most comforting part of this work trip.

I hear it's sunny in Oakland. Of course. The sunshine better be there when I get home!

From rain to snow

2010-01-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

Good morning from Colorado.

On the soup bandwagon

2010-01-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

It's been raining like cuh.ray.zee. bringing back such nice memories of rainy days in the Philippines.

Strangely enough, I like being out and about in the rain. There's something very comforting about rifling through produce, varieties of citrus, and crates of tomatoes when its wet and windy outside. I've been in three produce stores, in as many cities, and in as many days.

A quick trip to a produce store along International Boulevard in Oakland led to a spontaneous purchase of 3 pounds of roma tomatoes. I didn't really have any firm ideas of what to make but I couldn't resist. There wasn't nearly enough to make oven dried tomatoes nor a large pot of tomato sauce. I did however have enough to make some tomato soup!

I took some inspiration from a tomato sauce recipe posted on SmittenKitchen and added some butter to the simmering tomatoes. What follows is an amazingly simple soup that is not only satisfying but amazingly good. The butter and the onion add such a luxurious taste to the soup. The tomatoes and the peppers are a hearty combination. Topped with my favorite ciabatta croutons, its all heaven.

I am eager to try this on pasta as recommended by Deb from SmittenKitchen. If we can only stop eating up all the soup!

Try it and you'll understand.

Simple Tomato Stoup

Ingredients
3 pounds of roma tomatoes, quartered
1 whole onion, cut in half
1/2 a stick of butter
2 yellow bell peppers, cut in strips
dried basil
3 garlic cloves, minced
croutons
olive oil

Over a medium flame simmer tomatoes, onion halves, yellow peppers, dried basil, and butter until reduced. I let the tomatoes simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring every so often.

Zest the garlic over the tomatoes and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. In the meantime, cut up some stale bread and fry it in some olive oil until golden brown. Set aside.

We prefer a slightly chunky texture for soup, so I take half the tomato soup and blitz it in a blender. The yellow peppers together with the blending makes for a lighter colored soup. Believe it or not the only dairy in this is half a stick of butter.

We like to serve this pipping hot topped with as many ciabatta croutons as you wish! The final touch is a drizzle of fruity olive oil.

Sisig!

2010-01-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

It's cold. And rainy. On a Sunday. Wii stayed in.

Despite the cold weather, we managed to grill some pork belly strips that have been bathing in a vinegar/garlic marinade the past two days. Given that we are fortunate to enjoy such mild weather in the bay area, we fire up the grill during all four seasons.

Lunch solved. Dinner was another matter.

We found ourselves go karting (Mario style) the afternoon away with little inclination to make anything substantial for dinner. We did have a few slices of grilled pork left over which we were happy to re-purpose for our version of sisig.

Traditional sisig is made with pig's ears, cheeks, and snout - not ingredients that we typically have handy. The pork belly was a tasty enough interpretation of this very popular dish which is typically eaten with a serving of cold beer!

To add something green and healthy to the meal, we quickly steamed some gailan that was topped with a little oyster sauce. The crisp and slightly bitter taste of the gailan offset the pork nicely. And went a long way in helping us feel we weren't just pigging out. Pun intended.

Sisig Recipe

Ingredients

grilled pork belly, cubed

six cloves garlic, minced

half an onion, minced

splash of coconut vinegar

splash of soy sauce

cilantro

lemon

Take a few strips of grilled pork and cut into cubes.

In a hot pan, render the fat off the pork in batches. Take care not to crowd the pan to ensure maximum browning. Set the pork aside and drain some of the grease in the pan.

Saute half of the onions and all of the garlic until fragrant and translucent. Add the pork back into the pan, as well as a splash of vinegar. Leave the vinegar simmering a minute or two, allowing the liquid to release the brown bits in the pan. Add a splash of soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Plate the sisig together with the remaining half of the onion and the cilantro. Just before eating, squeeze a generous portion of lemon juice on the sisig. Serve with steamed rice!

It's a dog's life ...

2010-01-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that people that know me through this blog - and a limited online presence - haven't really had a good sense of who I am and the life I have. You've probably arrived at the following key points:

I like to cook. For myself and a whole slew of friends and family.
I like to eat even more.
I cannot for the life of me, follow a recipe to the T.
I work a lot.

There are a few things missing from that list; the most obvious one being - Mike and I are furry parents to a little six-pounder maltese dog who goes by the name "Max". He's been a silent presence on this blog; that's him up as my avatar.

He is a huge - HUGE - part of our lives! The fact that he is so cute is just one of the many reasons we keep him around. Mike and I consider Max a "rescue" dog. True - we paid good money for him when we found him when he was six months old. He had been living with a nice-enough family in Mather who had 2 very young children. The dad worked full time and the mom was having a difficult time raising 2 daughters plus a dog, so Max didn't quite get the attention he needed. They considered him an "outdoor" dog - at barely 4 pounds! - and he was very thin and sickly when we found him. It was truly love at first sight for Mike and Max when we all met and there was no way we were leaving without him. So we all three rescued each other.

From then on, Max was on a fast track to a full and healthy life; with many humorous (in retrospect) visits to the doctor along the way.

All this recollection was brought about because of a recent topic posted on Serious Eats - "Do you cook for your pets?". This made me laugh out loud in the airport because, Yes! Mike and I are "those" people. However lazy we sometimes are to feed ourselves, Max's diet is one thing that doesn't suffer.

Every Sunday, Mike cooks up a batch of food for Max and every day of the year, this is how Max eats:

Six am: Wake-up kisses in exchange for baby carrots.
Eight am: Breakfast a few tablespoons of prepared food is mixed up with some dry food.
Noon: Here comes Nana, it's time for a sweet and crunchy bell pepper, a stick of celery, or maybe some sweet peas!

Three pm: On her way out, Nana dishes out some apple slices.

Seven pm: Dad's home! Dinner is served exactly the same way as breakfast is served.
Nine pm: If there is a snack, I want some of it too! Maybe a tangerine wedge or a sliver of cheese?

His prepared food is basically the same each week. Seared cubes of good quality meat with seasonal diced veggies. The veggies are typically carrots, potatoes, sweet peppers, and brocolli. Mike sears the meat and the veggies to develop the flavor since we don't season his food. Most of the time we use a cross beef shank cut so that there is some good marrow in there for him too. His food smells AMAZING and full of flavor even without salt and pepper! Max does a happy dance day when his food comes out warm from the microwave.

Now, we all know about holidays, right? Max has his version of holiday food too! He loves - LOVES - lamb. So on his birthday - let's be honest, we string it out for around 3 days or so - he gets 2 slices off of a rack of lamb. Just the seared lamb please, hold the veggies - it's his birthday after all! When thanksgiving and christmas roll around, he gets a nibble of prime rib - his only taste of "people food" the entire year.

It's funny to see a dog snacking on crisy, raw vegetables and fresh fruit! He adores summer because that's when we have both watermelon AND filipino mangoes. He has a penchant for herbs, which is why I haven't been able to successfuly grow basil and cilantro. And he will even eat the one vegetable that I truly cannot stand - bitter melon!

We feel fortunate that we can provide healthy food for Max on a daily basis. I'm pretty confident that he is happy too.

Stuffed roasted chicken

2010-01-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that my attempt to replicate a filipino holiday tradition in the form a chicken galantina was somewhat successful. Keep reading and I will get to the "somewhat" part of the story.

I do my own butchering, cleaning of fish, and assisted crab sepuku; but I have never attempted deboning an entire chicken by myself. Somehow that wasn't something they covered in home economics. Sidebar: Does it strike you odd that the class is termed "economics"?

At any rate.

Chicken galantina is a very typical filipino holiday dish; probably based on the italian chicken galantine. The filipino version is a deboned whole chicken that is stuffed with an embutido - meatloaf, if you will (but really, so much more!) - and then roasted in the oven.

After the requisite google search for "how to debone chicken" and I settled on Jacques Pepin's method; and why not, I love the man! After sharpening my knives and taking a couple of long deep breaths, I found that it was quite easy to do! I started on the back; where the neck used to be and worked my way around the chicken. I deboned the thighs but left the wings intact. It takes patience to pry the meat away from the bones and I strongly suggest you use a small but sharp knife that you can control. Last but not the least, don't sweat the uneven cuts into the meat, it will all work out anyway since you have to stuff the chicken before roasting it.

Here are the two deboned chickens, hanging out in a marinade of light soy sauce and lemon. They bathed in this sauce for about 3 hours while I prepped the stuffing.

For the stuffing, I sauted minced carrots, celery, peppers, and onions in olive oil. Once translucent, I folded it into the ground pork mixture with minced chorizo, pancetta, bread crumbs, a touch of balsamic, seasoning. I used 1 egg to bind the mixture and let it sit for around 2 hours. This was not a traditional embutido stuffing since, ahem ahem, I've already established that the holidays crept up on us right? So this is where the "somewhat" part of the story comes in. The stuffing was a tad heavy and not as tasty as an embutido.

Nonetheless, both birds came out smelling so good, and looking quite tasty if I can say so myself. The chicken held together nicely and was just a tad dry. It was a great addition to our holiday buffet and we were quite surprised that it came out as well as it did. We were so unsure if we could pull this off that we didn't even tell our relatives we were making chicken. Our "official" contributions were a Honeybaked ham and garlic mashed potatoes.

I have to say it tasted much better the next day at room temperature. We reduced the drippings and threw in pads of butter to make a glistening, tasty sauce for the galantina. I love that french technique of throwing cold butter into a warm sauce, it makes everything so luxurious!

Now that I know I can handle deboning chicken, there will definitely have to be a round two!

Easy going meals

2010-01-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

Every year, at about this time, I used to promise to eat healthier, lose some weight, or not stress out. After staring failure straight in the eye year after year - let's be honest, this usually happens by the end of spring - I figure I would just stop promising. I haven't stopped trying, I just figured I would do.

It turns out, an eagerness to laze is a good friend for our appetites. I've been hard pressed to muster up the energy to cook anything laborious and we've been eating quite a few healthy and easy meals these past week. Who knew?

Cold cuts, cheeses, bread, and peppers. Served up with some balsamic and olive oil.

Homemade quiche, courtesy of my mom; filled to the brim with zucchini, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, cheese, and ham.

