Foods for Tea

2011-12-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm no longer working at Baume, I'm still excited to celebrate their wins! They were recently reviewed in this week's restaurant reviews on SFgate.com

Michaell Bauer's Dec 2011 Review of Baume

Congratulations team!!

2011-12-07T11:37:00.001-08:00

Hi All -

Not a lot of posting activity lately...but I've been busy working. =) Last month, I took a break from teaching classes at Sur la Table to help my old chef from Baume at the Tibetan Aid Charity event at the 4 Seasons in San Francisco.

Please visit his blog post to see some pictures of the event: Savorama

See you all soon!
Terrina

In LA

2011-04-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to checking out the food truck scene while I'm in sunny, yet cold, Los Angeles, CA. So far, I've just been sucked into the scene on my computer...trying to catch up on being offline for close to 3 years.

I've got to make a list and focus (on what I have to do AND what I have to eat!!).

Michelin star-crossed culinarians will square off on the Peninsula - San Jose Mercury News

2010-01-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14227143?source=rss

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Creating memorable food moments

2009-10-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

"Great restaurants are like theaters for your mind," Ruth Riechl on restaurants and why one would spend over $100 per person on a great meal.

A great restaurant should create memorable moments for their guests.

*Sigh* I'm so sad to hear that Gourmet magazine is going out of print. I really liked that magazine!
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LOVE cured meats!

2009-10-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

So glad its making a revival here in the bay!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113680055

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Gotta love the Japanese supermarket!

2009-09-21T18:36:00.001-07:00

Special selection will make all people who are thinking of happy tea time

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This spells trouble!

2009-09-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

I specifically ate so that I would not be hungry when I went into Whole Foods for groceries today. I had a specific list in hopes that I would walk away without hitting over a hundred dollars worth of expenses.

Unfortunately I still walked away with a bill of ~$94 because I decided to make a mixed nut butter this week. I also decided that I needed to reduce the number of water bottles that I use weekly, so I picked up a couple of BPA free gallon sized bottles and filled it with their filtered water.

So, between the new water bottles, the mixed nuts AND a purchase of a $12.99 jar of raw organic I absolutely missed my personal goal of cutting back on that bill. Sigh - that's okay. I was feeling a little inspired today at the store.
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Personal Victory

2009-09-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

Today I butchered 3 lamb saddles (6 cuts of lamb) within roughly 20 min each. When I first started, it took me almost an hour for a single saddle!

The best part is that my chef & sous chef complimented me. Not only did I pass the test, but I was also told that I was better than my chef in taking the meat off the bone. My sous chef said that he couldn't believe how clean the bones were!

All in all a good day for me at the restaurant. FINALLY!! Now I just have to keep it up!
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random silliness

2009-08-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Why does the fridge have a light...but the freezer doesn't? (At least it doesn't in my unit at home.)

Porto's - Burbank CA

2009-06-28T15:15:00.001-07:00

potato ball - filled with ground meat. this place is huge, always packed...but super organized. it's a shining example of food production efficiency.

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more from Father's Office

2009-06-28T15:11:00.001-07:00

sweet potato fries from Father's Office

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Father's Office - Culver City

2009-06-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

booze galore - they specialize in lots of beer on tap...and fairly good upscale gastro pub food.

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Kitchen Chic | Women Chefs Shed Their Whites - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-06-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's true - chef whites are SOOOOOO not flattering for the female figure. I've been told that it's to equalize everyone's bodies in the kitchen so that the boys can concentrate on their jobs (it's a crock of crap, we all know that!).

Finally! They have whites that let women look like women instead of women trying to dress like men in ill fitted suits.

Kitchen Chic | Women Chefs Shed Their Whites - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

The aftermath...

2009-05-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

We did our best, but still had to pack up a small box to take home.

Lunch - Day 3 (LA)

2009-05-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

In the afternoon of the third day in LA, we decided to partake of one of the many middle eastern restaurants in LA's "little Tehran". Shawn highly recommended doing a lunch of various "mezzes" (small plates) in lieu of ordering a single entree each. Sunnin, a well loved Lebanese cafe, is well known for their mezzes.

