lavndrmlkshake's Xanga

SoCal so far

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:09:49 GMT

Boring entry with no pictures, sorry!

Anyways, I've been in SoCal for 4 full days now and it's raining. Luckily I had 2 good days of clear skies (I could see the mountains!) before the clouds came in. So far, I've been eating very well; if I so much as look at a piece of food, my mom swoops in and asks me if I need to eat...even if I did eat an hour or 2 ago. There have been lots of favorites: stir fried crab, pork and bamboo shoot in clay pot, roast duck, offal of various sorts, etc. With each trip home, I am surprised to find that I crave more vegetables, but I shouldn't be because this is pretty much what I grew up on. Since leaving home, I've gotten used to more salads and more variety in what green things I eat.

Being here also makes me realize stark differences, I don't know if they're generational, cultural, or whatever. For instance, I was with my mom at Costco on Saturday and she asked me to help her find a snack for my brothers. We found ourselves in the frozen food aisle and my mom reached in a freezer case to grab a box of prepackaged hamburgers. I think I just stood there in horror and disgust for a second before I made her put it back. So she asked me to pick out "a better option" to which I replied that it would be found away from the frozen foods section. I don't know how many times I'd done this already, but I had to show my mom how to read a nutrition label. We ended up buying some bread and deli meat, whew.

Another example of this happened last night when my mom was making my dad his lunch (a sandwich from said bread and deli meat). My mom assembled everything and then added SALT and pepper to it along with some iceburg lettuce. My dad said, "no no, don't add salt" (my parents have a problem with high blood pressure) and I had to add that deli meat was already full of salt (another issue with not reading the label). I also suggested that maybe she could try using a darker green lettuce next time for more vitamins, but she said that my brothers like iceburg and "won't eat something else".

I'm frustrated and sad! How can I ever hope for people to eat better while I'm still struggling to teach my parents (and if my brothers are so pigheaded about what they [don't] eat)?!

I already had this conversation earlier this evening with my friend Jeannie and she replied that this idea will take many generations to take hold and added that the whole concept of eating locally and sustainably in SoCal seems to be more of a trendy thing (or for the well-to-do) rather than a way of life. I see her point.

There is a bright point, thankfully. Steven, my mom, and I went to the Alhambra farmer's market on Sunday where we got some awesomely sweet pomegranites, carrots, and a damn large stalk of brussel sprouts. My mom laughed and said she couldn't believe that I wanted the sprouts and warned me that they didn't taste good. I asked how she had prepared them and she replied, "boiled in a soup".

Well, there's your problem (why is it that Asian moms seem to want to boil everything in a soup??).

When we got home, my dad echoed my mom's sentiments and I told them that if they didn't like them after I made them, that I would eat them. So tonight, I roasted some of the sprouts and everyone enjoyed them, even Steven! My dad even said that he'll plant some next time.

More to come next time.

Pesto Then Some Farro

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:07:34 GMT

(sorry for the crappy picture).
Yes, pesto. This one has walnuts, cilantro, and sundried tomatoes. I made this during the week that Alfred was away for business (and Big Game).

These days, I don't get home until about 7 or 8, so making dinner can be a challenge. Honestly, earlier this week, dinner was a handful of Cheetos, a square of Theo chocolate, and some Akmaks and some cheese from the farmer's market. It's the new fad diet, I swear.

I used this as a base for a creamy pasta dish that I adapted from one of Ina Garten's recipes (I know I've blogged about Pesto Pasta and Peas here before), but instead of sour cream, I use greek yogurt. My pasta of choice is fusilli because lots of sauce and veggies stick in the corkscrew crevices :P

Since I was cooking for the week, I also made this really great farro dish. Cook up some farro. Saute some matchsticks of (multicolored) carrots and onion, then add the farro in. Make a sauce of coconut milk, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger (I like lots), garlic...and add that in, too. I finished with a garnish of cilantro and chopped up a handful of chili lime cashews (woo Trader Joe's).

Tomorrow evening, I head to SoCal for a week, so I can look forward to some mom-food and some decent Mexican food. Carne asada torta, I am coming for you!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:57:05 GMT

Or at least a glimpse of what we had for the big dinner. Alfred and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for a few people who were not traveling home for the holiday.

There's Alfred, hard at work chopping up collard greens.

Collards waiting to be chopped up, my pumpkin pie, one of the 2 loaves of challah, and you can see the turkey in the oven. Usually our challah has raisins in it, but we figured they might not go so well with turkey and gravy. The pie recipe I used this year came straight our of the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated. So freaking delicious, if you like fragrant, smooth, silky pumpkin pie. I do think it is the best pumpkin pie filling I have ever made and tasted. I'm just sad that there is just one slice left.

Turkey, pie, challah, collards. Our guests brought sweet potatos and mashed potatos. Other yummy dishes that graced the table were a fantastic crab and butternut squash bisque, green beans with cherry tomatos and fresh mozzerella cheese, and a plaintain loaf. Of course, there was also plenty to drink.