And a greek-esque salad with avocados, feta, olives, and onions blackened on a dry pan. I love spanish olive oil and the vinaigrette for this salad was a quick fix. Cold pressed spanish olive oil, a few teaspoons of mustard, lemon juice, dried oregano, salt and pepper. The onions were divine! I cut up two large onions into quarters and then blackened them on a non-stick pan with no oil. The onions caramelize in their own sugars. As soon as you pull them off the heat, dress them with the vinaigrette as they will soak it up best while they are warm. The added bonus to this salad was cubes of toasted ciabatta; they added heft to the meal while soaking up the lovely vinaigrette fantastically. I am salivating for this salad right now!

It's been really satisfying to eat this way. Happy new year!

Not the ideal start to the new decade

2010-01-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Instead of kicking of the new year with a bang, I've been holding on to the last one with a whimper. Who else, but me, would be ill and bedridden on both major holidays at the end of the year?

This time around it's laryngitis. With a cough, a cold, and asthma, of course. But why not?

While this truly isn't the ideal way to usher in a new year, much less a new decade, I am thinking it' a sign to slow down. Maybe that will be the goal for 2010; trying to achieve some semblance of balance while paying more attention to myself. We'll see how that goes.

Here's hoping that the incoming year is good to all of us!

I spent the night with KG ….

2009-12-29T22:56:00.000-08:00

.... that's exactly how rumors get started!

The Celtics came to town yesterday and we had a chance to see them play against the Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena. They lost - true - but I'm still basking in joy from being in the same arena as KG! Mostly, I am – notice the present tense – happy that I got to see KG but it was kind of cool to see Ray, Eddie, and Rajon too!

Our seats were waaaay up there but I had a blast. There was a surprisingly large contingent of green-clad fans; large enough to bolster my courage to cheer loudly.

There's a lot more basketball to talk about but I suspect that will just bore you to tears. Let's just say that the champs of '07 didn't quite show up. Ray wasn't hitting any shots; Kevin took a hard fall a second time in 3 nights; Davis was back in action but took a hard foul that had him limping away.

Sigh. To lose after a 16-pt lead. I hate to say, they certainly seemed like the "old" team.

Oh and Ellis was on a roll! I suspect the Warriors won't be able to hold on to him much longer.

Still here? *smiles*

Click the photo above for a flicker set from our nosebleed seats!

Seasonal cooking

2009-12-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

You probably think I am talking about holiday food right? Jamon. Churros. Embutido.

Why wouldn't you? We are about 24 hours away from sitting down to the traditional christmas eve dinner. I just freaked myself out. That can't really be true right? Not when I haven't quite figured out how to recreate a holiday staple, chicken galantina. I committed to preparing two. For dinner. Tomorrow. Someone save me from myself.

Anyway.

The season I speak of is crab season. It's in full swing. At $2.99 a pound. For live crab. Count me in! Having such easy access to fresh dungeness crab makes it easier to take risks and try some adventurous recipes. Or make them up as you go along.

Which is exactly what happened yesterday.

I am a little embarrassed to say I went the "jar" route again. You know, prepared sauces.

Shhhhh.

I was craving a comforting and saucy crab dish that I could spoon over rice. Other than that, I didn't really know what I had in mind. So round and round the aisles we went. Finally settling on 4 different type of singaporean and malaysian spice jars and packets.

We lucked out with Yeo's Singapore Curry Gravy. This crab curry was creamy, delivered the perfect amount of heat, had a complex spice profile (I know that sounds so hoity toity but profile is the perfect word!), and had a sweetness to it. The hints of cinnamon, cumin, and chilies were puh-er-fect.

Thank goodness that we couldn't eat all of it last night cause we just got home from work. And I had three drinks. Not at work; but close enough. That's two more than I normally have. Alcohol makes me hungry and let me tell you, I was looking forward to these left overs! Mike tossed the remaining crab (sauce and all) over fresh egg noodles. I knew I married this man for a reason!!!

I'm headed back to the store to stock up on this sauce. It's going on some fried catfish. Yum!

Crab in Curry Gravy

Half a bulb of garlic, minced
Slivers of ginger
1-14oz can of Yeo's Curry Gravy
half a can of coconut milk
dash of cinnamon
dash of cumin
pepper flakes
sweet chili sauce
2 large fresh crab, halved and cleaned (keep the crab fat!)
fresh cilantro

We like our crab fresh; in other words it needs to be alive. Which means that at some point in time, I have to prep the crab; basically perform assisted sepuku. This doesn't bother me in the least but in case this isn't your thing, you can purchase pre-cooked crab in many asian groceries.

Either way, you'll need to clean the crab. I've spent the last 10 minutes attempting to describe how you would easily go about this. It's harder to describe than it is to do. Thank goodness!

Here is a great, simple reference on cleaning crab from WeLoveFish.com.

Now that that's taken care of; split your crab into four pieces.

In a large work over low heat, saute the garlic and the ginger together. This will take about 10 minutes. Make sure your garlic doesn't burn. You'll notice that I use this slow method quite often. I find it makes the most delicious yet mellow garlicky flavor.

Once the garlic/ginger mixture if fragrant, add the canned curry gravy, half a can of coconut milk, and all the spices (including the sweet chili sauce). Simmer for another 5 minutes and allow everything to come together. Toss in the crab and cook over medium heat until crab is done. The time needed will depend on how big your crab was to being with. We had around 4 pounds and it took about15 minutes at a full simmer.

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with steamed rice.

So not in equilibrium!

2009-12-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

It's certainly been difficult to maintain a sense of balance for the past few weeks (dare I say months?). My life has been consumed with anything and everything work-related. On top of which, I abhor whiny gripping ... so I've adapted a stance of silence instead.

I don't have a clear sense of who - if anyone - my blog readers are; but if, in fact, you do exists - I am truly sorry for the prolonged pause. Hopefully you are immersed in holiday preparations and hardly noticed I was gone.

Gah. The holidays. Really. This week? Who decided to wait the last minute to get gifts. Me! That's who.

Despite the craziness one of the things I have managed to make is this wonderfully easy dish. I call it Shrimp Masala-esque. Read the recipe and you'll understand. =) I routinely stock our cupboards with instant sauces from Trader Joe's: jarred masala and thai curry sauce. These are great to use in a pinch!

Shrimp Masala-esque

large whole onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
thin slivers of ginger
dash of cumin
zest of one orange
dash of red pepper flakes
8oz jar of masala sauce (Trader joe's has never failed me!)
1 pound of shrimp (head on)
mascarpone
preserved lemon, minced
frozen peas
cilantro

Saute the onions until translucent in some vegetable oil. After a few minutes add the minced garlic and thin slivers of ginger. Flavor with cumin and pepper flakes. Very quickly we had a really aromatic perfume wafting through our house! Perfect cold-weather scent, if you ask me.

Once the sauce starts to simmer, it's time to add the jarred masala plus 1 to 2 cups of water (depending on how light you like your sauces; we like ours thick). Bring to a simmer and add in the shrimp.

Here comes the "esque" in the recipe; the following ingredients seem not to have anything to do with Indian cooking. The indian cooking I know, anyway.

Once the shrimp are done, add in a dollop - there's that word again - add in a dollop or two of mascarpone cream, the minced preserved lemons, orange zest, and the frozen peas. The mascarpone adds a wonderful creaminess and silkiness to the sauce. If I had to say, I think the orange zest and the preserved lemons absolutely make this dish! This masala interpretation smells and taste wonderful and is oh-so satisfying!

Serve up with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and a bowl of steamed rice. In our experience, its quite handy to have some crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Trust me.

Crab and Brandy Linguine

2009-12-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

Heaven. Made in one pot. With leftovers. Ah-may-zing!

Dungeness crab season is upon us! And boy are we making good use of it. I say when live crab is $2.99 a pound, it's time to steam, baked, and improv away.

Mike bought 3 whole crab on Sunday. One too many for us to consume in one sitting. Although we valiantly tried. So into the freezer went the lone crab. A quick note, steamed crab keeps well when frozen and then defrosted slowly. The meat doesn't hold together as firmly as "just cooked" crab, but the flavor is all good.

This recipe took a few ingredients that we already had handy. As you can see below, loads of garlic, butter, bacon (not the drippings), cilantro. And crab! Loads of crab. The only things I added to the recipe were a splash of brandy, a few dollops - I love how that word sounds, dollops! - of mascarpone, and lemon zest. Oh, and linguine of course!

If you decide to purchase shelled crab, this recipe will take less than 20 minutes. Tops. I am telling you; huge payoff!

Crab and Brandy Linguine

Bacon bits (make your own, people. Don't use the stuff in a can/jar)
whole clove of garlic, minced
half a stick of butter
splash of brandy
3 tbsps of mascarpone
juice of half a lemon
lemon zest
cilantro
a pound of crab meat
half pound of linguine

Boil your noodles. Set aside. Crisp up your bacon. Set bits aside. Wipe pan clean but don't wash it! You want all that frond at the bottom.

Over very low heat, melt your butter and slowly - slowly, people - flavor the butter with your garlic. This will take around 10 minutes. This is the most time you will spend on a single step.

Add a splash of brandy, and turn up the heat so that some of the alchohol evaporates. Add your mascarpone and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Toss your linguine into the sauce to make sure everything is coated. With the heat still on, gently fold in the crab. Add the lemon juice and allow the heat to warm up the crab.

Plate the noodles and top it with the cilantro and lemon zest mixture. But not before you pile on more crab meat.

I thought the garlic, brandy and bacon would over power the crab. The slow and gentle treatment of the butter and garlic turned out perfectly! The butter kinda browned and the garlic mellowed. Getting rid of the bacon drippings was also a good call. I had a nice salty crunch from the bacon, without the overpowering flavor or grease of the bacon fat.

Can it really be December?

2009-12-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

My brain is still trying to wrap itself up around the whirlwind that was November.

My brother and his family were with us for a little more than a week; some of which we spent in LA. We did a whole lot of sight seeing, visiting, and eating when they were in town. Our whirlwind trip down south was no different.

I wish I could say all the eating down there was good. In all honestly, we probably had one good restaurant meal; breakfast at Paula's, consisting of danish pancakes and sausages. The pancakes were really good; a nice cross between a crepe and a pancake. The danish sausages were good as well, nicely seasoned and with a crispy casing.