We stuffed ourselves silly on fried cauliflower served with tahini; fried rolls of cheese,spinach & mint; crispy falafel; fried beef meatballs with bulgar; fattoush (salad seasoned with zatar); babaganoush and of course hommus...accompanied by a basket of thin pita.

I usually have difficulties choosing a single item to eat most days, so I absolutely loved being able to sample a bit of everything. I only wish there were more of us at lunch so that we could have ordered a few more different dishes!

The rest of the feast - Golden Deli

2009-05-29T08:28:00.001-07:00

The rest of the feast included fresh spring rolls with thin, crispy sausage and rice noodle cakes with thin grilled slices of lean beef.

bun rieu

2009-05-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Thin rice noodles in savory tomato laced broth with ground shrimp. (I've had this dish with ground crab, which is even better, but the broth is so clen and savory...it's good either way.)

banh tam bi

2009-05-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

Lunch - Day 2 (LA)

2009-05-29T08:21:00.001-07:00

Day 2 - we had a late lunch after visiting the scoring stage to watch my cousin Larry work on a new film. Since we were in the area, we decided to meet up with Peter at Golden Deli (a vietnamese cafe) in San Gabriel. We shared several dishes family style.

I had this coconut noodle dish - banh tam bi - for the very first time. Thick round rice noodles (slightly smaller & less dense than udon) served with shredded bits of pork, crispy fried spring roll and a hunk of deep fried shrimp paste. The noodles were covered with a generous helping of a thick savory/sweet coconut sauce. The combination of the coconut sauce with all the sides & a portion of nuoc mam viniagrette was absolutely one of the best things I've had in a very long time. The viniagrette added a nice bite of sour/refreshing that cut the heaviness of the coconut, making it easy to keep coming back for more.

I'm going to have to seek out this dish back home. I think it may be a southern vietnamese dish.

Hot Tofu with Dumplings

2009-05-25T21:35:00.001-07:00

soon tofu with shaved beef & dumplings...yummy!

Dinner - Day 1

2009-05-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

hot tofu stew in k-town - you've got to love the accouterments that come with any korean meal...kimchees/pickles galore.

Sock It To Me Cake

2009-05-25T21:32:00.001-07:00

sock it to me cake...I didn't believe that there was really such a cake...but there really is! Moist yellow cake with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar throughout, topped with walnuts, cinnamon & drizzled with frosting.

Decadent Breakfast

2009-05-25T21:30:00.001-07:00

sausage, biscuits & gravy...with fried chicken from shawn. lots of flavor! the country potatoes were crunchy & really delicious with the country gravy. that stuff HAD to have been made with the drippings from the sausage.

Fried Chicken & Pancakes

2009-05-25T21:28:00.001-07:00

Shawn with fried chicken, eggs & pancakes.

Breakfast - Day 1/LA

2009-05-25T21:26:00.001-07:00

Pann's - famous for chicken & waffles. I had the sausage, biscuits & gravy...AND sock it to me cake...3 cups of coffee. Sooooo yummy!

I'm such a geek...

2009-05-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

My new knife - a 270mm (~10 in) 'wari'/slicer from Kikuichi.

...and the pickles

2009-05-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

The pickle/preserves shelf at the restaurant...(l to r) yuzu marmalade, strawberry rhubarb jam, lemon preserves, wild asparagus pickles, and micro carrot pickles

...another cool SLT item of the week

2009-05-21T00:41:00.001-07:00

okay...I couldn't resist...it's so cute! It's a pancake pan with adorable bugs on it!

SLT cool item of the week

2009-05-20T08:01:00.001-07:00

"fillable ice pop" molds - $10

perfect cappuccino

2009-05-14T15:15:00.001-07:00

I finally got the coffee demo right!

