Google Labels
Hi all, Tom here.
I've added Google labels to all of Caroline's posts. You can now read through her old posts by subject matter.
For example, if you wanted to search for any of the recipies Caroline has made for you, click on the "cooking at home" link to the right.
If there are any problems, just let Caroline know. She'll tell me to fix it anyway.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
FINDING KOREAN FOOD IN OAKLAND
We haven't had much luck finding good Korean food here in the East Bay. It's one of the those cuisines that I tend to go back to LA to eat. But I wanted to check out a few places in Oakland and we decided to stop downtown to try a Korean restaurant and pick up some staples at a local Korean market.
We don't make very frequent trips to downtown Oakland. We'd been once to go to dim sum, and my auto body shop is down there. So I was pretty surprised at how quick it was to get there in the middle of the day- only about 10 minutes from our house. We check out a place called Sam Won which was almost right off the freeway. The place didn't look so pretty from the outside and didn't have any windows, but when we walked in, it was filled with Asians, and there were even two Oakland cops having lunch there, so I was already feeling pretty good about it.
When we were seated, we were given menus and barley tea and decided to order off the lunch menu (they require a two order minimum of meat in order to grill on your own). Plus, the lunch menu wasn't too expensive, with most of the entrees coming in under $10.
I ended up getting an order of chicken, which came with rice and wakame soup. It was actually really good. The chicken was well seasoned and though I would've preferred to cooking it myself, I still enjoyed it a lot.
Meanwhile, they also gave us a full range of banchans, which were all quite tasty, and Tom got an order of bulgogi. He enjoyed his meat. Lastly, Tom got an order of shrimp tempura, which was really too much wood, and didn't look that great. The batter was pretty thick and just didn't look that appetizing.
Overall we enjoyed out lunch at Sam Won, and I'm happy that we were finally able to find a good Korean restaurant close to us. I look foward to out next trip soon.
We haven't had much luck finding good Korean food here in the East Bay. It's one of the those cuisines that I tend to go back to LA to eat. But I wanted to check out a few places in Oakland and we decided to stop downtown to try a Korean restaurant and pick up some staples at a local Korean market.
We don't make very frequent trips to downtown Oakland. We'd been once to go to dim sum, and my auto body shop is down there. So I was pretty surprised at how quick it was to get there in the middle of the day- only about 10 minutes from our house. We check out a place called Sam Won which was almost right off the freeway. The place didn't look so pretty from the outside and didn't have any windows, but when we walked in, it was filled with Asians, and there were even two Oakland cops having lunch there, so I was already feeling pretty good about it.
When we were seated, we were given menus and barley tea and decided to order off the lunch menu (they require a two order minimum of meat in order to grill on your own). Plus, the lunch menu wasn't too expensive, with most of the entrees coming in under $10.
I ended up getting an order of chicken, which came with rice and wakame soup. It was actually really good. The chicken was well seasoned and though I would've preferred to cooking it myself, I still enjoyed it a lot.
Meanwhile, they also gave us a full range of banchans, which were all quite tasty, and Tom got an order of bulgogi. He enjoyed his meat. Lastly, Tom got an order of shrimp tempura, which was really too much wood, and didn't look that great. The batter was pretty thick and just didn't look that appetizing.
Overall we enjoyed out lunch at Sam Won, and I'm happy that we were finally able to find a good Korean restaurant close to us. I look foward to out next trip soon.
THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
A few weeks ago Tom and I headed into the city to look into buy me a bike. We didn't end up getting a bike that day, but since we were in the city, we decided to head over to Japan town to pick up some lunch and Japanese staples. As we got closer to Japan town, we noticed that streets were blocked off, and then I spotted something I truly love- food booths. Of course I got really excited and decided we had to stop.
We finally found some parking and as we walked over to the middle of Japan town, we realized that there was a full out parade going on, right down the main street of Japan town. It was really hard getting around and pushing through the crowds to actually get to where the food was, and when we finally got there, we found long lines, and worse, lots of stuff that I just don't eat (lots of bbq and such). So we ended up going to the mall instead- which took some more effort pushing through the crowds. Finally we arrived at Mifune, a noodle shop in the mall known for its great lunch deals and homemade noodles.
We waited a little while to get in, and were finally seated in this packed restaurant. Luckily, the lunch special was still available. You got your pick on an appetizer and entree and it's just $11. I ended up getting a bowl of wakame udon and an appetizer of California rolls.
Tom got cold soba and an unagi rice bowl.
It was all pretty standard fare, but better than average. The noodles are homemade and definitely had a better texture than the super expensive udon we'd had a O'Chame, but the broth was ok. Overall, this was a very pleasant lunch choice- cheap and the noodles definitely hit the spot. I'm not sure we'd go again in the future, I'd like to try the conveyor belt sushi place first.
A few weeks ago Tom and I headed into the city to look into buy me a bike. We didn't end up getting a bike that day, but since we were in the city, we decided to head over to Japan town to pick up some lunch and Japanese staples. As we got closer to Japan town, we noticed that streets were blocked off, and then I spotted something I truly love- food booths. Of course I got really excited and decided we had to stop.
We finally found some parking and as we walked over to the middle of Japan town, we realized that there was a full out parade going on, right down the main street of Japan town. It was really hard getting around and pushing through the crowds to actually get to where the food was, and when we finally got there, we found long lines, and worse, lots of stuff that I just don't eat (lots of bbq and such). So we ended up going to the mall instead- which took some more effort pushing through the crowds. Finally we arrived at Mifune, a noodle shop in the mall known for its great lunch deals and homemade noodles.
We waited a little while to get in, and were finally seated in this packed restaurant. Luckily, the lunch special was still available. You got your pick on an appetizer and entree and it's just $11. I ended up getting a bowl of wakame udon and an appetizer of California rolls.
Tom got cold soba and an unagi rice bowl.
It was all pretty standard fare, but better than average. The noodles are homemade and definitely had a better texture than the super expensive udon we'd had a O'Chame, but the broth was ok. Overall, this was a very pleasant lunch choice- cheap and the noodles definitely hit the spot. I'm not sure we'd go again in the future, I'd like to try the conveyor belt sushi place first.
VEGGIE OPTIONS IN THE BAY AREA
Living in Northern CA, we have lots of vegetarian options. And many of them have been rather tasty. While working at the SF Chocolate Salon in Fort Mason a few weeks back, I was able to have a sandwich from Greens To Go, the take out arm of the famed Greens Restaurant. For those of you who have never heard of Greens, it's a vegetarian restaurant that's been around for almost 30 years and founded by the SF Zen Center ( I read an article about Zen dining and food yesterday, and it totally confused me) and it's known for having just really great food.
So I ordered a sandwich featuring an olive tapenade, arugula, yellow peppers and cheese.
It was actually quite tasty, but this tiny little sandwich cost $6, so not exactly the greatest value. I look foward to going back in the future, though. It's a beautiful restaurant with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the menu does look delicious.
Another vegetarian restaurant that we tried out recently is a South Indian restaurant called Udupi Palace. We learned about this restaurant after watching a local show that we enjoy called Check Please, Bay Area. It's a show where people suggest their favorite restaurants and after you watch this show, you can see why food is so good in the Bay Area. People are so demanding, vocal and passionate about their food, and they interview all locals and restauranteurs have to keep up to meet these tastes.
My high school friend, who was born in Qatar, is a vegetarian and attended both UCBerkeley as an undergrad and PhD student gave this place a thumbs down. He said we could find much better South Indian food in the South Bay, but we figured we'd try it out anyway, since we aren't really connossieurs of South Indian food and it's close to where we live.
We decide to go for an early lunch, and despite the restaurant being nearly empty, the servers were not very welcoming or friendly. It was our first time there and we were unfamiliar with their food, but they didn't offer to help us out at all. This place is famous for their dosas, so we each ordered one, and we also ordered some appetizers. We started off with this dish below, described as Fried Lentil Donuts served with Sambar &Chutney.