Turkey! We followed the recipe in the same issue of Cook's Illustrated, if you're curious.

So I have to say that dinner was a success and we are currently enjoying the leftovers!

A Little Bit of Home

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:50:01 GMT

Just a few pictures from the last time I was down in SoCal with my family. My mom showed me how to make a few dishes and I also got to sample some old favorites.

Some red rice cooked with regular long grain white rice.

This is one of my favorite dishes. Basically, if you have any leftover roast duck, you can cook it up with mustard greens and some sauce the next day. Love it.

Carne asada torta from El Gordito on Valley.

Once I picked off the jalapeno's I was good to stuff my face.

Kabocha squash from the backyard.

Chopping up some banana flower.

I don't know why you're supposed to soak them for a bit, but there you go.

A homemade banana leaf rice....thing. I don't know what it's called in English! I do know it made for a tasty breakfast.

A "snack" for one of my brothers. Holy moly, it looks like a meal to me!

Hopefully I will remember to take pictures of Thanksgiving dinner. Alfred and I are hosting one this year for some of my classmates who are also sticking around Seattle for the holiday.

I'm still alive.

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:10:14 GMT

Holy mother. Has it really been 2 months? I guess I've started grad school, bought a house, and celebrated a bday here. Yeah, that sounds like 2 months work of STUFF to me!

I definitely don't bake as much as I used to, but I've started a new list of things I want to make. Here's an apple tart for you.

Isn't it cute?

And a close-up. I'm a sucker for buttery, flakey crust. Consider it a weakness!

Eating Habits

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:46:00 GMT

So. I was going to post some pictures from my last visit home (in June...I am behind), but thought that you would like to know what I had for dinner tonight. I had almost an entire package of edamame followed by a trip to my local gelato shop. When I realized that I needed more food about 2 hours later, I made myself a PB&J.

Hello, grad school life. Classes start on Wednesday.

Hard Knox Cafe & Birthday cake

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:47:37 GMT

Hi! It's been a crazy few weeks, but Alfred and I are in Seattle now. However, this post is about a restaurant in SF...if you're in the area, you should really consider going. Hard Knox Cafe. We ate here (Clement location) for the first time maybe 2 weeks before we moved away. And then we proceeded to eat there...3 more times. Hey, the place was a block away, could you blame us? I didn't take any pictures of the first meal there because we were just walking around the area deciding on dinner and our first choice wasn't open on Monday or Tuesday nights. But here are pictures of our second meal there (a few days later).

Corn muffins arrive at the table shortly after ordering accompanied by pats of butter and, if you ask, honey.

I ordered the Cajun meatloaf this time around with potato salad and red beans and rice.

Alfred was more inclined to try the beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and black eyed beans (not pictured).

Everything tasted really good, but I liked Alfred's short ribs better. Our first dinner had to have been the best though as we ordered the fried chicken and the BBQ spare ribs. Oh man, in my opinion, those are the best items on the menu! Fried chicken breast meat that was still moist?! Mmmm.

When Nicola's bday was approaching, this is where we took her and the parents. With 6 people at the table, we were free to try more things on the menu. Fried chicken and spare ribs were ordered, of course, as were the short ribs. This time we also tried out the turkey wings. Everyone agreed that the chicken and spare ribs were the tastiest items, with short ribs a close third. Even though Nicola's bday was a few days away, I baked her a cake and Alfred walked it a block from our apt to the restaurant.

This recipe is the yellow cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated. The chocolate frosting is from the same issue. The white chocolate curls were my addition. :P

This was a very easy recipe to follow and make. I believe chow.com has a very similar recipe from their Easy-Bake Birthday Cakes article. Since I couldn't munch into it right after I baked it, I had to sit and patiently wait for dinner time until Nicola cut into it. Would it taste ok??

Thankfully, it was well-received. Hooray! I ordered Nicola to take the cake home with her, so now we have a plate that's either in Salinas or Texas, woohoo.

So there you have it. Hard Knox Cafe and a birthday cake. Yummy.

Jam Tart

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:28:13 GMT

I love a good tart. They're pretty-and the pan does most of the work anyway with its naturally fluted edge. I've actually made 2 of these already, but the first one I made was lost in the epic memory card error of July '08. For that version, I followed David's tart dough recipe pretty much word for word, including the cornmeal. I wasn't a fan of the cornmeal and ended up feeling all anxious, wondering if my teeth were going to break. The filling for Tart #1 was guava jam, our last remnant of our mostly lovely trip to Hawaii (about a year and a half ago!!). I say mostly because, you know, the engagement and the flu thing happened all at the same time.

Shortly after Tart #1, I made this little guy because Alfred and I were headed down to Salinas and both sets of parents would be there. It really is an easy recipe and takes no time at all to put together. Here are the steps (really):
1. Make dough and chill.
2. Smoosh dough into pan.
3. Fill with jam.
4. Bake.