Add milk with some froth first, then slowly pour coffee in using a spoon to slow the stream (pour the coffee over the back of the spoon or into the bowl of the spoon and then in a slow stream along the side of the cup)

...finish with more foam and voila!

Yummy yummy seafood!!

2008-08-11T21:49:00.003-07:00

We're in Zhuhai, China - a peninsula located across from the island of Macau. We're making a pit stop to relax at my dad's beach facing apartment for a couple of days before heading out to Beijing for some Olympic events.

Last night, we went to seafood street. The fishermen set up their catches for the day there and you can buy all sorts of shellfish, shrimp, fish and seafood from the fishermen. The street was surprisingly clean and the vendors have an interesting set up. In very clean (to the eye) saltwater bins, they tuck in an air tube to bubble oxygen into the water. Each of the bins have 1-2 slotted plastic rectangular strainers holding the seafood, so the vendor just pulls the second container out of the water to strain out the items that you're looking at.

My dad was out of control - he bought 4lbs of shrimp (tiger prawns, thumbsplitter (or peacock praying mantis shrimp) and regular shrimp). We also got scallops, blue crab, rock cod, clams, knife clams and baby abalone.

After we bought all of our seafood, we walked to one of the nearby restaurants that line the street. They're all set up specifically for the seafood street. You put your seafood into a bin that they pull out for you as you sit down, and then tell them how you want them to prepare your food.

My favorities for the evening were the thumbsplitter shrimps (quickly fried in seasoned salt in the shells - they tasted like sweet crayfish or lobster), sauteed black bean garlic clams, and sauteed knife clams. YUM!!

The seafood cost us roughly 500 RMB and the cooking of the meal, with the addition of two plates of veggies and steamed/fried man tao (chinese sweet bread), cost us 300 RMB (Ren Men Bi). A really good seafood meal for 6 people for roughly $130 USD total. Not bad, huh?

I wish I brought my camera to take pictures. It was raining pretty hard and I forgot to bring my purse since my dad said I didn't need it. Darn it!! =)

Hong Kong - Day 2 - Food Highlights

2008-08-08T19:21:00.006-07:00

Our first full day in Hong Kong was filled with food (well, what did you expect given our family's foodie tendencies?). There wasn't much to post about though, we had some good food but nothing really too memorable. Perhaps we ate at the wrong places? Granted, we have fairly high expectations of the food in Hong Kong, but not every restaurant can be a winner. Here are some highlights...

We had dim sum at a restaurant inside the Hong Kong Times Square Mall. The food was pretty good, if not exactly memorable. The highlight for me was the hot sauce. I think I will have to try to make this at home - dried red chili flakes, dried baby shrimp, garlic, shallot...and maybe I'll add some dried scallops to the mix.

Another highlight of the day was jelly tea. I've personally never heard or had this before. The bottom third of the cup was filled with a flavored jelly (similar to those asian jellies that were choking hazards for small children - maybe slightly softer in texture.) The rest of the cup is filled with a flavored juice slushy. The one on the left was Mango Strawberry (that one was the best) and the one on the right is Aloe and Pomelo. The aloe jelly was surprisingly tasty, but the pomelo slushy was actually a little bitter.

For dinner, we celebrated my youngest brother's birthday at the Grand Hyatt Cafe's buffet. It was reputed to be the best buffet in town per my dad's co-workers. It really wasn't worth the money that we paid. I don't know if you already know this, but my sibs and I are really competitive. My sister's boyfriend learned early when traveling with us, he needed to train his stomach for our travel eats. We determined that we needed to eat 4-5 plates to make the cost of the buffet worth it. I'm ashamed to admit that I ate 4 plates. UGH...it really wasn't worth the calories, but my competitive nature got the better of me. Thank goodness we walked about a mile and a half home back to the hotel.

Plate #1 - chinese beef tendon stew with daikon radish & noodles, white mushroom & abalone stew, baked oyster with bechamel and spinach, sushi and lobster.

Plate #2 - spicy pomelo salad (yum), pate and flatbread, smoked meats (coppa ham, parma ham, salami and air dried beef), olives, ox tongue and smoked salmon.