This was actually our favorite dish of the whole lunch. It was served piping hot and all that fried, crunchy surface along with the soft center made a tasty combination. Of course, I didn't realize until later that the bowl to the left was a soup and not a dipping sauce (it would've been nice had someone explained that to me).
I also ordered some potato samosas, which were ok. I didn't love the texture of the pastry on the exterior, but the flavor was pretty good.
Tom also ordered this big puffy fried bread called a partha. I only tried a little over it, because it was so greasy I just didn't find it too appealing.
And now for the main event. The dosas, are basically large pancakes stuffed with different fillings. We each ordered one and they were both huge. Here's Tom's dosa, stuffed with a potato mixture. He thought it was OK, enjoying the cripsy edges of the dosa, but there were too many potatoes for him and the pancake itself got very sticky and soggy after it'd cooled down a bit.
Here's my dosa, stuffed with potatoes and spinach.
I thought the filling was pretty tasty, but I agreed with Tom about the pancake, it just got too soggy and sticky and rather not enjoyable.
Overall, I thought our lunch at Udupi Palace was pretty good, but I don't think we're be back due to the neglectful service which made for a rather unpleasant dining experience. But we'll continue exploring veggies restaurant in the Bay Area and will report back to all of you.
Living in Northern CA, we have lots of vegetarian options. And many of them have been rather tasty. While working at the SF Chocolate Salon in Fort Mason a few weeks back, I was able to have a sandwich from Greens To Go, the take out arm of the famed Greens Restaurant. For those of you who have never heard of Greens, it's a vegetarian restaurant that's been around for almost 30 years and founded by the SF Zen Center ( I read an article about Zen dining and food yesterday, and it totally confused me) and it's known for having just really great food.
So I ordered a sandwich featuring an olive tapenade, arugula, yellow peppers and cheese.
It was actually quite tasty, but this tiny little sandwich cost $6, so not exactly the greatest value. I look foward to going back in the future, though. It's a beautiful restaurant with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the menu does look delicious.Another vegetarian restaurant that we tried out recently is a South Indian restaurant called Udupi Palace. We learned about this restaurant after watching a local show that we enjoy called Check Please, Bay Area. It's a show where people suggest their favorite restaurants and after you watch this show, you can see why food is so good in the Bay Area. People are so demanding, vocal and passionate about their food, and they interview all locals and restauranteurs have to keep up to meet these tastes.
My high school friend, who was born in Qatar, is a vegetarian and attended both UCBerkeley as an undergrad and PhD student gave this place a thumbs down. He said we could find much better South Indian food in the South Bay, but we figured we'd try it out anyway, since we aren't really connossieurs of South Indian food and it's close to where we live.
We decide to go for an early lunch, and despite the restaurant being nearly empty, the servers were not very welcoming or friendly. It was our first time there and we were unfamiliar with their food, but they didn't offer to help us out at all. This place is famous for their dosas, so we each ordered one, and we also ordered some appetizers. We started off with this dish below, described as Fried Lentil Donuts served with Sambar &Chutney.
This was actually our favorite dish of the whole lunch. It was served piping hot and all that fried, crunchy surface along with the soft center made a tasty combination. Of course, I didn't realize until later that the bowl to the left was a soup and not a dipping sauce (it would've been nice had someone explained that to me).I also ordered some potato samosas, which were ok. I didn't love the texture of the pastry on the exterior, but the flavor was pretty good.
Tom also ordered this big puffy fried bread called a partha. I only tried a little over it, because it was so greasy I just didn't find it too appealing.
And now for the main event. The dosas, are basically large pancakes stuffed with different fillings. We each ordered one and they were both huge. Here's Tom's dosa, stuffed with a potato mixture. He thought it was OK, enjoying the cripsy edges of the dosa, but there were too many potatoes for him and the pancake itself got very sticky and soggy after it'd cooled down a bit.
Here's my dosa, stuffed with potatoes and spinach.
I thought the filling was pretty tasty, but I agreed with Tom about the pancake, it just got too soggy and sticky and rather not enjoyable.Overall, I thought our lunch at Udupi Palace was pretty good, but I don't think we're be back due to the neglectful service which made for a rather unpleasant dining experience. But we'll continue exploring veggies restaurant in the Bay Area and will report back to all of you.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
OUR SECOND ANNIVERSARY
Tom and I celebrated our second anniversary last night with dinner at Wood Tavern in Oakland. It's been one of the new, hot restaurants in Oakland since opening last year, and my cousin had given us a gift certificate for Xmas. So we saved it up to use on this occasion. We arrived a little early and decided to walk around the neighborhood, which has a cute strip of small shops and restaurants- there's a bakery, butcher, grocery store, wine shop, coffee shop, tea shop and chocolate shop. Basically everything you need for a gourmet destination in the middle of North Oakland.
After a bit, we decided to head over to the restaurant. It was packed (actually, we'd noticed how packed it was when we'd walked by earlier) and it was very noisy. But after reading the reviews, I wasn't too surprised. The hostess was very nice to us and showed us to our seats immediately. The setting is really nice- high ceilings, a bar that stayed full the entire evening and lots of tables scattered throughout. It wasn't a huge restaurant and along with its popularity, it stayed full the entire time we were there- including a line of ppl waiting to get in.
Since it was our anniversary and we had a gift certificate, we definitely splurged a bit. The menu wasn't very long (keeping it very seasonal) with 6 appetizers, and around 6 entrees. I was interested in the butcher block, with a number of house made charcuterie (3 of the 4 items featured duck), but opted instead for a Smoked Alaskan cod served on avocados and baby shrimp. Tom was interested in the bone marrow, but decided to order the Butcher Block so he could share it with me. Here's my appetizer.
I was rather silly in imaging a hot appetizer but of course, if it's smoked it's going to be served cold. That's the whole point of smoking- to preserve foods. The fish was tender, but was too smoky for my taste and wasn't my favorite thing. I did enjoy the avocados and shrimp a lot though.
Here's Tom's butcher block.
I liked the house smoked duck breast, but his favorite was the pork terrine with figs and the duck rillettes. Served with little warm toast pieces, whole grain mustard and house made relish, he liked it a lot.
Ok, I'll admit that after my appetizer, I was full. I'm such a lightweight. But the meal was well timed, and by the time out entrees arrived, I was actually hungry enough to eat a bit of it. (Had it arrived right after the appetizer, I would taken two bites and asked for a doggy bag). I ordered the pan roasted half chicken.
True, it's not the most creative thing in the world, but lots of people were ordering it and I learned why- the meat was so juicy and tender and just delicious. Plus, they basically deboned the chicken for you, so it was easy to eat. It was served on a bed of fingerling potatoes, spinach and radicchio, but there was so little raddicchio that it was more of an afterthought, really not adding much to the dish. Overall, I thought it was delicious and happily ate the leftovers for lunch today (I had to save room for dessert after all).
Meanwhile, Tom ordered the steak.
He doesn't often get to eat beef, so took advantage of the opportunity to do so. Plus, it was served with crispy leeks, which he was looking foward to. He definitely enjoyed his meat, which was actually cooked to the requested temperature. Plus, there was a wine reduction sauce that he liked. Best of all, it was all served on a big pile of Parmesean mashed potatoes, which were very parmesean-y.
And of course, I can never pass up dessert. (By this time it was too dark in the restaurant to take pics) I wasn't interested in most of the options that they had on the menu, so I ordered a strawberry sorbet. It was very well made (strawberries are in season right now- I eat a ton of them every week) and they gave me a lot of it. It was a nice, light way for me to finish my meal.
Tom ordered a warm chocolate cake. He says he got it so I could try it, but I never order warm chocolate cakes since their so ubiquitous. Their version was pretty good, though nothing extraordinary. Overall, we had a really enjoyable dinner. Our waitress was super nice to us, despite the restaurant being packed and having a lot of customer to handle. It was a pretty pricey dinner, but thanks to our gift certificate, Tom claimed it was the cheapest expensive dinner he'd ever had.