You can find Paula's at 1531 Mission Drive, in the oh-so-cute Danish town of Solvang. Take a stroll into the cute bakery and shops next door to Paula's. After that filling meal, you'll need it.

We had a few restaurant meals while we were down there; including a Korean place that's been bookmarked on my yelp page "to try". Hae jang Chon. There were only four banchan. Four?!? I can think of at least another six that should be on here! Not only were the sides skimpy, they weren't very tasty either. Broccoli with a spicy sauce, fish cake (admittedly tasty), potato salad, and radish. The round type of radish that comes in a pouch. From the grocery. Can you see where this is going?

The warm kimchi and beansprouts on the stonetop grill were a nice touch. That seafood pancake on top of it was mushy and flavorless. Why it was dubbed "seafood" I can't tell you.

What visit to a Korean bbq place would it be without the requisite meat porn shot?! Clockwise from the top: pork belly (no marinade, can you tell?), beef brisket, beef tongue, marinated beef, and an onion. Trust me, these don't taste as good as they look.

The one good thing about the meal were the dipping sauces.Clockwise from top left: soy bean oil with salt, spicy sauce, fermented soybean paste, and a sweet/spicy soy sauce.

All that said, not all our LA meals were bad. The most memorable, and tasty, meals where the ones at relatives homes! There were two home cooked meals, one at my Dad's place and another at my sister-in-laws'. Hopefully you can understand we were busy eating. Er, sorry for the lack of photos.

Grilled squid in a sweet and citrusy soy sauce marinade. This was a very traditional dish for our Sunday lunches in Manila. I love how my husband cooked it too, he takes them off the flame while they are a tad underdone. They arrive at the table at the perfect toothsome yet pliable texture!

This is specialty from my Dad's native province, Ilocos. It's called dinakdakan. I dare you to say that ten times. Its a dish of grilled beef, onions, and peppers. It sounds so simple but this was so good over rice. I think the secret to this dish is the beef marinade. We took a lot of this home and had it the next day. Still fantastic!

Ah! My favorite! What you see above in my hands down favorite filipino dish! It's called "sugba kilaw". Sugba being grilled pork (marinated in vinegar, garlic, and salt). Kilaw is fresh tuna ceviche! Put these two things together with some cucumbers in a magical sauce made of lime juice, grated ginger, garlic, and onion. Man, I am drooling. I love love love this dish! This is the dish I always ask for at any party!

Another Ilocano favorite; goat. As much as I love lamb, I can't stand goat. So truthfully, I can't tell you how this tasted.

There isn't a filipino gathering that doesn't have (a) steamed rice AND (b) noodles. It just doesn't happen. These noodles are called palabok. The sauce is a gravy made from shrimp shell stock. Mmmmm.... Topped with shrimp, boiled eggs, green onions and tons of the ubiquitous calamansi juice! I am a pinoy at heart; I have a calamansi tree in my patio. It bloomed like crazy this past summer.

Since we are a nation of seven thousand islands (7,107 to be exact), there had to be fish! This is another very traditional dish called "inihaw na bangus" which translates to grilled milkfish. The milkfish is stuffed with a mixture of tomatoes, onions, ginger tossed in fish sauce and calamansi juice. When we were kids, we used to fight over the belly meat every Sunday! Now that we are grown ups, we no longer fight. We surreptitiously "operate" on the fish when no one is looking.

Happy thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

I just had to share this photo of our very feisty dungeness crab! Steamed crab and prime rib are the main stars of tonight's meal.

The prime rib was aged for a few days in an empty refrigerator. The crab were purchased from Marina Grocery in Union City, bright and early this morning.

The asian market was empty but of course I just had to swing by Safeway. I mean why not? Forgetting mandatory ingredients has been a holiday tradition for the past few years. You name the holiday and chances are I'll forget the sour cream. Or the baguette. Or the cream.

Despite the crowds, I love grocery shopping the day-of; thanksgiving, christmas, and new year. There's a happy camaraderie in the air. And a slight tinge of panic. Specially when they announce over the loud speaker that all the poulty seasoning that the store has is already on the shelves. Time for plan B!

Happy thanksgiving! For our friends spending the holidays in Taiwan; happy 12th year town anniversary!

The requisite panorama shot

2009-11-25T08:05:00.000-08:00

Of New Orleans from my hotel room. That's the French Quarter to the left, the Mississippi River, and Algiers neighborhood across that. There are some day shots that are waiting to get stitched into a panorama shot just like this.

I have family visiting from Vancouver and we've been on the road for the last few days. We are in full thansgiving dinner preparation mode, as well as strategically planning our day-after shopping itinerary! Our nephew has been furiously saving up his allowance specifically for a trip to Toys-R-Us. Oh joy!

Have a great thanksgiving holiday and see you soon after that!

It's the beginning of an affair

2009-11-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

Sigh.

After skipping lunch - I don't eat before a presentation - I ventured out of my hotel in search for dinner. I hate to say that walking up an down Canal Street alone at night is not so fun. I tried to venture deeper into the french quarter but a lot of the narrow roads were really poorly lit with pedestrians few and far between. I mustered up enough courage to try a few roads but after two seperate encounters with inebriated men I figured that I was just tempting fate. Head back to the hotel.

The dining choices around the hotel are not to my liking. Judging by breakfast at the hotel restaurant - River 127 - I was not excited about the prospect of returning. Just your run of the mill, over priced, poorly tasting food. There was of course Morton's, an easy elevator ride down from my hotel room. As mentioned in my Anaheim post, just not my cup of tea; and to be frank I doubt folks at work would be happy with the cost of a meal here. Last but not the least, Harrah's is right across the street. Ooh, it's glorious buffet offerings. Pass.

Finally, there was my appetite to consider. All I really wanted was a po'boy. More accurately, all I really wanted was a half oyster/half shrimp po'boy from Verti Marte.

Ring. Ring. Do you really deliver?

Hah! Take that over priced hotel food. Verti Marte delivers!! I ordered up two po'boys; one 1/2 and 1/2 and the other a catfish, both dressed in "wow sauce". It's all over yelp and chowhound. This wow sauce. I drooled on my keyboard. Figuratively, of course.

In case you think I attempted to eat both sandwiches, I ordered them to share with my husband. It's not as ridiculous as it sounds.

Presenting the catfish po' boy. Click on the photo for a close up.

The half and half po'boy.

Notice I took the time to take photos. How I suffer for this blog. =)

In hindsight, I should have asked for the wow sauce on the side. The taste is indeed "wow" - a creamy, sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy dressing that compliments the seafood really well. It soaks into bread as dressings typically do. I should really have thought it through better. I have to say, I am loving the fact that I discovered the wow sauce online. I was thinking last night that the only way to improve on the sandwich would be a tangy remoulade. The wow sauce fits the bill. Oh so well.

On to the po'boys. The catfish sandwich was nicely done, the fish was moist and made for a slightly-better-than-average sandwich. The relatively thin fillet didn't stand up to the thicker consistency of the batter. Plus it needed a little more spice to it. All in all, it was ok.

Once you've had the 1/2 and 1/2, you'll understand why there isn't more catfish love. It's not that the catfish po'boy is bad, far from it. The 1/2 and 1/2 is that stellar! I can't decide if I like the oysters or the shrimp best. They both taste of the sea. Both spectacularly fresh! And fried to a salty, spicy perfection. It's that good. I am not sure that the other half of the 1/2 is making it's way home to Mike. He can have two halves of the catfish po'boy, right? Dear lord, I'm headed for the gym. it's a very good thing that I don't live in New Orleans.

I'm telling you. It's the beginning of a love affair and I'm more than a little worried about po'boy withdrawal.

Sigh.

* A note about cost. The po'boys are $9.50 each on a french roll. I've paid for $10 sandwiches that have left me wanting and feeling a little duped. These are more than worth the money you pay for them.

** I mentioned my Verti Marte experience to a few locals I chatted with today. Apparently, it REALLY is the local joint. And Brad and Angie do live a few doors down. I mean, if you're interested in things like that. =)

Would you wait 16-hours for a po' boy?

2009-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

Let me explain. I flew out of SFO at half past midnight on Monday morning. After some flight delays, I finally make it to my New Orleans hotel at around noon.

You would think this would be a perfect time to grab something to eat, right? Wrong. I sorely needed some zzzz's if I were going to function at my 2pm meeting at all. So, a 1-hr nap it is.

By the time my NOLA contact, Vanessa, came to pick me up, it occurred to both of us that neither of us had anything to eat. So off to the French Quarter. What would you like? A sandwich please!

Po Boy it is. Thank God, that Vanessa was a local. She led the way to Verti Marte. A corner mart with a deli at the back. I ordered up my oyster/shrimp po'boy - on a baguette, thank you very much. The store owner regaled us with stories of how Brad and Angie came in all the time. He says that they are both really down to earth. Plus, lady can apparently eat - a muffaletta no less! I knew there was a reason to like that woman!

So I guess we stumbled on a local joint. L-O-C-A-L is such an understatement! It is a small, kinda dark corner store in the very middle of the neighborhoods. Liquor, chips, soda, and cigarettes up front and center. The deli in the back is a gem though! They had all sorts of fantastic looking things. They are open 24-hours and they deliver. I wonder if they deliver all the way to the Riverfront.

So are you wondering how a 16-hr wait plays into this? After all, I got my po'boy at hr 12 right? I got it. I didn't eat it. We had went on a little stroll to see all the great homes in the French Quarter. We then headed over to the 7th, 8th and upper 9th ward to see a future school site. And then to the Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans. We had a packed visit in one afternoon. We also did a little tour of the Garden district and Uptown. I am thankful that I got to see the different faces of New Orleans.

I finally make it back to my hotel room at around 6pm - aka hour what, 16? I was almost afraid to have the sandwich. Surely everything would be soggy and gross. I mean, how long can you expect something fried, wrapped in sandwich paper, then stuffed in a bag to last right?

The sandwich was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I kid you not. I had the foresight to skip the tomatoes! The bread was no longer crisp but nowhere near soggy at all. The shrimp and the oysters! Yum!!!!! They were fantastic! The seafood was fresh, still crisp, not greasy at all, and perfectly seasoned with a salty, peppery bite.