Plate #3 - more pomelo salad, pate, smoked meats, salad and lobster.

Plate #4 - dessert. More ham, various cheeses (swiss, brie, gouda and a really nice blue), horn pastry filled with coffee cream and a bowl of sugo (mango cream with bits of pomelo, clear tapioca balls and fresh bits of young coconut and mango.)

Lastly...a rose apple, which I pocketed to eat at the hotel. It's actually a fruit that comes across as crunchy with the texture of rhubarb and the flavor of an apple crossed with a sweet rhubarb.

For traveling photo highlights not sooooooo food specific, feel free to check out the travel blog. I usually split the two up because not everyone is big on food, although travel and food do tend to go hand in hand. =) Especially when you're traveling with the my family.

Hong Kong - Thurs 7 Aug 2008

2008-08-07T08:55:00.003-07:00

The Wong Family is on another food tour...this one of Hong Kong and China. You know us...it's always about the foods!!

We arrived today at roughly 7:20pm Hong Kong time. (It's 15 hours ahead of PST). After checking into the hotel we walked out to grab a quick bite to eat.

Ho Hung Kee Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop

(no...it's not a mispelling, their business card says "Wantun")

I ordered "Pe Dan Sau Yok Jok"...which is basically the thousand year old duck egg and lean pork tenderloin rice congee. There's a giant generic pot of congee that is then loaded up with the appropriate condiments when the order is made. It looks bland...but it really isn't. The savory rice porridge is about as thick as a thin stew, with a surprisingly creamy texture. It's a great late night snack.

Because he didn't think that we had enough food (we each had an order of either congee or noodle soup), my dad also ordered vegetables, beef tripe/ligament stew and dongtze (sticky rice filled with salted preserved egg, chinese sausage, mushrooms, gravy and other choice bits of meat) and an order of beef chow fun. Granted, the portions are about half of what you would get in the US, but it was still a lot of food.

Luckily my little brother Matt was there to help us clean our plates! =) I've also got some pictures of us at the airport posted on the travel blog in case you're interested.

More soon!

Restaurant profits may suffer

2008-07-25T09:42:00.001-07:00

The food industry (surprise surprise) is also being affected by the slowing of the US economy. In a discussion in class a few months ago, we talked about something similar. Whenever there is a slump in the economy the two extremes continue to do well - the very high end and the low to very low end. So - folks who have money to spend on ferraris continue to dine out at fancy restaurants, or people continue to save and eat there for very special occasions. Fast food chains like McDonald's who can offer burgers for less than a $1 actually see their sales go up.

What's the first thing that you do when you have less discretionary cash flow? Cut your spending, right? And what's the quickest way to do that? Bring lunch and eat in. Yep - that's right...no good for restaurants.

Restaurant profits may suffer despite stimulus - Food Inc.- msnbc.com

Wine - Pros' Guide to Bargain Shopping

2008-07-24T18:27:00.002-07:00

I openly admit that although I've taken 6 months of training as a sommelier and have passed the intro level exams...I STILL find wines to be somewhat of a mystery. Between food and wine - food wins hands down for me. I love being able to tweak the flavors of food when cooking and I absolutely love eating food in general.

I find that the wine program at school was/is the opposite of the cooking program. I mean - with food - you can add to the dish to change it and tweak it so that it can taste better or taste as it should. With wine, you are deconstructing a completed product to analyze the flavors of the wine and the structural elements of the wine. It's more of a science than an art. Food and wine pairing, however, is a completely different matter.

When you have the right food and wine pairing...all of a sudden the clouds part, the sun shines in a brilliant beam upon the two and an hallelujah chorus rings out. In short - it can be magic. I definitely find that taking the wine course has taught me the introductory basics of wine. I can now maneuver the aisles of BevMo without fear. In fact, I may even know a little more about wine than most of the employees at said store. (I've asked many questions there only to be given a blank stare in return.)