Tom and I celebrated our second anniversary last night with dinner at Wood Tavern in Oakland. It's been one of the new, hot restaurants in Oakland since opening last year, and my cousin had given us a gift certificate for Xmas. So we saved it up to use on this occasion. We arrived a little early and decided to walk around the neighborhood, which has a cute strip of small shops and restaurants- there's a bakery, butcher, grocery store, wine shop, coffee shop, tea shop and chocolate shop. Basically everything you need for a gourmet destination in the middle of North Oakland.
After a bit, we decided to head over to the restaurant. It was packed (actually, we'd noticed how packed it was when we'd walked by earlier) and it was very noisy. But after reading the reviews, I wasn't too surprised. The hostess was very nice to us and showed us to our seats immediately. The setting is really nice- high ceilings, a bar that stayed full the entire evening and lots of tables scattered throughout. It wasn't a huge restaurant and along with its popularity, it stayed full the entire time we were there- including a line of ppl waiting to get in.
Since it was our anniversary and we had a gift certificate, we definitely splurged a bit. The menu wasn't very long (keeping it very seasonal) with 6 appetizers, and around 6 entrees. I was interested in the butcher block, with a number of house made charcuterie (3 of the 4 items featured duck), but opted instead for a Smoked Alaskan cod served on avocados and baby shrimp. Tom was interested in the bone marrow, but decided to order the Butcher Block so he could share it with me. Here's my appetizer.
I was rather silly in imaging a hot appetizer but of course, if it's smoked it's going to be served cold. That's the whole point of smoking- to preserve foods. The fish was tender, but was too smoky for my taste and wasn't my favorite thing. I did enjoy the avocados and shrimp a lot though.Here's Tom's butcher block.
I liked the house smoked duck breast, but his favorite was the pork terrine with figs and the duck rillettes. Served with little warm toast pieces, whole grain mustard and house made relish, he liked it a lot.Ok, I'll admit that after my appetizer, I was full. I'm such a lightweight. But the meal was well timed, and by the time out entrees arrived, I was actually hungry enough to eat a bit of it. (Had it arrived right after the appetizer, I would taken two bites and asked for a doggy bag). I ordered the pan roasted half chicken.
True, it's not the most creative thing in the world, but lots of people were ordering it and I learned why- the meat was so juicy and tender and just delicious. Plus, they basically deboned the chicken for you, so it was easy to eat. It was served on a bed of fingerling potatoes, spinach and radicchio, but there was so little raddicchio that it was more of an afterthought, really not adding much to the dish. Overall, I thought it was delicious and happily ate the leftovers for lunch today (I had to save room for dessert after all).Meanwhile, Tom ordered the steak.
He doesn't often get to eat beef, so took advantage of the opportunity to do so. Plus, it was served with crispy leeks, which he was looking foward to. He definitely enjoyed his meat, which was actually cooked to the requested temperature. Plus, there was a wine reduction sauce that he liked. Best of all, it was all served on a big pile of Parmesean mashed potatoes, which were very parmesean-y.And of course, I can never pass up dessert. (By this time it was too dark in the restaurant to take pics) I wasn't interested in most of the options that they had on the menu, so I ordered a strawberry sorbet. It was very well made (strawberries are in season right now- I eat a ton of them every week) and they gave me a lot of it. It was a nice, light way for me to finish my meal.
Tom ordered a warm chocolate cake. He says he got it so I could try it, but I never order warm chocolate cakes since their so ubiquitous. Their version was pretty good, though nothing extraordinary. Overall, we had a really enjoyable dinner. Our waitress was super nice to us, despite the restaurant being packed and having a lot of customer to handle. It was a pretty pricey dinner, but thanks to our gift certificate, Tom claimed it was the cheapest expensive dinner he'd ever had.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I'M GOING TO THE GOOGLE CAFETERIA!!
Many of you know that when we moved out here, I kept trying to convince Tom to get a job at Google so I could visit the legendary Google cafeteria. You know- local, organic, healthy and delicious. Well, turns out I don't need Tom any more, cause next Friday, I'm going to visit the Google cafeteria!!
So during the summer and into the fall, Google has a Farmer's Market on their campus that we participate in. And the first one will be next Friday, so my co-worker and I are gonna go so I can learn how it works and how to set it up. But, my co-worker's boyfriend is also a Google employee, so she's been to Google many times, and I asked that we visit the Google Cafeteria. So it's all set and I'm gonna stuff myself to the gills. I hope Tom will come with me, but I'll be sure to post about my trip next week!
Many of you know that when we moved out here, I kept trying to convince Tom to get a job at Google so I could visit the legendary Google cafeteria. You know- local, organic, healthy and delicious. Well, turns out I don't need Tom any more, cause next Friday, I'm going to visit the Google cafeteria!!
So during the summer and into the fall, Google has a Farmer's Market on their campus that we participate in. And the first one will be next Friday, so my co-worker and I are gonna go so I can learn how it works and how to set it up. But, my co-worker's boyfriend is also a Google employee, so she's been to Google many times, and I asked that we visit the Google Cafeteria. So it's all set and I'm gonna stuff myself to the gills. I hope Tom will come with me, but I'll be sure to post about my trip next week!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
WHY I DON'T EAT PORK (OR BEEF)
You now those days when you're at work, but you don't actually feel like working and you end up procrastinating all day? Well I'm having one of those days. I would be playing Scrabulous right now, but their servers are down, so I can't access the 4 games I'm currently playing. So I figured I'd blog. While at work yesterday I got a meebo message from this blog. (See the meebo widget to the right? You can message me and if I feel like it, I might respond). Anyway, someone was asking me why I don't eat pork. Now, I know that only about 5 people read this blog, and I know who you all are, but I'm not sure who this person was who messaged me. Maybe it was someone searching for info about Osteria Mozza and had stumbled upon my blog while conducting a Google search. I didn't respond at that time because I was swamped at work, so let's get back to the question at hand. I haven't eaten beef or pork since I was 15.
I gave up beef and pork back when I was teenager and idealistic. Learning about the environment and the amount of resources it took to raise cattle and the deforestation that accompanied it, I thought I'd gradually give up all meat and go vegetarian. Giving up beef and pork was just a first step, but it was a big step for me. As I child, steak and bacon were some of my favorite foods. At on point my cholesterol was so high that my doctor advised that I cut back on red meat. But on a family trip to Texas, I just gave it up and I haven't had either beef or pork since.
But as you can plainly see from my blog, I still eat meat. I just wasn't able to give up the chicken and duck and the other meats that I eat. And at this point, I don't plan to. I've become resigned to the fact that I've given up what I believe I'm willing to give up, and that's good enough for me. Though to be honest, if you look at my previous post about veganism, Tom and I are almost vegetarian most of the week when I'm cooking at night and I think that's pretty good.
You now those days when you're at work, but you don't actually feel like working and you end up procrastinating all day? Well I'm having one of those days. I would be playing Scrabulous right now, but their servers are down, so I can't access the 4 games I'm currently playing. So I figured I'd blog. While at work yesterday I got a meebo message from this blog. (See the meebo widget to the right? You can message me and if I feel like it, I might respond). Anyway, someone was asking me why I don't eat pork. Now, I know that only about 5 people read this blog, and I know who you all are, but I'm not sure who this person was who messaged me. Maybe it was someone searching for info about Osteria Mozza and had stumbled upon my blog while conducting a Google search. I didn't respond at that time because I was swamped at work, so let's get back to the question at hand. I haven't eaten beef or pork since I was 15.
I gave up beef and pork back when I was teenager and idealistic. Learning about the environment and the amount of resources it took to raise cattle and the deforestation that accompanied it, I thought I'd gradually give up all meat and go vegetarian. Giving up beef and pork was just a first step, but it was a big step for me. As I child, steak and bacon were some of my favorite foods. At on point my cholesterol was so high that my doctor advised that I cut back on red meat. But on a family trip to Texas, I just gave it up and I haven't had either beef or pork since.