Seriously, if there is anything to understand about me, it's that I dislike sandwiches. I never volunteer to have them since I find the standard ham/cheese or tuna sandwich so boring. The po'boy from Brad and Angie's is a fantastic sandwich! I am already wondering if I can walk there tomorrow after my presentation.

I had to wait 16 hours for my first taste of New Orleans. It was worth it.

After such a long and exhausting day, I don't have any po'boy pictures to share. I do however have some neighborhood photos that I can post when I get home.

Good night!

Time out

2009-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to catch the red eye to New Orleans in a few hours is not exactly my idea of fun at the moment. All I really want to do is curl up in bed and see a movie. Or read a book. Basically, anything that requires less energy than stepping out into the cold. Oh yes. The cold nights are here.

I really don't mean to sound like a little whiner. It's just been an insanely busy few months for all of us at work. The run-down feeling has been dogging me for a few weeks and I just feel like napping!

The upside is, I've never been to New Orleans! It will be nice to see a new part of the country. I am hopeful that it will be an interesting trip. Hopefully, I will get a chance to have a taste of local food.

Oyster Sunday

2009-11-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Point Reyes is hands down one of our favorite places to visit. Anytime we feel the need to get away, refresh, and re-energize - this is our spot. This huge national park has something interesting happening at any given time of the year.

This past weekend we took a day trip to the park, our first stop being Tomales Bay Oyster Co.

It was such a nice day! Sunny yet breezy. Lots of families had the same idea we did. Many of them brought the dogs. Really who would've thought they would all end up in the water chasing the same frisbee!

We started the picnic with some toasted bread, slices of gruyere, and grilled bacon. This is my new favorite way of preparing bacon! The grilling / smoke gave the bacon such character; making it so fun to eat!

Well, people - we came for the oysters and ended up having around 6 dozen. We tried extra small, small, and medium oysters as well as the fresh clams. The hands down winner were the smaller oysters. There is something about a sweet, plump oyster that you can have in one bite. Heavenly! I was excited to see the sparkling end of the oyster shucker in the picture above! It was purely unintentional and I didn't even notice it when I was taking the picture.

Mike prepared his version of a mignonette - made with rice vinegar, shallots, salt, sugar, pepper, and heaps of cilantro. Oh my god, it was soooo good! We had it on the oysters, grilled king mushrooms, and grilled shrimp! Nothing was spared the dressing!

You didn't think that was the end of it right? Uh oh. We grilled up some beer bratwursts, white asparagus, as well as enoki mushrooms. Everything was really tasty and well received. The white asparagus was very sweet! I liked this much better than the traditional green asparagus. The white ones had a less "asparagusy" smell. You know exactly what I mean.

What picnic doesn't have alchoholic drinks involved? Two bottles of chardonnay, one of which was preceeded by a much loved bottle of prosecco. Tsk, tsk. Poor chardonnay. Overshadowed by the fruity, bubble champagne cousin from Italy.

Did you spot the vodka? Oyster shooters were provided by Kenny. Can you believe that I have never had them until this weekend?

All in all, it was a great day! A lot of fun and relaxation with friends; great food; and a glimpse of the sunset from the Lighthouse. What more can you ask of the weekend?

More photos on flickr. Advanced apologies for the small size of some of the photos. I was having technical difficulties. =)

Mi Pueblo

2009-11-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

I ♥ Mi Pueblo. I mean, how can you not?

Fresh fruits, check!

Lovely, fresh produce. Check!

A deli! Triple check!! That's a hunk of carnitas on the left and pollo asado on the right. The carnitas were very good. The meat was well seasoned and still very juicy!

The pollo asado is fantastic! Salty, citrusy, garlicky and sweet all in one bite. The chicken is perfect when nestled in a warm flour tortilla. Mike whipped up a quick salsa. Truth be told, plain was better!

I will madly try to emulate this chicken. On second thought, remember this? Maybe Mi Pueblo should be my one and only stop for mexican style grilled chicken from here on. After all, they do have that fabulous meat counter! And a bakery! Can you say flan? So many reasons to stop by for another visit!

Honestly, how could I not fall in love with Mi Pueblo?

Coffee and excitement on a Monday morning

2009-11-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Two words that typically do not go together - in my vocabulary, anyway. Monday and excitement.

Well, thanks to the folks at Cafe Madrid, things have changed! I just spotted the very pro looking paella set up, with a burner no less!

Maurice/Morris - why can't I ever bother to check how he spells his name?! - promised paella twice per week - a veggie and maybe an arroz negro. Can you see why I am excited! I haven't had black ink paella in more than ten years! That's a long time, people. At any rate, one of the two days is going to be a Friday!

I'm calling for social hour this Friday; I want some of that crispy crust. Did you know the Spanish have a word specially for the crust? It's socarrat. I just call it good.

Sunday dinner

2009-11-08T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a long day ..

We spent a sunny and relaxing day with friends at Point Reyes. Make that a long, sunny and relaxing day. There are some great photos - and food! - to share and I'll get those up in the next few days.

Until then take a look at what we are having for dinner! A big bowl of avocado slices, whole milk and ice cubes - sweetened with some condensed milk!

Have a great week!

Quickie

2009-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

I can't be the last person in America to find out about Modern Family. How did I miss this show!? Thankfully, ABC has posted the episodes online and I'm on a mission to catch up on all the episodes tonight.

That pretty much means that I have Z-E-R-O inclination to cook a meal. None. Nada. Zip. Nye .. you get the picture.

Thank god for the quickie meal. This duo of dishes came together in less than an hour.

A quick stir fry. In a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, saute 6 cloves of minced garlic together with half an onion (diced). Add your peas and protein (in this case fishballs), quickly followed by a few dollops of oyster sauce. Season with pepper and cook uncovered for a few minutes. Garnish with green onions and thai basil.

In case you were wondering about those fishballs, we left them uncut because they have a nice filling of fish roe. Absolutely delicious! These are sold in most asian stores; and while you can get them frozen, the best ones are the ones freshly made. These are already cooked, by the way, so you only need to warm them up. One of our favorite ways to eat these fishballs is to sear them in a non-stick pan. Nice and crispy!

Some grilled shrimp. Butterfly the shrimp. Baste with some unagi sauce. Grill until barely done. You'll notice that there are some leftover yellow croaker that were grilled together with the shrimp. Very popular fish served in many korean places. A quick word about shrimp, I recommend that shrimp be slowly defrosted. Soaking frozen shrimp in water to defrost it makes the flesh mushy. Not appetizing at all. Luckily, Mike planned ahead!

Steamed rice. You don't really need a recipe for this right?

Coal Digger here we come.

Chicken Pot Pie

2009-11-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Macarons from Laduree; cochinillo asado from the oldest restaurant in the world - they've got the Guiness certificate to prove it; yakitori from Sumiya. Purportedly the best yakitori in the Bay Area! And not just by me.

What does it matter that I've been to Sumiya XX number of times - insert best guess. Constantly crave it. Even when it burned down. And I had to wait six months. Even then. And now.

I digress.

What I was trying to say was I hardly crave things that I've never had. But as of last week, chicken pot pie joined that list. I can't really explain my hankering. Maybe I can blame it on the chill in the air, feeling a tad run down, and needing a nice warm hug.

For whatever reason, I found myself launching into pot pie research! The resulting dish - an adaptation of Ina Garten's recipe - delivered a comforting, creamy, buttery, warm hug. In a bowl. Or should I say b-o-w-l-s.

Never having made chicken pot pie before - and attempting this on a weeknight, people! - I decided to skip the homemade crust. Enter puff pastry. Mmmmmm; deciding this substitution had my mouth promptly watering! I also plead guilty to using roasted chicken from Costco instead of lovingly roasting chicken breasts in my very own oven. Teusday's just aren't the day for such attention to detail!

The process is so simple! You start by making a bechamel - a fancy word for equal parts butter and flour thinned out with liquid - you throw in your cooked chicken and frozen veggies. A few more minutes and your job is done! Transfer into an ovenproof dish and top it off with puff pastry. Proceed to spend the next 45 glorious minutes luxuriating in the smell of butter!

I would warn you to wait a few minutes after you pull this baby out of the oven, but if you are anything like me .... Cool water will help ease that burn in your mouth. =)

Chicken Pot Pie

*Adopted from Ina Garten's Recipe

Ingredients for Bechamel

2 sticks of butter

3 onions, diced

1 head of garlic, minced

2 sticks of celery, diced

3/4 cup AP flour

chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream

dried thyme

salt and pepper

Ingredients for stew
breasts and thigh meat from roasted chicken, diced

2 cups carrots, large dice
1 bag frozen veggie mix (carrots, peas, asparagus, edamame)

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 sheets of puff pastry

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In another pot, melt the butter and saute your onions until translucent. Add the minced garlic and the celery sticks and saute for around 5 minutes or so. Incorporate the stock into your roux and gently stir. You've now officially made a bechamel sauce. Pat yourself on the back. Promptly add the cream and season with salt, pepper, and dried thyme.

Add in the chicken and veggies into the sauce. Stir.

Butter the bottoms, sides, and lips of a pyrex dish. Pour the chicken mixture into the prepared pyrex dish. Gently cover the dish with the puff pastry. Crimp the edges so that it seals. Brush the puff pastry with an egg wash. Remember to make some slits in the crust to make sure that air can escape when it cooks in the oven.

Place the pyrex dish on top of a cookie sheet and baked for 45 minutes or until the crust is brown and crispy. This smells amazing while it's baking! All that butter in the stew and in the puff pastry sure makes a home smell oh so good!

We promptly ate this up. Check out the lunch boxes for tomorrow!

Little Sheep

2009-11-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

Summer is officially gone and Little Sheep is officially in!

When we first found this lamb-centric hotpot joint last year, we were in heaven! We love all things lamb but hadn't known that lamb and hotpot went together so perfectly!

The meal starts by selecting your choice of bubbling cauldrons - mild, spicy or vegetarian. We always get a half/half pot of mild and spicy. Mild for me obviously and spicy for Mike. There is so much going on it the broth that I couldn't even tell you all that's in there. I've been able to identity the following: whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, whole garlic cloves, ginger, dried lychee nuts, and about 8 more herbs and nuts that I wouldn't dream to know the names of. We've also had the chance to try the mushroom based vegetarian broth which was also very good.