But the most important thing that I've learned about wine in the past 6-7 months is that you've got to get out there and taste it. I guess there are more opportunities to taste food, which is why I feel that my palate is more developed in that arena. After all - I rarely drink (because of my asian affliction of alcohol allergies or inability to digest the alcohol) but I eat at least 2-3 times a day.

So...long story short, get out there and taste some wines. There's only one way to develop your palate for wines if it's something that you're interested in. Go out there and try some wines!

Here's a Pros' guide to bargain shopping / With $70 in hand, 3 sommeliers scour the shelves for a week's worth of wine and then share their secrets from the SF Chronicle. It's an easy way to get started.

I'm also reading Educating Peter - it's a light easy read about one master sommelier's adventures in teaching a film critic about wine. It hits many of the major learning points at a high level and gives a good overview at how much there is to be learned in wine. So if you think that you want to learn more about wine and aren't sure where to start, this book is a good initial primer before you start getting into greater detail and theory. (oh boy - there's lots and lots of theory.)

Half Moon Bay

2008-07-23T15:42:00.007-07:00

On the first Sunday of every month, I get together with some friends from high school for the purpose of catching up over food. Actually, we pretty much just get together to eat food and enjoy each others' company and speak inappropriately. It's a great way to relax and get back in touch with food. (Sometimes when you work with something too closely, you forget to enjoy it. Hanging out with my friends over a good meal helps me to remember why I got into the food industry to begin with.)

We met up at Sam's Chowder House off of Cabrillo Highway. I didn't expect it to be so expensive, but the food was pretty good. We shared the New England Clam Chowder, Blue Crab Salad on Brioche, Fish & Chips and the #1 Lobster Roll of the Nation. (that lobster roll was $19.95...no joke!!)

My favorite was the Blue Crab Salad. The brioche was fresh, light and buttery and the crab salad was tasty without being too rich and full of mayo. I found the lobster roll to be better than expected, but just overall really rich and buttery. The lobster filling seemed to be tossed in melted butter with just a little bit of chopped celery and onions. The lobster was really tender and perfectly cooked (probably butter poached sous vide style) - it was just too rich. I'm glad we shared, I don't think I could have eaten the whole thing. (You'd also have to eat fairly quickly as cold or cooling butter tossed lobster isn't exactly tasty.) sorry...didn't get any photos of the food at Sam's.

After a leisurely lunch, we took a quick walk on the beach and then headed to the Ritz Carlton for coffee and dessert. Valet/Hotel parking costs $20 after a complimentary 15 minutes, $10 if you buy something and get your parking validated. If we were smart, we would have mentioned that we were just there for public beach access. They would have given us the numerical passcode for the parking structure and we could have walked up to the hotel. Lesson learned.

The coffee was pretty tasty and the snacks were good. Next time though, skip the hotel and go straight to the beach and the backside of the hotel. The views are gorgeous.

Here are some pics for your enjoyment =)

here's the gang - (from left to right)
Natasha with Gerrit (who belongs to Angelica and Randolph), me, Angelica, Ian and Randolph
on the beach outside of Sam's Chowder House

We ordered the bread pudding (with ice cream) and the 'cookie jar' to enjoy with our coffees.

Relaxing and enjoying the view of the cliffs.

I wish we had a shot of the cliffs...but if you go to the Ritz Carlton site, you can get an idea of the scenery.

Western Spaghetti

2008-07-10T10:45:00.003-07:00

Here's a clever stop motion video of "How would you 'cook' spaghetti with tomato sauce using nonfood ingredients?".

Stop-motion artist Pes (Adam Pesapane) shows how in his short film Western Spaghetti, which uses inedible items, including Rubik's cube "garlic," pick-up sticks "spaghetti," and Post-it note "butter."

Have a happy day!!