But as you can plainly see from my blog, I still eat meat. I just wasn't able to give up the chicken and duck and the other meats that I eat. And at this point, I don't plan to. I've become resigned to the fact that I've given up what I believe I'm willing to give up, and that's good enough for me. Though to be honest, if you look at my previous post about veganism, Tom and I are almost vegetarian most of the week when I'm cooking at night and I think that's pretty good.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
OSTERIA MOZZA
Ok, I know this post is a little out of order, but I had already uploaded all my photos and now it's too late to go back and change it. Oh, and no pics for this post, it was a bit darker inside and I didn't want to disturb the other diners. So I actually ate at Osteria Mozza when I went back to LA for my dad's 60th bday. I was really looking foward to this meal. You may remember last year during a trip back to LA, my struggle of obtaining a reservation at Pizzeria Mozza and how I had enjoyed my dinner there. (though I still really don't consider it pizza, it really is a totally different entity). This time, it wasn't as hard to get a reservation. Osteria Mozza is still one of the most popular restaurants in LA right now, and it's still hard to get a table, but I made my reservation exactly 3o days in advance, and their reservation system has improved dramatically- I wasn't on hold for 8 hours before I got through.
I'm a big fan of Batali restaurants, but I was also looking foward to this meal because I was actually having a dinner with my friends. I've been back to LA like 4 times since moving back to the West Coast, but each time I go back, it's just for a few days, and that doesn't leave much time for friends. I normally just grab a quick coffee or have a short visit with Katie and the kitties. For this dinner, I had invited my friends, Katie, Dustin, Raj and Naina. Katie had already been before and had raved about her meal there, so I had high expectations.
When we arrived at Osteria Mozza, we found a much bigger restaurant than I had expected (the pizzeria right next door is about half the size of Osteria Mozza). Our friends Raj and Naina were running a bit late, so Katie and Dustin grabbed a drink at the rear bar while we waited for them to arrive. The restaurant has a very sleek design- all black, grey and lots of white tile. There's also a bar in the middle of the restaurant- the mozzarella bar, where you can also sit and enjoy a meal. When our friends arrived, we were seated at our table and to start off, we were each served a piece of toast with fresh goat cheese, basil and olive. Now I'm not normally a fan of goat cheese. I don't enjoy the tanginess. But Katie had already told me about the amazingness of the cheese here, and she was right. That goat cheese was delicious, so creamy and smooth, with out a hint of tanginess. I really enjoyed it.
Now, almost everyone at our dinner was a vegetarian, so no one was really eating meat. While I was looking at the menu, I had a tough internal debate. I didn't know if I wanted to order a secondi-a meat course, or if I wanted pasta. Now, I already know that I love pasta at Batali restaurants, so after debating a bit more, I finally settle on ordering a pasta. I wouldn't regret my decision. (there was pasta tasting menu, but it was 6 courses, so I decided I'd wait until Tom was with me).
Meanwhile, the two couples at the table decided that they were starting with a course from the mozzarella bar. I've forgotten to mention that the mozzarella bar is what Osteria Mozza is famous for- the fabulous homemade cheese. I stuck with a salad Oro blanco Grapefruit, Avocado, Noci with watercress. It was side, well made and delicious. Everyone else enjoyed their cheese course, and Dustin kept exclaiming in surprise that he's never had anything like it before.
Next up, we had all ordered pasta courses. I got something pretty simple- Butternut Squash Mezzalune with amaretti, and it was DELICIOUS. The pasta that enveloped the butternut squash was so thin and delicate and the amaretti just gave it some light sweetness and crunch. I loved my pasta. I also got to try a bit of Katie pasta, which I was a bit skeptical about. It was a goat cheese ravioli, but again, the pasta was so thin and light, and that cheese really was just great. I would certainly consider ordering it next time.
And to finish off, we each got a dessert. I got the gelato. After having the wonderful gelato last time at Pizzeria Mozza, I wasn't about to pass it up, and I didn't regret it. It was just as good as last time. Overall, we had a great dinner. Service was pleasant and unintrusive and even better, the food was just great. I really wish Tom had been there, but next time we go to LA, I'll certainly be taking him.
Ok, I know this post is a little out of order, but I had already uploaded all my photos and now it's too late to go back and change it. Oh, and no pics for this post, it was a bit darker inside and I didn't want to disturb the other diners. So I actually ate at Osteria Mozza when I went back to LA for my dad's 60th bday. I was really looking foward to this meal. You may remember last year during a trip back to LA, my struggle of obtaining a reservation at Pizzeria Mozza and how I had enjoyed my dinner there. (though I still really don't consider it pizza, it really is a totally different entity). This time, it wasn't as hard to get a reservation. Osteria Mozza is still one of the most popular restaurants in LA right now, and it's still hard to get a table, but I made my reservation exactly 3o days in advance, and their reservation system has improved dramatically- I wasn't on hold for 8 hours before I got through.
I'm a big fan of Batali restaurants, but I was also looking foward to this meal because I was actually having a dinner with my friends. I've been back to LA like 4 times since moving back to the West Coast, but each time I go back, it's just for a few days, and that doesn't leave much time for friends. I normally just grab a quick coffee or have a short visit with Katie and the kitties. For this dinner, I had invited my friends, Katie, Dustin, Raj and Naina. Katie had already been before and had raved about her meal there, so I had high expectations.
When we arrived at Osteria Mozza, we found a much bigger restaurant than I had expected (the pizzeria right next door is about half the size of Osteria Mozza). Our friends Raj and Naina were running a bit late, so Katie and Dustin grabbed a drink at the rear bar while we waited for them to arrive. The restaurant has a very sleek design- all black, grey and lots of white tile. There's also a bar in the middle of the restaurant- the mozzarella bar, where you can also sit and enjoy a meal. When our friends arrived, we were seated at our table and to start off, we were each served a piece of toast with fresh goat cheese, basil and olive. Now I'm not normally a fan of goat cheese. I don't enjoy the tanginess. But Katie had already told me about the amazingness of the cheese here, and she was right. That goat cheese was delicious, so creamy and smooth, with out a hint of tanginess. I really enjoyed it.
Now, almost everyone at our dinner was a vegetarian, so no one was really eating meat. While I was looking at the menu, I had a tough internal debate. I didn't know if I wanted to order a secondi-a meat course, or if I wanted pasta. Now, I already know that I love pasta at Batali restaurants, so after debating a bit more, I finally settle on ordering a pasta. I wouldn't regret my decision. (there was pasta tasting menu, but it was 6 courses, so I decided I'd wait until Tom was with me).
Meanwhile, the two couples at the table decided that they were starting with a course from the mozzarella bar. I've forgotten to mention that the mozzarella bar is what Osteria Mozza is famous for- the fabulous homemade cheese. I stuck with a salad Oro blanco Grapefruit, Avocado, Noci with watercress. It was side, well made and delicious. Everyone else enjoyed their cheese course, and Dustin kept exclaiming in surprise that he's never had anything like it before.
Next up, we had all ordered pasta courses. I got something pretty simple- Butternut Squash Mezzalune with amaretti, and it was DELICIOUS. The pasta that enveloped the butternut squash was so thin and delicate and the amaretti just gave it some light sweetness and crunch. I loved my pasta. I also got to try a bit of Katie pasta, which I was a bit skeptical about. It was a goat cheese ravioli, but again, the pasta was so thin and light, and that cheese really was just great. I would certainly consider ordering it next time.
And to finish off, we each got a dessert. I got the gelato. After having the wonderful gelato last time at Pizzeria Mozza, I wasn't about to pass it up, and I didn't regret it. It was just as good as last time. Overall, we had a great dinner. Service was pleasant and unintrusive and even better, the food was just great. I really wish Tom had been there, but next time we go to LA, I'll certainly be taking him.
MY DAY WITH MAX
Hey guys, so this post is a little out of order since it happened today, and I'm still working on a whole back log of posts, but I just wanted to get this one in before I went to bed today. Mainly to show you a pic of my adorable little cousin, Max. Look at those cheeks!
Hey guys, so this post is a little out of order since it happened today, and I'm still working on a whole back log of posts, but I just wanted to get this one in before I went to bed today. Mainly to show you a pic of my adorable little cousin, Max. Look at those cheeks!