There is a wide menu of dipables or cookables to chose from. We always, always have to have the lamb meat balls! Lamb shoulder. Head-on shrimp. Veggies - in this case spinach and baby bokchoy. And noodles - in this case egg noodles. The egg noodles were cooked and flavored with a slightly sweet sauce. It isn't meant to go into the soup but it was oh so good!

But of course, that's not the end of it. We also need to have some cooked items. Yes, it was just Mike and myself. Hey, it was date night!

We ordered grilled pork jowl which they served with a sweet and spicy XO sauce. This was really good. The pork was nice and crispy and the sauce was a perfect complement to the texture of the meat.

My favorite dish at this place is the skewered lamb. The are marinated in fragrant and spicy spices! There was cumin, garlic, cloves, cinnamon and definitely some chili! Man my lips hurt so good after two of these skewers. Still, a visit to Little Sheep is not complete without these skewers! We once came to Little Sheep with our dining crew - all 6 of us. We had five - count them! FIVE - orders of these skewers. The b-o-m-b!

My first ticket!

2009-11-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

*Updated!

I got my first ever ticket over the weekend.... from the Food Police. It's been a long time coming. And oh so worth it!

Homemade marshmallows are the bomb! I tested Giada's marshmallow recipe. I love her but this recipe turned out awful. Sorry Giada! These marshmallows were tough and unappetizing. The resulting sugar water was a light caramel color - I suspect because of the evaporated milk. I was really excited to see the resulting marshmallows and was so disappointed at the end. Ultimately, I ended up combining a few recipes that resulted in these amazing marshmallows!

I say "never again" to store bought mallows.

*Bah - I totally forgot to mention that I met the Food Police at our office halloween chili cook-off!

Orange Zested Marshmallows

Ingredients

13 ounces of white sugar

2 tbsps unflavored gelatin

13 ounces of water

salt

vanilla

grated orange zest

butter

cornstarch

mexican cocoa powder

Instructions
Butter a pyrex dish and dust the entire dish with constarch. Set aside.

Soften the gelatin in the bowl of your standing mixer with half of the water. Let sit.

The other half of the water goes into a pot with all your white sugar. Lock your candy thermometer in place and let the sugar water bubble away until it reaches 240 degrees F. The sugar water goes up to around 220 degrees pretty quickly than takes forever - ok maybe another 12 minutes or so - to get up to 240 degrees. One little tip, don't go watching an anime episode that turns your sugar into the "hard ball" stage. Not that I did that or anything.

Turn the heat off and mix in your vanilla and salt. Pour the liquid into your standing mixer bowl. At this point the gelatin would've hardened again so I would take the whisk and stir it a few times to losen it up.

After a few minutes, let the mixer have a go at your marshmallow base at medium/high (setting 7 on my machine) for about 10 to 12 minutes. Your mixture will magically triple in volume and becomes a glossy, opaque white. Add the orange zest into the marshmallow and give it a couple of whisks.

Now the hard part. All the recipes tell you to "pour" the mixture into the pan. There is no "pouring" this mixture. You have to duke it out with the marshmallow. It will need some coaxing to leave the bowl and it's your job to give it what it needs. Smooth it out in the pyrex dish as best as you can. I personally prefer the rustic look - "aka" i couldn't be bothered to smooth it out exactly. Dust the top with your preferred toping - in my case some mexican cocoa powder!

Let your mallow sit for at least 2 hours, uncovered. Oh and untouched! Not that anyone touched ours while it was setting. I'm just saying.

Giada's marshmallows magically plopped out of the pyrex dish when inverted. Let me tell you, without a camera crew in your house, your marshmallows will not leave the pyrex dish as willingly. Can you sense a trend here? The butter and cornstarch you prepped the dish with should help you, but you will need to coax the marshmallow out of the dish. Be patient.

Finally, use some shears to cut the mallows into your preferred shape. Once they were all cut, I dusted them up with more mexican cocoa.

These were well worth the ticket from the Food Police!

Its' all greek to me

2009-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

The summer was all about tomato, tomato, tomato ....

Now that it's officially fall; all I can think about is feta, feta, feta. I have been obsessed in all things feta; mostly the greek kind. Thankfully feta goes hand in hand with other words that I love! Words like "quick" and "easy".

This salad came together in the amount of time it took to boil the noodles. Hmmm, plus maybe 5 more minutes to slices all the olives, chopped the baby tomatoes, rinse and chop the cilantro and whip up the dressing. No more than that. Really.

Greek Pasta Salad

Dressing
*oven dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil
garlic
dried oregano
wedge of preserved lemon
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon

Main salad
bow tie pasta
sliced greek kalamata olives
sliced or quartered baby tomatoes
chopped cilantro

*First off, apologies. I just searched the blog and couldn't find a post about tomato confit. At the end of September, I slow roasted around 8 pounds of tomatoes and canned them in olive oil. The six (only six!!!) 8-oz jars have been sitting in our cupboards waiting for the perfect recipe. This turned out to be a perfect vehicle for a jar!

In a food processor; blitz all the dressing ingredients. Toss the dressing with the main salad ingredients. Serve.

Easy pancakes!

2009-10-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend I discovered just about how much sleep and rest my body can take. It seems as if 48-hours is the most that you can ask me to sit, or rather, lie still. While I successfully got rid of the painful, swollen feeling in my throat; it took a quick trip to the kitchen to get rid of the boredom.

Weekends set off a craving for "weekend breakfast food". You know, the type you don't typically have the time or the inclination to make. Waffles, swedish pancakes, hollandaise and bacon!

Not having a stocked fridge - 48 hours of bed rest at the end of the week can do that to you - I had to improvise.

A quick rummage through the ref yielded banana yogurt, eggs, flour and cheese. It hit me, pancakes!!! Of course!

These pancakes were so quick and effortless; they were fabulously light and fluffy with an underbelly of slightly crisp fried cheese. They are definitely going on weekend breakfast rotation!

Yogurt Pancakes

Wet ingredients
2 small containers of flavored yogurt (banana in this case)
1 egg
1/2 a stick of melted butter
water to thin the mixture
vanilla

Dry ingredients
1 cup flour
baking powder
baking soda

Incorporate all the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix the batter; it will be a thick batter that is slightly lumpy. Heat a pan over low/medium heat; brush the pan with some batter. Scoop some batter onto the pan (I like mine small and cute!) and shave some sharp cheddar cheese onto the batter before it sets. Once your pancakes have started to set - holes are popping up everywhere - it's time to flip them over and let the cheese crisp up.

I love my pancakes small not only because they are cute; they flip really easily!

Next time I will try the following variations: mini chocolate chips and bacon/cheese! Enjoy!

It's a miracle I tell you!

2009-10-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

I am lucky to be in one of those relationships where the man knows how - and enjoys - to cook. While some of you may think that's the miracle I speak of, it's not. After seven years of marriage, I've come to realize I'm spoiled that way. The negotiations at our house revolve around who can claim cooking privileges for that rack of lamb waiting in the freezer. It's my turn!

It's been a supremely busy month at work; with spend downs, constant traveling and endless scopes of work to prepare. I was ashamed to realize that this month I have managed a grant - I meant grand but that show's you where my mind is at at 6am in the morning -

As I was saying; I've only managed a grand total of two posts. Dos! Dalawa! Ni! Shame; shame!

The lack of posts does not mean we haven't been eating. Or that none of the food we've been eating has been good. What it means is that Mike has been cooking up more than his fare share of meals lately. And boy can the man cook! True to form, he cooks by whim. No recipes allowed; thank you very much. See the problem here? Despite the lovely meals and the occasional food photo, I have no recipe to work off! That doesn't leave me with much to post about right?

Well, miracles happen! He actually wrote up a recipe for this stew! Thank you!

He made this amazing, amazing beef stew! It had perfectly tender morsels of beef, fresh egg noodles, stewed daikon, mushrooms and crispy bean sprouts. Topped off with a hot, sweet and spicy broth sprinkled with chopped cilantro!

Heavenly! It's almost unfair to call it a beef stew since it's so much more than that! The whole thing was a 2-day process. Initially he threw the beef and the daikon in the slow cooker; both to tenderize the meat and the get a broth going. This was god enough to eat; and we did - over some steamed rice.

The left overs went into the fridge for us to pull out on some other lazy night. A few nights later he added all those lovely things you see in the photo up there. He reconstituted the broth and viola! A leftover meal that was so much better and more memorable than the original recipe.

Mike's Beef Stew

Phase 1
around 3 lbs of beef
star anise
1/2 a head of garlic
onion
daikon
soy sauce
vinegar
chinese cooking wine
ginger
pepper

Phase 2
few tablespoons store bought sate pho paste
mushrooms
fresh egg noodles
fresh bean sprouts
cilantro

A few notes about the beef. We buy our meat from an asian market and neither of us can recall the name of the cut of meat we used. We both think it was shank; it was a roll of meat that had some cartilage attached to it.

Place all phase 1 ingredients into the slow cooker; go to work and let it do it's thing. Don't forget to add some water into the crockpot; enough to cover all the meat.

At the end of the day you have two choices: serve up the stew over steamed rice or save some of it for a beef stew similar to what we had. If you are taking it to the full blown soup level; move the broth into a soup pot. Take some time to skim off some of the fat; you won't notice that it's gone. Trust me.

You might need to add some more water before adding in the sate pho paste. You can get little jars of this paste in any asian market. We don't have a favorite brand, we've been experimenting by grabbing 2 at a time and they all taste good to me! With the mushrooms and veggy of choice in there, let the broth simmer for a few minutes.

While the broth is doing it's thing quickly boil your fresh noodles in a separate pot.

Assemble your bowl to make sure you have peices of everything; meat, veggies, daikon, mushroom, sprouts and egg noodles! Pour on the broth and enjoy!

Stress free bread!

2009-10-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm 3/4ths into my four-day weekend - thanks, Columbus! - and I've done very little by way of anything remotely productive. I've either been sleeping, reading a few chapters of my favorite book or watching random anime episodes. All this free time is making me feel a little guilty.