Doode. Easy right? I made a modification by replacing the cornmeal with almond meal instead. Much better, in my opinion; I preferred the texture and think the hint of nuttiness compliments the burst of fruit with each bite. This version actually has 2 fillings. You can sort of tell in the picture: the lower half is raspberry jam from cmbsweets (I got this at the Ferry Bldg farmer's market) while the top half is lingonberry preserves from Ikea. Very very tasty. Parents (both sets of them!) approve.

Posting will be rather sporadic as the move looms closer and closer. I hope I don't go through baking withdrawal now that the kitchen is essentially packed up.

Skillet Apple Pie

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:41:08 GMT

Something about pie drives me to do some pretty crazy things. It started with the vow that I would no longer live in fear of pie dough. Then I just kept on baking. And there was the time I made mini tarts in my muffin tin to find the best apple for making filling. I think I tested maybe 8 or 9 types? Anyways, so I had a bunch of Gravenstein apples waiting for their calling and then I received my Cook's Illustrated in the mail. One of the recipes was for a skillet pie. And that was that.

I started with the dough so I could pop it into the fridge to chill. Then I peeled and cored my apples and sliced them into slices (each apple yielded around 8-9 slices). The filling also calls for a liquid mixture of apple cider, cornstarch, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cinnamon. I was only able to comply with the cornstarch and cinnamon. I ended up using Santa Cruz Organics® apple juice, lime juice, and brown sugar. And it was fine. My pie did not refuse to bake and nobody died.

I used my lovely La Creuset cast iron skillet to cook the apples for a bit, then added the juice mix. The dough was rolled out and placed on top of the apples. I had taken the dough out of the fridge for it to warm up a bit, as I had made the dough in the morning and then worked on the filling and assembly after coming home from cooking camp. The dough was sliced up (you'll see in the pictures below), milk was brushed on and turbinado sugar was sprinkled. Then into a screaming hot 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Isn't THAT pretty?! Waiting for this to cool down was so hard. Luckily, it was time for dinner, so we came back to a much cooler skillet pie after an awesome dinner at Hard Knox Cafe.

Mmmm, apple filling....crunchy sugar topping. I had a piece for dessert since I didn't stuff myself silly at dinner. Alfred could only manage a bite, silly rabbit. Everything about this pie is amazingly good. The filling is just the right consistency, the apples didn't turn to mush, it's not too sweet, and you can taste a hint of cinnamon. The crust is fantastic, too. It's light and wonderfully flaky. This pie did not last long at all. I brought some to my coworker at cooking camp the next day, but we (I?) basically polished off the rest of it. It was breakfast the next morning. Oh glorious day.

Flaky goodness abounds. See, I didn't lie to you!

English Dinner

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:58:16 GMT

It's been a while, blog! Packing continues to take up my time (it's been hard packing up various kitchen things), but Monday through yesterday, I've been away most of the day. I helped out a former coworker by being her assistant at her kids cooking camp. 10 year-old girls today are very different from you or I were 10....

In any case, apologies for the picture below. I know it's not the prettiest thing I've made and posted on here, but it's the background to my next post.

I know. It won't be winning any beauty pageants. BUT! It was a tasty, very English dinner. I had Fatted Calf's boudin noir in the fridge because I've wanted some blood sausage for weeks now, but now that I had it, I didn't really know how to turn it into a full meal. This is where the Internets comes in handy. I read through 2 or 3 sites telling me that blood sausage is traditionally served with fried or mashed potatoes and apples. Ok then. A visit to my corner produce store later, I had little white potatoes and half a dozen Gravenstein apples (!!!). I made buttermilk mashed potatoes with rosemary and Alfred helped me with the apples and broccoli. The apples were sauteed in a little butter and that's about it. The broccoli (I needed something green to eat!) was just flash boiled and cooked for a bit with some chicken stock, a little hoisin sauce, and S&P. The sausages themselves were just grilled on my handy dandy indoor grilling pan.

Everything was delicious. I am salivating just thinking about it. The mashed potatoes were creamy and a little tangy...I don't have a recipe other than: slice potatoes, boil til knife slides in easily, drain and return to pot to mash, add buttermilk, S&P, and herbs to taste. I'm thinking if you want less tang, but more of a creamy texture, use (soy)milk, half and half, or heavy cream, but I wanted creaminess and flavor without the guilt. The broccoli was of course delicious because Alfred cooked them. Still green and crunchy with lots of flavor. Blood sausage from Fatted Calf....I'm really going to miss Fatted Calf when I move. Who will supply me with mortadella and coils of Basque sausage?! And then there were the apples. Oh the Gravensteins. They were tangy and sweet, plus they hold their shape well. It's no wonder Lindsey Shere specifically calls for these apples for pie.

So this is the segue for the next post. After this dinner, I ran back (the next day) to the produce store and bought about 2 lbs of these apples. You should, too, as their season is NOW and short-lived. I was going to make a tart with them, but then I received my copy of Cook's Illustrated in the mail and it was then that I knew what I had to make.