I spent most of my morning and afternoon of my one day off this week with Max. It's his spring break and since his mom's got a cold and is still recovering from surgery, I wanted to help her out a bit. In the morning, Max and I went to the Jamba to get our free drinks, then headed over to the farmer's market, where I bought fresh strawberries and where we shared a chicken sausage (which we both enjoyed).
After visiting the YMCA for kid's play time (like 20 kids in a room running around and playing on toys, swings, etc- man it was tiring) it was time for lunch. Cindy, Max's mom, plus Max and I all headed out to Vik's Chaat Corner, which I had suggested.
Now the SF Chronicle just came out with it's annual top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area list on Sunday and after looking at the restaurant in the East Bay, I realized that we'd already been to most of them (and I didn't think most of them deserved to be on the list, but whatever), but one we hadn't visited was Vik's Chaat Corner. Now, I knew that Vik's existed, but I had yet to make my way over there, and this was a great chance.
Now the review of this place was pretty spot on. It's a pretty nondescript building in a warehousey area (actually the wine.com warehouse was immediately across the street). Here's the view from the exterior. Other than this little sign on the right you'd never know if was there.
This place was quick and efficient. You seat yourself and wait for your named to be called. And when you get your food, it's served in these specially designed plastic trays (which kinda reminds me of prison trays). You get all this stuff with your meal, too. Here's my chicken korma, which came with a side of daal, yogurt, rice, bread, a papadam and spicy pickles. It was actually pretty good. The chicken korma was a bit spicy and I really liked my papadam. And it was just $6.95. My cousin also enjoyed her curry and little Max liked the daal with rice (and he stole our bread and papadams- he's a carb monster).
Overall this wasn't the best Indian food I've ever had, but it certainly was a great place for a quick, cheap meal. I can certainly see why it's so popular and on our way out, the line was almost to the door. I did some grocery shopping at their store next door and stocked up on some Indian cooking supplies and I do plan on taking Tom once he returns.
OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT AROUND (SO FAR)
Before Tom left for Boston we had discussed the places that he was planning on eating. After living a combined 22 years in Boston, we certainly have our favorites that we miss. But after spending a few months living out here, we also have found some favorites that we couldn't find in Boston. For example, Gioia's pizza, you couldn't get a slice like that in Boston, even though it was just 4 hours from NY. And Thai food. We have a lot of places to choose from, but our favorite is called Sabuy Sabuy 2.
Now Sabuy Sabuy is one of those little restaurants that you drive by all the time and wonder, who eats there? (kinda like Family Restaurant in Brookline) And I never would have checked this place out had my co-worker not told me about it. He lives right behind the restaurant and goes there like once a week. (I think we go about twice a month- and it's the place we like to take our out of town guests, so don't be surprised if you're visiting and we end up here for dinner). So we've eaten there quite a few times, but I never got around to blogging about it.
So the owner now recognizes us. He's there all the time taking orders and he's super friendly. Sometimes he'll suggest dishes that you should try, but we pretty much know what we like at this point. This day, I felt like trying something lighter. I had never had their green papaya salad and so I ordered that. Here's it is below.
Before Tom left for Boston we had discussed the places that he was planning on eating. After living a combined 22 years in Boston, we certainly have our favorites that we miss. But after spending a few months living out here, we also have found some favorites that we couldn't find in Boston. For example, Gioia's pizza, you couldn't get a slice like that in Boston, even though it was just 4 hours from NY. And Thai food. We have a lot of places to choose from, but our favorite is called Sabuy Sabuy 2.
Now Sabuy Sabuy is one of those little restaurants that you drive by all the time and wonder, who eats there? (kinda like Family Restaurant in Brookline) And I never would have checked this place out had my co-worker not told me about it. He lives right behind the restaurant and goes there like once a week. (I think we go about twice a month- and it's the place we like to take our out of town guests, so don't be surprised if you're visiting and we end up here for dinner). So we've eaten there quite a few times, but I never got around to blogging about it.
So the owner now recognizes us. He's there all the time taking orders and he's super friendly. Sometimes he'll suggest dishes that you should try, but we pretty much know what we like at this point. This day, I felt like trying something lighter. I had never had their green papaya salad and so I ordered that. Here's it is below.
Now at this place, when you order something medium, it means it'll be pretty damn spicy. I don't even want to imagine what spicy is like. I had a few bites of this before my tummy ending up saying no more! But other dishes that I've ordered and enjoyed include the green curry and the fried whole fish.
To finish off the owner always brings us a free dish of ice cream. It's homemade and a good way to cool the mouth off from all the spicy food. Overall, this is really our favorite restaurant around, so we hope you enjoy it when we take you during your next visit.
To finish off the owner always brings us a free dish of ice cream. It's homemade and a good way to cool the mouth off from all the spicy food. Overall, this is really our favorite restaurant around, so we hope you enjoy it when we take you during your next visit.
A LIGHT LUNCH A BOUCHON BAKERY
This is a rather delayed post, so I doubt that most of you will find it, but I feel it worth putting up, since I'm writing about a rather well known place. So last month my friend Matt was in town visiting and I decided to take him up to Napa for a few hours. We stopped for lunch at Bouchon Bakery, of course founded by the famous Thomas Keller, and located in St. Helena next to the original Bouchon.
This place is famous for its breads and pastries, and I knew it'd be a bit pricey, but I splurged after the drive up. For lunch, I ordered this veggies sandwich.
This is a rather delayed post, so I doubt that most of you will find it, but I feel it worth putting up, since I'm writing about a rather well known place. So last month my friend Matt was in town visiting and I decided to take him up to Napa for a few hours. We stopped for lunch at Bouchon Bakery, of course founded by the famous Thomas Keller, and located in St. Helena next to the original Bouchon.
This place is famous for its breads and pastries, and I knew it'd be a bit pricey, but I splurged after the drive up. For lunch, I ordered this veggies sandwich.
We had little tastes of all my favorite flavors represented: an apple tarte tatin (my all time favorite dessert, especially if I'm making it), a chocolate tart and a passion fruit tart. The apple tarte tatin was ok, I like mine more warm and the pastry cripser. The passion fruit was very tasty, but had raspberries mixed in, and I'm not a fan of raspberries, so the chocolate tart was my favorite, and in my opinion, the prettiest one.
Overally, I enjoyed my treats from Bouchon Bakery. I'd also gotten Tom some bread and though he liked the baguette more than the ones from Acme, they still weren't as good as the ones at Clear Flour. So I look foward for my next trip back to Napa, to pick up more treats from Bouchon Bakery.
Overally, I enjoyed my treats from Bouchon Bakery. I'd also gotten Tom some bread and though he liked the baguette more than the ones from Acme, they still weren't as good as the ones at Clear Flour. So I look foward for my next trip back to Napa, to pick up more treats from Bouchon Bakery.
AND FINALLY, SOME DECENT JAPANESE FOOD
Ok, so you've probably already read my post about not having great Japanese food around us. The one exception is the visit we had to Japantown in SF. We were taking my cousin to her doctor's appointment in the city and the hospital is just 5 blocks away from Japantown. So Tom and I decided to go explore a new part of the city while we waited for my cousin to see the doctor.
We walked over to Japantown, which is surrounded by not necessarily the greatest neighborhood in SF, but once we got to it, it was kinda nice. Now Japantown is really made up of a big shopping mall that divided into three segments- 2 of the segments contain shopping and the third contains food. After walking around a bit, we went straight for food, but couldn't decide on which place to try. It was kinda mid afternoon, so it was too late to have a full lunch in a restaurant. Luckily, I had spotted a sign of Nijiya, a Japanese grocery store that I like to visit in LA, so we headed over there to get some yummy prepacked food.
Now Tom had never been to Nijiya before, so it took us a little while to decided what we wanted from their large selection of prepacked food. We finally settled on some selections, picked up drinks and headed outside to sit in the sun and eat our food.
Here's the famous square where the little pagoda sits (pagoda not pictured) where we ended up sitting and having our little picnic.
Ok, so you've probably already read my post about not having great Japanese food around us. The one exception is the visit we had to Japantown in SF. We were taking my cousin to her doctor's appointment in the city and the hospital is just 5 blocks away from Japantown. So Tom and I decided to go explore a new part of the city while we waited for my cousin to see the doctor.