Not guilty enough to attempt anything too strenuous, but enough to give this easy focaccia recipe from the Paupered Chef a try. In my experience Nick and Blake have never disappointed so I felt reasonably reassured that my experience would mirror theirs.

Thankfully, this bread was e-a-s-y to make! Easy peasy that I think this will be our thanksgiving food gift to our friends! This recipe is my passport into the imaginary club of oh-so-good chef's that are not afraid of yeast! Thank you!

Since we all know I only follow general directions, I am posting my version below. In my defense, I DID measure as Blake instructed! I however topped my focaccia with .. oh, well .. you'll see.

Please check out the Paupered Chef focaccia post since Blake gave really great step by step instructions.

Focaccia
*from the Paupered Chef recipe

16 oz AP flour
2 tsps salt
2 tsps yeast
13.5 ounces of water (needs to be warm to the touch, not hot since that will kill the yeast)

Mix up all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly incorporate the warm water into the dry ingredients and mix it up gently with your hands.

Once the mixture comes together, place the dough on a flour surface and LIGHTLY knead for a few minutes. You'll need to sprinkle the dough with some more flour if it's sticking to your hands too much. Ever so slightly pull and tuck the bread into itself. Think of it as a gentle massage! I think this is the part where I fail most of my yeast experiments, by kneading them to death!

Dust the bowl with some flour and place the kneaded dough in. Dust the top with flour and cover with a towel. I stuck my bowl in the oven with the little light switched on. And no, the oven was off at this point.

After an hour, just like Blake promised, the dough had doubled in size!!! It's alive!!!

Take a cookie sheet (large one maybe 9 x 13 or so with lips on all sides) and olive-oil it up! I didn't have any cornmeal so I skipped that part. Lightly stretch and pull the dough to fit the pan. My dough had some holes here and there so I just kinda smooshed it all together. The dough didn't stretch out to the edges but that was fine. Cover it with the towel and back in the oven it goes to double in size for 30-mins.

Well, this is where I come in. I fall asleep. For 2-hours. Sigh.

My dough had indeed doubled up in size but it had formed a skin in some place. I know cause when I dimpled the dough, the edges would crack. Oh well. The rest of the dough was fine.

Top your focaccia with a mixture of olive oil, olives, garlic, sundried tomatoes and feta. Into a 425-degree oven for 20 mins. As soon as it comes out sprinkle some fresh basil on it.

It smelled and tasted fabulous!!! The focaccia was crispy on top and soft and chewy inside. I was so happy to have made something so simple yet so good! I think I may be on my way to freeing us from $5 loafs of bread!

The next one we try will be a caramelized onion/grape version. Can't wait!

Try this bread, it truly is stress free!

Anaheim experience

2009-10-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Low expectations - food wise - are the first thing I pack for a work trip. More often than not, I find myself in fast-food laden places with no grocery stores and I've done my fair share of compromising....

I found myself pleasantly surprised during this last trip. I spent 4 days at the Anaheim Marriott and the conference organizers did a great job of providing healthy food. As far as large-scale feedings go - there must've been close to a thousand people to feed! - the food was better than expected. I have to say though, I may have sprouted some feathers! cluck cluck!

The first lunch was chicken with polenta. I was happy to see this since just last week I asked my co-workers for their polenta tips. I had never had, much less prepared, polenta before. Et voila! Ask and ye shall receive.

One night I had a burger and caprese salad at the Cafe del Sol (in the hotel) .. The salad was really tasty - I was sooo pleasantly surprised! People, I think every salad at a mass-feeding has to be sad sad greens dressed with some awful dressing! I really enjoyed the deconstructed caprese - wait, is a caprese salad deconstructed by nature? Anyway .. it rocked! The artful balsamic glaze was a touch harsh for me but no biggie.

The burger that I ordered to go with the salad had to be packed to go; sadly there are no photos. It was substantial burger and quite tasty. The bacon was smokey and peppery, as promised, and the burger had a nice char to it. As far as hotel burgers go, this was really good!

The other dinners were less memorable - pho and bun at some non-descript Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall and more salads. At least they were healthy.

The last night we were invited to join the organizers for dinner at Morton's. Why does every business gathering have to end up at a steakhouse? I love a good pan fried steak at home and I am inevitably disappointed with steaks served at restaurants. This was no different. The meal was fine since it was a networking dinner anyway, not a foodie gathering or anything like that.

It's good to be home! Check out these bonus pics of the Disneyland nightly fireworks taken from my balcony, mind you they aren't very clear. To think these are the clearest of the large number that I took. = )

Work beckons!

2009-10-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Work - it's what I do during the better part of the week. I'm off to Anaheim for a 4-day conference. Why do I have the sinking feeling that I will be posting some rants along the way ....

See you soon!

A cake worthy of its name!

2009-09-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Presenting the Swedish Princess Cake.

Every time we find ourselves in the city, my mother bugs - our begs - us to make this detour. Despite that, we haven't mustered up the energy since weekend traffic is horrendous! Although in fairness, I can't imagine when traffic is this area would be good. I digress.

As you know, we conveniently found ourselves at Golden Gate this weekend - so really there was no excuse not to make the side trip.

Schubert's Bakery is in the Richmond District of San Francisco. Right along side delicious looking, great-smelling asian restaurants no less! I can imagine a nice asian meal ending up with any one of the cakes from this bakery. Note to self, must plan next friend get together .....

I've never sampled anything from this bakery but I've heard great things about them. But really, calling something "the princess cake"? Kind of a dubious name right; I mean how do you live up to it? With bright green marzipan icing no less! I am no fan of marzipan in this country. Always so heavy and dry!

Well folks. This cake lives up to it's name.

The icing is light, moist and delicate. Slicing into it is a prelude to a thick layer of raspberry custard filling that is enrobed in equally tender cake. It's soooo good! There is a tiny hint of liquor that goes so well with the raspberry custard. This cake is so amazing that I've had a slice - ok maybe two small slices - each day since Sunday! Not to worry, we made a point to share the other half of the huge cake - $36 - with mom. So really, I'm only eating away at half a cake.

A little intermission

2009-09-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

These are the best Monday blues I've ever had ... The Cal Academy is so the perfect way to while away a day. Any day.

Feast your eyes on these gorgeous jelly fish! I took gazillion - ok, maybe twenty - photos of these opaque little creatures! How sad is it that only two came out well?

Check out the other fishes that live in the Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences by clicking the jelly fish above.

Enjoy!

Quick and easy ribs!

2009-09-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

For some reason or another, we rarely make pork ribs in our house. Our friend Doreen has a fantastic recipe for ribs, but it requires smoking the meat for a looooooong time.

A really long time.

People, I've willingly exhausted my patience for all things long and laborious on this year's tomato season. I suspect the urge for complicated recipes will return once the fog and cold really settles in during fall, but for now we are focused on quick and easy.

I was excited to find that the pork ribs we had at a weekend dinner required no prep at all other than a dry rub applied while the meat was coming to room temperature. My boss, Robert, threw the ribs over some briquettes mixed with mesquite chips and the ribs came out really tasty and moist. Doubly exciting was the fact that he used nothing but Lawry's seasoning! Weeknight meal alert!

Off to the grocery we go where the pork ribs were on sale at $1.59/lb. The baby back ribs were around $5/lb so it was an easy switch to make. Being that we are us, we had to fiddle with the recipe a little bit.

We applied a modified dry rub for our ribs and let it sit in the fridge for 24 hrs. Considering that this was an experiment and we used a gas grill, the ribs came out really well. I would say a 7.5 out of 10. The next time we try this, I will be adding more Lawry's and more sugar. Were not as sold on liquid smoke, but I really liked the mesquite flavor that Robert's ribs had. Surprisingly, our ribs were tender and moist; despite our concern that they weren't baby back ribs. The recipe posted below shows the seasoning adjustments I will make next time around.

We ate the ribs with some left over pickled green papaya (also known as "atchara") which was the perfect accompaniment. I am trying to get Mike to pen the recipe he used for atchara and I am hoping to post that tomorrow.

Easy Ribs Recipe

5 lbs of pork ribs (in slab form)
3 2 tablespoons of Lawry's seasoning
3 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
freshly ground pepper

Mix the Lawry's seasoning, brown sugar and pepper and rub it onto the pork slab. Let the meat marinate in the fridge for 24 hrs.

The next day, let the meat come to room temperature while you heat up your grill. We've found the best way to cook this is over indirect heat. For us that means we fire up the left and right burners of our grill and sit the meat over the center grill.

I kept the heat at around 350 degrees and approximate the meat was on the grill for around 45-60 minutes.

Gaesung House of Tofu

2009-09-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Unwinding on a Friday typically means getting together with friends over dinner and drinks. This past weekend was no different, and after a hectic week for both of us, this was just what the doctor ordered!

We made a trek to Santa Clara over to Gaesung House of Togu. This Korean restaurant is tucked away in a little strip mall which we almost missed since half their neon sign was unlit. For some reason I see dead neon and I think "uh oh". You do too right?

There were the usual eight of us (plus two babies) and we ordered a huge amount of food. Happy to say that all in all the food was really good. Everything was pretty much a higher quality than typically found in your average AYCE bbq place. They serve some pretty unusual banchan like sweet/spicy fish - cross section looks like an eel, but way subtler taste.

I wanted to so like this place and am so relieved that I do. I've been craving some good korean food after the last few visits to Myung Dung - which I really feel has dropped in quality.

On to the food ....

Our friends have been frequenting this place a bit so they whipped out a tofu salad on the house for us. Those white balls you see - looks like cheese - are actually mounds of silken tofu. This salad was really good!

We ordered the memil salad which was made of buckwheat noodles tossed with a green salad and some nori strips. This was fantastic! I almost didn't get to taste this cause people dove right in after I took the photo. hahaha

We're not done with appetizers yet! We ordered two seafood scallion pancakes and a kimchi pork. The scallion pancakes were a hit! I love green onions, specially when they've had a chance to caramelize. Yum! There was shrimp, octopus and oysters in this pancake and boy did they go fast!

Mike had to have the kimchi pork - basically thin slices of pork belly sauted with kimchi. They served it with slices of silken tofu which softened the sour-spice of the saute.

Here come the banchan. That eel-like fish I was telling you about is the on the topmost line of dishes - that extremely red on in the center. It looks spicy as hell but its pretty mild and sweet! I really appreciated the freshness and quality of their banchan. Those little cucumbers you see at the bottom? They were crunchy! That prevalent salt associate with kimchi? Not present!! This was my favorite banchan in all of the bay area. I have to say though that the chapche (class noodles) did not do it for me. It wasn't bad at all, just a tad bland. There were more side dishes but at this point everyone had patiently been holding back as I took photos of each dish served. It was getting annoying - me, not them! So there you go, minimal photos! =)

We finally got around to ordering dinner which was mostly bulgogi, chicken teriyaki and six - count em six! - bowls of soon tofu soup. Did I mention this place is known for their tofu soup?

The bulgogi beef had a great balance of flavor. Not overtly salty or sweet, just right. Plus the plate really sizzled and seared the meat! My main complain with Myung Dung now is the beef kinda stews on the place since the plate isn't hot enough. Gross! I digress .....

That's my soup up there and I got it medium spicy. It was enough to get my nostrils going, but no so spicy that my throat got in on the action. I really should've taken a photo before I cracked an egg into the bowl so that you could see how red the soup was.

We did not get to order the kimchi rice - which I hear is killer! We were so stuffed by this time. I guess this means we need another visit. Preferably some time soon!

A teeny lapse

2009-09-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Not only has it been a pretty hectic week, we haven't really made any good food lately. We've been eating a lot of left overs and deli food so it's hasn't been that exciting. No really. We we're just at Chucky Cheese. I bet now you're glad I haven't posted.

We had dinner with friends last weekend at a Korean place in Santa Clara that specialized in more than just your regular korean bbq. I'll get that post up tomorrow.

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Shrimp and Scallop Risotto

2009-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

We're currently in that lull between summer and fall - when sunny days disappear between the clouds and little droplets of rain. Every year, at around this time, I start to crave warm, creamy comfort food. This time around it was shrimp and scallop risotto, riffing off an episode I saw on ~~PBS~~ Joanne Weir's show a week ago.

Although the red plates - when am I ever going to get rid of those? - don't do the risotto justice, it was damn good!

Shrimp and Scallop Risotto
*this takes me around 45-minutes to make

olive oil
minced garlic
prosecco or some fruity chardonnay
2 cups arborio rice
4 cups of shrimp stock - boil the shrimp heads and shells then strain; keep warm
1 cup or so of water
1 cup of frozen peas and carrots
1 lb of shrimp halved and deveined
s+p
parmesan cheese lemon zest

Start by sauteing minced garlic in olive oil - do this over low heat so you don't burn the garlic. Toast the arborio rice for a few minutes, until they turn partly translucent.

Add a few gulps of white wine - we used prosecco this time since I wanted to drink some. =) "A few gulps" is probably around a cup or so. Let this simmer a few minutes until the wine is absorbed. Start adding your stock, one ladle at a time. I know some folks say you don't need to do this, but I stir the pot constantly!

In case you run out of stock and the rice isn't done, start adding small amounts of water. When the rice needs another 10-minutes or so, I add in the frozen veggies. After 5-minutes of ~~standing around~~ stirring, I add the shrimp which really only need a few minutes to cook.

Another 5 minutes after that, I turn off the heat, zest some lemon into the rice, stir in the cheese and cover the pot! I may have accidentally put some lemon juice in the pan as well. I am fairly certain there is some rule against lemon and cheese, but we really enjoyed how it noticeably made the risotto taste a little lighter.

Walk away and start your scallops - the rice needs to rest for 5-minutes. After all, you've been messing with it for 45-minutes by now!

Seared Scallops
*start searing this during the 5-minute resting period for the risotto

olive oil
minced garlic
large scallops - not the ones that were previously frozen
splash of white wine
s+p
chopped parsely

Season your scallops with s+p and then lay them in a very hot saute pan with some olive oil. Give this side a few minutes to caramelize without touching it. After about 3-4 minutes, depending on what size scallops you have, turn them over. Add the garlic into the pan and add a few tablespoons of prosecco or wine. Once they are done, sprinkle on the parsley and top the risotto with these delicious scallops!

Enjoy!

When a summer ends ..

2009-09-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

You know it's time to start freezing and pickling things ... or so I've heard through the past few years.

This year I am making a conscious effort to prolong this summer's produce and it all started today. Presenting preserved lemons .. tadah!

This effort is so easy that it's almost embarrassing to post about it; I said almost.

Preserved Lemons
*these need to sit in a jar for 30 days and viola! They are ready!

6 or 7 organic lemons
1/3 cup of kosher salt
a few peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
a few cloves
a well cleaned jar

Most recipes tell you to slice a lemon into quarters up to about 1/2 inch or so of the end so that you are left with a petal style lemon. My lemons were huge - from a co-workers tree - so I had to slice them into quarters. Rub each slice with some kosher salt and pack them tightly into the jar, together with the spices. Top off the mixture with more lemon juice.

Let sit on your counter for 30 days and then they are ready to use in a variety of dishes! To use on of your lemon rinds, rinse of the salt. Some people like to throw the pulp away but I use whatever is left after the rinse. I tend to slice these really finely - julienne if you must! - and add them to pasta dishes. It will be great to experiment with stews and the like once the 30 days are up!

Can it really be this easy?

2009-09-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

Ciabatta, oh how I love thee!

No really - I LOVE a crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside ciabatta loaf. I buy them in bulk, people. Sadly, I also consume them in bulk. Ciabatta goes very well with that other addiction of mine - seasonal tomatoes. Oh and buffalo mozzarella ...

I'm really in trouble now.

It can't be that hard to make, right? I mean, it's not like bakers spend their entire lives learning how to make bread. Really, how hard can it be? The chef from Food Wishes thinks it's easy, and who am I to say he is wrong? If his No-Knead recipe for Ciabatta is good enough for him .... I'm all over it.

Mix up 4 cups of flour, 1/4 tsp yeast, 2 cups warm water and some salt. Let sit for 18 hours. Shape into a loaf then cover with a towel for another 2 hours. Into a 425 degree oven for 35-45 mins. Easy enough right?

If only it ended there. I really did not intend to do things my way. Really.

I mixed up the batch as ordered and let the mixture do its thing at around 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. Thinking that when I got home from work it would be around 18 hours right? Um no. Wrong! It would have been a whopping 24 hours plus 6 hours (see I really do need a calculator) by the time I got home on Monday night. So what do I do? Monday morning I stick the thing in the fridge. I figure that will slow down the fermentation.

Come home. Give the dough an hour to come to room temperature. Shape the loaf. And cause I'm me, I let it rise 1 hour instead of 2. I had buffalo mozzarella and oven dried tomatoes waiting, people!

It came out pretty darn good! That Food Wishes guy sure knows his thing! Just look at that lovely crust, and those cute little bubbles!

For trial #1 this was a damn fine piece of bread! For my ciabatta purposes I wanted something lighter, a little more salt and with a lot more crevices. So I am now working on batch #2!

I've mixed up a modified batch of dough. One that's wetter and will sit in my kitchen for 24 hours. I'm excited to see what this ends up being.

And the taco winner is ....

2009-09-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

We sure had a busy long weekend, two days of which were spent on a taco crawl around International Boulevard in Oakland. Don't you just love real mexican (and salvadoran!) food when it's a nice 72 degrees outside?

I'll give you a run down of where and what we ate, but let me say the surprise winner for us was Taqueria San Jose at the corner of International Boulevard and 35th Avenue.

The sauces from left to right are a pico de gallo, tomatillo sauce and a fresh salsa. The tomatillo sauce had great flavor to it, kind of a creeper in terms of heat!

There were three of us and we ate $30 worth of food that was both affordable and delicious! This time around we got a wide assortment of meats; in case we were missing something special right?

Hubby had two al pastor tacos AND a carnitas burrito! The al pastor was one of two winners of the weekend! It was extremely tasty with the just right amount of grease and spice. We loaded this up with lime juice and the tomatillo sauce and it was heaven! My mouth is watering at the memory. Personally I think the carnitas burrito was overkill! The carnitas were not crispy (maybe cause they were enveloped in a burrito with rice and beans?) and tasted very porky! Not in a bad way, just in a really porky way. There was no escaping the lard in this one. =)

For moi, I ordered 4 soft tacos carne asada (left), cabeza (top taco), pollo (right), and lengaua (bottom center). I'll work my way upwards to the one I loved!

The pollo was boring .. I know I know; you're thinking why order the chicken right? Well, after that grilled chicken fiasco, I was still craving me some killer chicken. Newsflash, this was so not it. The chicken was literally bleh. Skip please!

The cabeza was wonderfully soft and reminiscent of a beef stew; which on second thought is exactly what it was! Great flavors, great saucyness and a tad too soft for my taste. The carne asada was the texturally better than the cabeza, the chopped meat had a nice sear to it and with that killer tomatillo sauce and the lime, it was really good! The most surprising this was that I liked the lengua best. I had ordered it as an after thought, mostly since I didn't want to order another al pastor - since Mike had taken care of that.

It was delicious!!! This meat was soft and tender, but not in an off-putting manner at all. Unlike the cabeza, I totally enjoyed how the tongue felt on my .. well, tongue. =) I first tried this taco the way it was prepared, not adding any tomatillo or lime juice to it; it rocked! It tasted like one of my favorite comfort foods of all time - bulalo; a filipino bone marrow soup. This taco shares first place with the al pastor in my mind.

We also had the tacos dorados which were deep fried tacos filled with the meat of your choice; 3 al pastor and 2 carne asada. They serve julienned lettuce leaves, fresh salsa, and tomato slices with these crispy tacos. Sadly, this was al pastor masacre! The meat totally dried out! Bummer!

Despite that, Taqueria San Jose is definitely worth a repeat; in the near future please!

We also tried Taqueria Sinaloa and I don't get why this place ranks so high on Yelp. My cousin says it's cause it's a sanitized version of mexican food. Isn't that what Mexicali is for?

If you go clockwise from the center, we had carnitas, carne asada and al pastor. These were all pretty ho-hum tasting. None of the flavor, spice and just authentic taste you associate with a truck. So it's a nice truck, with a parking lot; oh and shaded tables to sit on. Please.