We walked over to Japantown, which is surrounded by not necessarily the greatest neighborhood in SF, but once we got to it, it was kinda nice. Now Japantown is really made up of a big shopping mall that divided into three segments- 2 of the segments contain shopping and the third contains food. After walking around a bit, we went straight for food, but couldn't decide on which place to try. It was kinda mid afternoon, so it was too late to have a full lunch in a restaurant. Luckily, I had spotted a sign of Nijiya, a Japanese grocery store that I like to visit in LA, so we headed over there to get some yummy prepacked food.
Now Tom had never been to Nijiya before, so it took us a little while to decided what we wanted from their large selection of prepacked food. We finally settled on some selections, picked up drinks and headed outside to sit in the sun and eat our food.
Here's the famous square where the little pagoda sits (pagoda not pictured) where we ended up sitting and having our little picnic.
Tom got a bunch of stuff, but I didn't photograph most of it. One of his favorites was the takoyaki- octopus balls, served with a side of mayo. (he didn't use the mayo, the Japanese people love mayo). He'd also got some sushi, some chicken karage and something else that I'm now forgetting. Basically, he went all out on the Japanese food.
You know the funny thing is is that it'd take me just as long to drive from my house in LA to our local Nijiya as it would for me to drive from our house in El Cerrito to the Nijiya in SF, but there's a bit of a mental barrier for crossing a big span of water and paying a $4 toll to do it that just dampens my whole desire.
We continued to walk around Japantown for a while. Tom bought me yet another wind up toy to add to my collection. This one is an awesome Domo that walks really slowly. There did seem to also be some good food options in Japantown (perhaps excluding the sketchy looking 24 hour Denny's that serves Hawaiian food), so I hope we'll be back in the future to try more places.
We continued to walk around Japantown for a while. Tom bought me yet another wind up toy to add to my collection. This one is an awesome Domo that walks really slowly. There did seem to also be some good food options in Japantown (perhaps excluding the sketchy looking 24 hour Denny's that serves Hawaiian food), so I hope we'll be back in the future to try more places.
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (WITH DINNER)
It'd been a while since Tom and I had gone to the movies. Or really gone out at all. As most of you know, we don't share the same days off (which is a problem I'm working to solve. Just as soon as I stop working 6 days a week, and next week better be the last one, so we'll actually have Sundays off together). But one evening we decided that it was time for a "Date Night" and decided to see a movie, the first movie we'd seen together since last summer. Luckily, we've got a really awesome independent movie theatre just 3 blocks from our house called the El Cerrito Speakeasy. It's one of those movie theatres that serve food, too, and though they don't play brand new movies, they do play those smaller indy films, like Juno, which I was looking foward to seeing.
Since we had never gone before, we didn't know how popular this place would be. We did arrive a bit early to get tickets, food and seats, but after we'd entered, the ticket taker suggested that one person get in line for food while the other went and saved seats. So I got the food, and Tom saved the seats. The menu is a combo of typical movie food- nachos, pizzas, popcorn, and some more CA style food- salads, sandwiches and lots of vegan/vegetarian friendly options. Tom ordered pizza while I got a sandwich- Lavash bread rolled with grilled chicken, hummus, roasted red peppers, feta cheese and spinach. They didn't give you the food right away, but gave you a stand with a big number on it. Our food would be brought to us later (and could take up to 45 minutes after ordering). In the meantime, I ordered us a big bowl of popcorn to snack on.
Here's a photo of my popcorn (I seasoned it with salt, pepper and parm to make it extra yummy)
It'd been a while since Tom and I had gone to the movies. Or really gone out at all. As most of you know, we don't share the same days off (which is a problem I'm working to solve. Just as soon as I stop working 6 days a week, and next week better be the last one, so we'll actually have Sundays off together). But one evening we decided that it was time for a "Date Night" and decided to see a movie, the first movie we'd seen together since last summer. Luckily, we've got a really awesome independent movie theatre just 3 blocks from our house called the El Cerrito Speakeasy. It's one of those movie theatres that serve food, too, and though they don't play brand new movies, they do play those smaller indy films, like Juno, which I was looking foward to seeing.
Since we had never gone before, we didn't know how popular this place would be. We did arrive a bit early to get tickets, food and seats, but after we'd entered, the ticket taker suggested that one person get in line for food while the other went and saved seats. So I got the food, and Tom saved the seats. The menu is a combo of typical movie food- nachos, pizzas, popcorn, and some more CA style food- salads, sandwiches and lots of vegan/vegetarian friendly options. Tom ordered pizza while I got a sandwich- Lavash bread rolled with grilled chicken, hummus, roasted red peppers, feta cheese and spinach. They didn't give you the food right away, but gave you a stand with a big number on it. Our food would be brought to us later (and could take up to 45 minutes after ordering). In the meantime, I ordered us a big bowl of popcorn to snack on.
Here's a photo of my popcorn (I seasoned it with salt, pepper and parm to make it extra yummy)
By the time the movie started, this place was packed. I think it was the combination of a popular movie and a neighborhood crowd. The servers brought in the food as it was ready, so the movie had already been playing for like 20 minutes before we got our dinner (so no pic, it was already dark inside). My sandwich was ok- kinda dry and I could've used much more hummus. Tom thought his pizza was pretty good (considering we were having it at a movie theatre). As for the movie, I was a big fan of Juno, definitely funny and worth seeing. And we really did have a good time at the El Cerrito Speakeasy. Since it was just $7/person for the movie, it's cheaper than the usual theatres and it's great to support a local business. I think Tom and I will be back soon, maybe to see the Bank Job.
JAPANESE FOOD IN LA, THE REASON WHY I GO BACK HOME
I'd just like to say Hello to my Tom. As you all know, he's off in Boston right now, so I'm sitting on my couch with kitty curled up and snoring on her spot and watching "No Reservations." Just wanted you to know that they're doing a show in NJ and Tony Bourdain just ate a fried hot dog. It made me think of you.
And for the rest of you, I will continue on my post about Hayama. Now, I've lived in a lot of places, but I haven't found as good Japanese food as I do at home in LA. The thing is, you really never know how good you have it until you go away and find out, hey, Japanese food isn't like this everywhere. And yes, I've lived in NY and yes, you can probably get amazing Japanese food in NY- if you can afford it. But in LA, you can get cheap, affordable Japanese food, and it'll be amazing and tasty. Which is why I really don't eat much Japanese food elsewhere, but when I'm back home in LA, I need to have Japanese food at least once, if not twice, a day.
I was having lunch with my parents and my mom chose a restaurant called Hayama. It's actually pretty new, taking the spot of another Japanese restaurant that I'd never gone to. But they have this lovely outdoor garden area with an enormous fire pit that you can sit around. You can imagine how popular this place would be at night.
Despite it being a lovely, sunny LA afternoon, my parents wanted to sit inside. (ok, it was actually a pretty hot day. I ended up buy a tshirt and changing into it right after lunch) But we got a table right next to a big window overlooking that outdoor garden. The menu is pretty simple, but for lunch, you gotta go for one of their $15 bento boxes- an amazing deal. First, you start off with this little salad.
But then, here's the great part. Look at the size of my bento box! And it's pretty, too. I got chicken teriyaki, tempura, some little salad things an a little bowl of almond jelly. It was delicious, and all this for just $15. Sigh, if only this place were up North, I'd probably be there like once a week.
I'd just like to say Hello to my Tom. As you all know, he's off in Boston right now, so I'm sitting on my couch with kitty curled up and snoring on her spot and watching "No Reservations." Just wanted you to know that they're doing a show in NJ and Tony Bourdain just ate a fried hot dog. It made me think of you.