The other place we tried was Tamales Mi Lupita. This was a "fan" try; having recently spotted in in Tony Bourdain's SF episode. Lupita spotted us for what we were - gringo's! And before you could say hola! she handed us two free pupusa's to try. She was being so polite in explaining to us what her truck was all about; that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I actually loved pupusa's. She must be getting some brisk No Reservations business. She deserves it.

The pupusas was great! It was a cheese and bean pupusa, but the kicker was the slaw. The crisp and vinegary cabbage was a great on the pupusa.

We also had two tacos; an al pastor (can you sense a trend here?) and a carnitas. I don't often order the corn tortillas since I find them really heavy. Lupita's tortillas hold up to the meat but are not heavy at all; not very lardy either! While we really the carnitas, the al pastor was really good. It had a nice spicy and salty kick to it!

The sad part was that we had come specially for the tamales, since I haven't met a tamale that I love yet! I figured maybe this was the spot right? At 11 am she was sold out! Wahhh, are they really that good? I want some!

I guess this means the crawl is not over yet?

Weekend Creme Brulee Pudding

2009-09-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

So much for plans.

Every weekend the plan is to stay home and sleep in; most weekends don't go exactly according to plan. I guess weekends are best reserved for spontaneity, huh?

It was nice and sunny yesterday; too good a weather to stay indoors. With the bay bridge crossing over the weekend - to attach a new span segment - San Francisco was out of the question. We trekked our way over the san mateo bridge instead; west bound was a breeze but we could already see that the drive back home would probably be easier on dumbarton bridge.

We spent the day walking around the downtowns of Los Gatos and Mountain View. We made a trip to Milk Pail and stocked up on produce (yes 10 pounds of tomatoes were purchased!) and off to Costco for some bulk chicken. (We're prepping for a picnic at Lake Chabot next Sunday).

We spent the night laughing our assess off at My Sassy Girl which is really worth a look if you haven't seen it yet. At this point the weekend had been going really well and I knew we were all going to wake up asking each other "what's for breakfast"....

In my mind nothing kicks off a weekend better than a good breakfast. There's something about "weekendy" food that just puts me in such a good mood. So before going to be last night I prepped one of our standby special brunch items - creme brulee french toast. I like to use thick slices ciabatta bread to soak up the batter for this recipe but my mom finds the ends too chewy - and there is no way I am throwing them out! So we've compromised by cutting up the bread into cubes, ala bread pudding!

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee, posting away while the brulee bubbles away. I can smell the cinnamon; life is good!

Creme Brulee French Toast
*prep the night before

Brulee part
half a stick of butter
a few tablespoons of brown sugar

Soaking liquid
5 eggs
half a cup of heavy cream (I used up whatever I had left)
milk
vanilla
brown sugar
pinch of salt
half a stick of melted butter
cinnamon

Half a loaf of ciabatta bread (cut up in thick slices or chunks)

And off you go.

First the brulee part - cream the sugar and butter together and spread this on the bottom of your baking dish - mine happened to be a pyrex dish.

Next mix up the soaking ingredients. The amount of liquid you need will depend on the amount of bread you use and the baking dish. The goal is to have the pieces of bread soaking up the batter overnight. Take a closer look at the photo below, next time I'll probably add 1 more egg and a cup of milk to allow the tops to soak a bit too.

Oh, in the oven at 375 for around 30 mins. Use fresh cinnamon; I can smell it right now and it smells divine!!

I am telling you, this is the best thing ever! I love serving this to overnight guests and we have never had any left over.

The edges are looking mighty crisp and I am wondering if I should've used cubes. After a few bites I realize I like this version better! The bottom is custardy and sweet and the crisp top adds a great textural difference!

Where's that bacon?

Grilled Chicken (ala Mexico)

2009-09-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Belt tightening measure #1 - Make dinner at home.

Lately, I have been forgetting this little tip. We've been living a pretty frazzled month of work and fun commitments and we haven't been making home cooked meals with any regularity. I guess it's all that sunshine that makes you want to go out and have some fun with friends. Oh well, now that we are making Thanksgiving plans and all, it's time for belt tightening around our home.

Our favorite way to do this is via our grill.

Our perpetually stocked freezer has been depleted with all our get togethers that we had to start from scratch! This weekend was spent grocery shopping to stock up on staples. At the asian market we bought 8 chicken quaters (leg/thigh piece) to marinade 2 different ways. Pre-marinated meats are one of the easiest things to throw on a grill after a looooong day.

The first marinade was inspired by many posts I've seen on mexican grilled chicken. I've been craving this dish since we went on a taco crawl and the smell of cilantro/lime infused chicken grilling over hot coals wafted to our trucks. There are many variations on this dish; just as many as you would find for "roasted chicken".

Since we all know I can READ a recipe but for some reason lack the ability to FOLLOW - I based my marinade on a chimichuri sauce we really enjoyed over some panfried steak a while back.

My version is made up of things I already had handy so here we go ....

Grilled Mexican Chicken
*It's been said that I like things very sour so consider yourself warned and adjust sour agents as desired.

12-15 calamansi (also known as calamudin or filipino citrus; can substitute limes)
6 garlic cloves
2 handfuls of cilantro (stems and all)
1 small handful of parsley
cumin
mexican oregano
paprika
salt
sugar
canola oil

Throw everything - except the oil and calamansi/lime juice - into a food processor and pulse. After a few seconds I stream some of the canola oil in. Once you have a loose paste, move the mixture into a bowl. Add the calamansi/lime juice and adjust the paste to taste. You'll notice I throw some sugar to most things because I like how it balances the flavor.

Save some of your paste to serve.

Slather paste on some chicken quarters and let marinade for at least 2 hrs, preferably for 24 hours. Throw the chicken on the grill. I like to grill halved onions and whole tomatoes with this. Serve up over rice with some of your left over paste!

*****
Update :

This chicken looks fabulous but tastes very bland! I find myself confused and disappointed - I can't even begin to imagine why it was bland after sitting in that tasty marinade for more than 24 hours.

Oh well ..... husband came to the rescue. Again. We do this a lot in our house.

He mixed up a cilantro-garlic/fish sauce/rice vinegar dipping sauce that tasted soooo good that I actually ate one of those gigantic chicken quarters. Each and every sliver of chicken was dipped in the cilantro sauce before sitting on a bed of steamed rice.

It was good people! Normally my husband's sauce genius is annoying as hell but this time around it was much appreciated!

Extra Update:

I think I figured it out. This fresh chimichurri was so good over steak precisely because it was fresh! I think the grilling process cooked out all the taste from the cilantro - which tastes best when fresh! I am still craving a citrusy-garlic grilled chicken so I think this experiment will continue in the near future.

Oh if you are wondering - there were 2 whole quarters remaining and they were converted into a chicken fried rice. Post to follow.

It's always time for bacon ....

2009-08-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's taken this long to get around to post about bacon! Well in fairness, I had to fail one more time - aka vietnamese caramel bacon.

I've made extremely salty bacon; dry bacon; bacon fancy pants; and just right for me bacon! After six rounds of indulging my bacon appetite I've finally tweaked the recipe to the point where it's just right (for us anyway).

My bacon adventures started by leafing through The Paupered Chef's blog. He has a long list of homemade cured meats but it was the bacon post that got me off my behind. I spent a few months - I have been known on occasion to think about other things like work and life - doing some research.

After six tries here are a few lessons:

I prefer a 5-day cure. Most recipes call for a 7-day cure but after the first couple of tries I finally figured that this resulted in pork jerky - dried out, grey colored pork strips. Not pleasant at all.

I use less salt than all the recipes I've found online.

Simple is best.

Remove the belly skin while the bacon is warm from the oven. If you wait until the meat is cold, it will be tough to remove - pun intended! (You'll know I mean if you ignore this tip!) =)

Last but not the least - it's easier to get even slices when the bacon is cold!

So here we go.

American Style Homemade Bacon

3 lb pork belly with the skin on
1 ounce kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic (grated)
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns

Rinse the belly and dry off. Throw the pork belly in a zip lock bag.

Assemble all the ingredients and mix together. Pour the cure into the bag with the pork belly. Try and get as much air out of the bag and massage the cure onto the meat. Double bag to avoid any accidents!

After every 24 hrs, flip bag over to make both sides cure.

After 5-days your belly will feel firm to the touch which means it's absorbed the cure - or so I read! Rinse the meat and let it come to room temperature. In the meantime, heat up the oven to 200 degrees.

Lay the belly on one of those racks so that any fat that accumulates drips onto a baking sheet. The belly should be in the oven for around 2 hours or so until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.

The belly won't be hot at all, but still give it about 20 minutes of rest time. Then very gently take a thin knife - filet - and remove the skin. At this point, let the bacon cool down. Wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. In a few hours you should be ready to go.

Variations

I've tried a fancy bacon recipe from Saveur, courtesy of a post from Market Manila and it turned out good - just fancier than I wanted. The flavors I wanted were maple, salt, garlic and pepper. Viola the recipe above.

Another crazy recipe involved using that Vietnamese caramel sauce I made a few weeks back. That version didn't turn out so well, the flavors weren't as pronounced as I thought they would be and it reminded me faintly of a buta kakuni. I think I am letting that recipe go.

In the future, I am going to see about an herbs de provence version of bacon but for now we are quite happy with our maple/garlic bacon combination.

A word about smoking. See I don't have a smoker and at this point in time I don't intend to get one. Maybe if the urge to cure extends to sausages and salmon (which it probably will) I'll eventually get one. So for now I make do. I've found 2 ways to get around the smoking issue.

I figured adding liquid smoke on day 1 of the curing process would result in a very strong and unpleasant smokey flavor to the meat. So instead, I added a teaspoon of liquid smoke into the bag on the 3rd curing day. This resulted in barely a tinge of smoke to the meat. I may try adding it to day 1 the next time around after all.

I haven't using wood chips yet but I figured an easy way to do it would be to lay the uncooked belly on a perforated aluminum disposable pan and lay that on top of another pan that had moist wood chips in it. The heat of the over should generate some smoke yeah? There seems to be a little more involved in this method and I'm not inclined to try it at the moment; maybe for the holidays?