And for the rest of you, I will continue on my post about Hayama. Now, I've lived in a lot of places, but I haven't found as good Japanese food as I do at home in LA. The thing is, you really never know how good you have it until you go away and find out, hey, Japanese food isn't like this everywhere. And yes, I've lived in NY and yes, you can probably get amazing Japanese food in NY- if you can afford it. But in LA, you can get cheap, affordable Japanese food, and it'll be amazing and tasty. Which is why I really don't eat much Japanese food elsewhere, but when I'm back home in LA, I need to have Japanese food at least once, if not twice, a day.
I was having lunch with my parents and my mom chose a restaurant called Hayama. It's actually pretty new, taking the spot of another Japanese restaurant that I'd never gone to. But they have this lovely outdoor garden area with an enormous fire pit that you can sit around. You can imagine how popular this place would be at night.
And really, that's why I go home. It's not to see my family, it's to get my fix of Japanese food. And yeah, I'm pretty happy that I live close enough to LA that I can go pretty often and get some yummy food.
Well, I'm looking back on my pics and I'm realizing, Wow, I haven't blogged in a long time. I have a whole back log of posts to write about. So while Tom's off in Boston, I figured a get a little caught up. About a month ago, I went back to LA to help celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. I had booked a later flight in the day, but when my mom called to say that if I was landing earlier, we could have Chinese foods in Monterey Park, which is what my father really wanted, I changed my flight to land earlier in the day.
But somehow, we ended up going to have Italian food in Melrose anyway. My little sister picked the restaurant, Osteria La Buca. She had had dinner there a few weeks earlier and enjoyed the pasta. It took us much longer to get there than expected, almost an hour due to the traffic (plus my older sister who I was riding with had gotten last and headed south rather than east at some point). When we finally arrived, I realized that we were in the not so great part of Melrose. It wasn't the loveliest neighborhood (later when we left, I realized how close we were to K-town), but the restaurant we walked up to was very pretty, with big glass windows going from floor to ceiling.
When we finally got there, our entire party had arrived. I think there were 10 of altogether (including cousins and Cathy's boyfriend). The seated up in this nice second floor space, which was open air and overlooked the rest of the restaurant. And there was a fire place up there. Here's a pic of it.
We all started off with some shared appetizers- duck prosciutto and some pizzas. They were pretty good. Unfortunately, the waitstaff wasn't very helpful, and the timing of the meal was off. After serving our appetizers, my older sister and I should've gotten our salad. But instead, they served everyone's pasta first and we waited around getting our salad next. Also, the salad were a primi size- meant more as an appetizer or side. They waitstaff really should have let the entire table know this, because it ended up not being enough food (at least for my dad).
Here's my arugula salad with parmesean below. It was pretty good, and was a nice large salad.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
TOM'S LEAVING FOR BOSTON
So Tom's leaving for Boston again tonight. I was hoping to go with him on this trip, to see my friends and revisit things I miss, but I just couldn't afford the plane ticket and to be honest, I really should be at work making money than off in Boston spending it. But I'm a little jealous since he'll be seeing my friends, and has plans to eat at some of our favorite places- El Pelon, India Quality, Clear Flour Bakery...at least he's bringing me back some almond macaroons from Clear Flour. Too bad my favorite black sesame butter sticks won't last the week and make it back. I guess I'll just have to dream about those.
So Tom's leaving for Boston again tonight. I was hoping to go with him on this trip, to see my friends and revisit things I miss, but I just couldn't afford the plane ticket and to be honest, I really should be at work making money than off in Boston spending it. But I'm a little jealous since he'll be seeing my friends, and has plans to eat at some of our favorite places- El Pelon, India Quality, Clear Flour Bakery...at least he's bringing me back some almond macaroons from Clear Flour. Too bad my favorite black sesame butter sticks won't last the week and make it back. I guess I'll just have to dream about those.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
FOR YOU BASEBALL FANS...
Hello all. I know I haven't blogged on my own blog in a while...be patient, I'll blog soon enough. But I have blogged on my friend Matt's blog where I am a guest blogger. So if you want to hear about my first Red Sox game of the season, head over to http://tragisox.blogspot.com/ to read about the experience (and an analysis of food at McAfee Coliseum)
Hello all. I know I haven't blogged on my own blog in a while...be patient, I'll blog soon enough. But I have blogged on my friend Matt's blog where I am a guest blogger. So if you want to hear about my first Red Sox game of the season, head over to http://tragisox.blogspot.com/ to read about the experience (and an analysis of food at McAfee Coliseum)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
VEGAN ME?
No. I haven't become a vegan. I don't think I ever could. I, like many, often hold them in poor regard. I think because many of them do it without truly believing in the principles of veganism and aren't very well educated about it. They do it more to by stylish, trendy or to be like their friends or celebrities. That bothers me a lot. Like the people who come into the chocolate shop asking for chocolates that are vegan. When I point out that some vegans won't eat chocolate, they think I'm crazy...until I tell them that some cacao beans are cleaned or roasted over charcoal made of animal bones. But they just seem to dismiss that and buy the chocolates anyway.
But now that we have great fresh fruit and veggies year round, we are often eating vegetarian meals more and more frequently. I think it's just easier to be a vegetarian here. We always have a supply of fresh veggies with our CSA and supplement with additional stuff from the farmer's market or Monterey Market. And it's just been a lot less convenient to buy meat. As for the veganism, my cousin, who many of you know is sick, has decided to become a vegan. And since I cook for them all the time, I've needed to start experimenting with vegan recipes and I've even purchased a vegan cookbook.
The thing is, a lot of these things are tastier than you'd think. And it's actually not that hard to make versions of different recipes vegan. Like my veggie soups- now I'll just make them with vegetable stock rather than chicken stock. Or beans, lentils, pastas - all of these things I can make vegan versions and they come out rather nicely. So today I made vegan butternut squash and kale enchiladas. And I made this recipe because when I read it, I thought, hey, this might be a vegan recipe, but it sounds pretty great.
So here's the recipe below. Try it out sometime, and like me, you might find that not all vegan things are bad. Here's a link to the actual website. (I substituted the butternut squash for the potatoes cause that's what we had around).
Ingredients
For the Enchilada Chile Sauce:
2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
1 onion, cut into small dice
3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled (see page XX), and chopped coarsely
2–3 teaspoons chile powder, preferably ancho
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram or Mexican oregano (epazote)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (roasted preferred)
1 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2–2 teaspoons salt
For the Potato and Kale Filling:
1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon gold or red)
1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds, page XX), chopped coarsely, plus additional for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
12–14 corn tortillas
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.
Prepare the enchilada sauce first: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion or regular blender until the mixture is smooth and even.
Prepare the filling: Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook the grapeseed oil and minced garlic in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn). Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes.
Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, and salt. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste.
Create an enchilada assembly line: Have ready a pie plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a lightly greased, heated griddle or cast-iron pan (for softening the tortillas), and the potato and kale filling.
Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated griddle for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.
Now, place the tortilla either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. Layer it with another heated, sauce-covered tortilla or just use one per enchilada; either way, run the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other.
Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.
No. I haven't become a vegan. I don't think I ever could. I, like many, often hold them in poor regard. I think because many of them do it without truly believing in the principles of veganism and aren't very well educated about it. They do it more to by stylish, trendy or to be like their friends or celebrities. That bothers me a lot. Like the people who come into the chocolate shop asking for chocolates that are vegan. When I point out that some vegans won't eat chocolate, they think I'm crazy...until I tell them that some cacao beans are cleaned or roasted over charcoal made of animal bones. But they just seem to dismiss that and buy the chocolates anyway.
But now that we have great fresh fruit and veggies year round, we are often eating vegetarian meals more and more frequently. I think it's just easier to be a vegetarian here. We always have a supply of fresh veggies with our CSA and supplement with additional stuff from the farmer's market or Monterey Market. And it's just been a lot less convenient to buy meat. As for the veganism, my cousin, who many of you know is sick, has decided to become a vegan. And since I cook for them all the time, I've needed to start experimenting with vegan recipes and I've even purchased a vegan cookbook.
The thing is, a lot of these things are tastier than you'd think. And it's actually not that hard to make versions of different recipes vegan. Like my veggie soups- now I'll just make them with vegetable stock rather than chicken stock. Or beans, lentils, pastas - all of these things I can make vegan versions and they come out rather nicely. So today I made vegan butternut squash and kale enchiladas. And I made this recipe because when I read it, I thought, hey, this might be a vegan recipe, but it sounds pretty great.
So here's the recipe below. Try it out sometime, and like me, you might find that not all vegan things are bad. Here's a link to the actual website. (I substituted the butternut squash for the potatoes cause that's what we had around).
Ingredients
For the Enchilada Chile Sauce:
2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
1 onion, cut into small dice
3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled (see page XX), and chopped coarsely
2–3 teaspoons chile powder, preferably ancho
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram or Mexican oregano (epazote)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (roasted preferred)
1 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2–2 teaspoons salt
For the Potato and Kale Filling:
1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon gold or red)
1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds, page XX), chopped coarsely, plus additional for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
12–14 corn tortillas
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.
Prepare the enchilada sauce first: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion or regular blender until the mixture is smooth and even.
Prepare the filling: Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook the grapeseed oil and minced garlic in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn). Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes.
Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, and salt. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste.
Create an enchilada assembly line: Have ready a pie plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a lightly greased, heated griddle or cast-iron pan (for softening the tortillas), and the potato and kale filling.
Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated griddle for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.
Now, place the tortilla either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. Layer it with another heated, sauce-covered tortilla or just use one per enchilada; either way, run the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other.
Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
AND THE BROWNIE WINNER GOES TO...
Well, I'm sick again. I think you all are familiar with my propensity for catching colds and this winter has not been an exception. The cold I currently have can be traced directly to my co-workers, 3 of whom were sick last week (including my boss. He even took a sick day earlier this week) and Tom, who took a sick day on Monday. But being sick means I have time to sit in bed and blog, and that's certainly something I haven't had much time for of late.
So after the great brownie bakeoff, I have an offical winner and it is the Cook's Illustrated brownie recipe. Now, I'm someone who likes a bit of cakeiness to my brownie and a little crunch to the top and the Cook's Illustrated testing method really paid off in this situation. The brownies were a bit cakey, but not too much, not overly sweet and they developed a nice crunch to the top. Here are the other results...
#2 goes to the Ina Garten Outrageous brownie recipe. These brownie were more fudgie, but had a nice added bitterness due to the addition of espresso powder. It also had more deep chocolate flavor, and I think ultimately, Huong and Kjell will go for this version.
#3 goes to the Nick Malgeri Supernatural brownies. They had a nice, soft cakey texture, but the top was too fragile and it was far too sweet. Coming in a total of 4 cups of sugar for one batch, it really just too much sugar.
And last place goes to the Alice Medrich brownie recipe from her Bittersweet cookbook. This was the only recipe that used cocoa rather than actual chocolate, and it come out being almost fudgey and dry, without an cakeiness to it at all. I had one nibble and that was enough for me.
And still, after all this, my favorite brownies that come out of a Duncan Heins box. I guess that's what millions of dollars and countless hours of recipe testing gets you. Oh well, what matters is that Huong and Kjell like their wedding brownies.
Well, I'm sick again. I think you all are familiar with my propensity for catching colds and this winter has not been an exception. The cold I currently have can be traced directly to my co-workers, 3 of whom were sick last week (including my boss. He even took a sick day earlier this week) and Tom, who took a sick day on Monday. But being sick means I have time to sit in bed and blog, and that's certainly something I haven't had much time for of late.
So after the great brownie bakeoff, I have an offical winner and it is the Cook's Illustrated brownie recipe. Now, I'm someone who likes a bit of cakeiness to my brownie and a little crunch to the top and the Cook's Illustrated testing method really paid off in this situation. The brownies were a bit cakey, but not too much, not overly sweet and they developed a nice crunch to the top. Here are the other results...
#2 goes to the Ina Garten Outrageous brownie recipe. These brownie were more fudgie, but had a nice added bitterness due to the addition of espresso powder. It also had more deep chocolate flavor, and I think ultimately, Huong and Kjell will go for this version.
#3 goes to the Nick Malgeri Supernatural brownies. They had a nice, soft cakey texture, but the top was too fragile and it was far too sweet. Coming in a total of 4 cups of sugar for one batch, it really just too much sugar.
And last place goes to the Alice Medrich brownie recipe from her Bittersweet cookbook. This was the only recipe that used cocoa rather than actual chocolate, and it come out being almost fudgey and dry, without an cakeiness to it at all. I had one nibble and that was enough for me.
And still, after all this, my favorite brownies that come out of a Duncan Heins box. I guess that's what millions of dollars and countless hours of recipe testing gets you. Oh well, what matters is that Huong and Kjell like their wedding brownies.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
MY MARATHON BROWNIE BAKING SESSION
Hello all. Yes, I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, but strangely enough, they've been keeping me busy at work. Apparently once someone figures out that you are actually competent enough to get something done, they give you more work, and then more work, until you're going in on your days off and working from home, too. I keep hoping that as soon as the next project, holiday, etc is over, it'll get better, but it hasn't yet. I guess we'll see.
So onto the title of my post-... in addition to working on my days off, I've some how gotten myself into making wedding brownies for my friends. As you guys know, Kjell and Huong are getting married in June here in the Bay Area. The last time they were here they were doing wedding planning and thinking of ways they could save money. I mentioned that they didn't need to get a cake (typical wedding cakes cost a minimum of $4/person. Multiply that by 125 guests and you're look at $500) and so I proposed that they have wedding brownies. Pretty easy to make, and it'd be much cheaper than $500. And of course, I volunteered my services. So here I am, making batches of test brownies on my days off. I've made 4 batches in 2 days and am trying to figure out the best one.
The annoying this is that there are so many types of brownies, and not everyone likes the same ones. Do you want it cakey, fudgey, dry, moist, with nuts, with chocolate chips???You could keep going on and on. So far, the Alice Medrich brownie recipe from her Bittersweet cookbook is a loser. But I'm liking Ina's recipe for Outrageous Brownies. Tom says that he doesn't love the texture, cause you can feel the granulated sugar, and I kinda agree with him, but I do like the texture of them.
I've got two more batches in the oven. One recipe my Nick Malgeri and the other recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I'm hoping that one of these turns out to be the one. Meanwhile, we have stacks of brownies at home that need to be liquidated. I plan on taking them at work, but I wish that I had some friends around so that I could just pass them out. Ah well. I guess you guys just need to visit.
Hello all. Yes, I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, but strangely enough, they've been keeping me busy at work. Apparently once someone figures out that you are actually competent enough to get something done, they give you more work, and then more work, until you're going in on your days off and working from home, too. I keep hoping that as soon as the next project, holiday, etc is over, it'll get better, but it hasn't yet. I guess we'll see.
So onto the title of my post-... in addition to working on my days off, I've some how gotten myself into making wedding brownies for my friends. As you guys know, Kjell and Huong are getting married in June here in the Bay Area. The last time they were here they were doing wedding planning and thinking of ways they could save money. I mentioned that they didn't need to get a cake (typical wedding cakes cost a minimum of $4/person. Multiply that by 125 guests and you're look at $500) and so I proposed that they have wedding brownies. Pretty easy to make, and it'd be much cheaper than $500. And of course, I volunteered my services. So here I am, making batches of test brownies on my days off. I've made 4 batches in 2 days and am trying to figure out the best one.
The annoying this is that there are so many types of brownies, and not everyone likes the same ones. Do you want it cakey, fudgey, dry, moist, with nuts, with chocolate chips???You could keep going on and on. So far, the Alice Medrich brownie recipe from her Bittersweet cookbook is a loser. But I'm liking Ina's recipe for Outrageous Brownies. Tom says that he doesn't love the texture, cause you can feel the granulated sugar, and I kinda agree with him, but I do like the texture of them.
I've got two more batches in the oven. One recipe my Nick Malgeri and the other recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I'm hoping that one of these turns out to be the one. Meanwhile, we have stacks of brownies at home that need to be liquidated. I plan on taking them at work, but I wish that I had some friends around so that I could just pass them out. Ah well. I guess you guys just need to visit.
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