2008-07-07T00:15:00.004-07:00

My culinary classmates and I went out to lunch the day after our finals to celebrate at Paragon...this randomly occurred in the dipping sauce for the bread. Guess everyone was happy for us that day! =P

Finally!!! Some pics...=)

2008-07-07T00:01:00.003-07:00

Here are pictures from my final practical exam. The plating could have been a bit cleaner and tighter...but I had a great time that day in the kitchen, I really feel that I concentrated on the flavors and did the best I could in the time that I had. =)

Enjoy! (Please note that these pictures are of the plates that didn't go to the judges. For our final, we had to make 3 servings of a 3 course meal. The best plates obviously went out to the judges - IE...lobster claws to the judges and the prettiest plates to them as well. Also note - the shaky dribble on the dessert plate.)

Seared Golden Trout with Butter Poached Lobster served with Bouillabaisse

Accompanied by a trout and lobster mousse, croutons and rouille.

Trio of Lamb

Lamb ribs marinated in a sauce of garlic, thyme, shallots and house-made crème fraiche served with creamy garlic potatoes.

Sausage Merguez served “en croute” style with creamy mustard and a cherry relish gastrique, accompanied by fresh English peas.

Lamb loin wrapped in lamb mousse served on a bed of julienned summer squash.

Blueberry "Napoleon"

Crispy slices of financier cake layered with a blueberry pastry cream mousseline, served with whipped cream and blueberry gastrique

How I plan to use my culinary education...

2008-07-02T04:30:00.003-07:00

I'm up late finishing my final report for my culinary program exit exam. WOW!! Six months have really flown by in a blink of an eye. I'm sad to be leaving the comfort and fun of the school kitchen. I've truly made some great friends and I have enjoyed my classmates - we made a fabulous team most days. =)

Here's my essay on how I plan to use my culinary education. (Yes - I was required to write a 500 word (minimum) essay on this topic.)

In the Chinese culture, one of the first things that is usually asked of a guest is whether or not they have eaten. Providing food and delicious meals for friends and family is a form of displaying affection. Food is often brought as host/hostess gifts when making visits. Growing up, food was and continues to be a very important part of my family life. Birthday and holiday dinners are always full of family favorites and vacations often revolve around food destinations. My father is an excellent cook, specializing in Chinese cuisine. My mother used to burn water when we were very young, but she eventually picked up more than the basics in order to survive in our family. She now makes delicious home style meals and family favorites, although my father’s cooking still reigns. As an adult, I realize how fortunate I was to have grown up around good food prepared at home.

After completing my bachelor’s degree in international business and working at a large international corporation for over ten years, I found that I felt strangely unfulfilled. I could easily have continued to follow the standard path of my peers and be content, yet I was bored. I was putting in long hours working as a project manager in information technology, working on projects that many of my friends and family (and even most of my work peers) couldn’t comprehend. During the process of selling my townhouse and determining what my next step in the real estate market should be, I had an epiphany. I decided to take the earnings from the sale of my first home to explore another area of interest. I made the decision to take a sabbatical and go to culinary school, something that I had wanted to do for as long as I could remember.

I started at the Professional Culinary Institute (PCI) with a vague goal of doing something in the food industry as a possible career change. At the same time, I was also enrolled in the Sommelier Program at PCI to learn more about wine. At worst, it would be a fun and educational sabbatical before my return to the high tech world. Somehow in the midst of my time in the kitchen at school and the hours spent in a professional kitchen as a part of my externship, I found that I actually wanted to work in a restaurant kitchen. I found that I wanted to get closer to a product that everyone could understand and share my passion for. Having a product that everyone could understand is a novel and rewarding experience for me. After working on projects that span 6 months to several years, there is something that is fundamentally fulfilling to be able to have a tangible product that can immediately evaluated within a specific timeframe. I love working in the restaurant – there’s an adrenaline rush in working on a team and completing service for people to enjoy. There’s magic in working with people that have the same passion that you do.

Food is an easy bridge. Everyone eats. It fulfills a basic need, yet food can also be extremely indulgent and full of luxury. There is such a range and variety in food – culturally, qualitatively and quantitatively. James Beard stated that, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” I’ve traveled throughout Europe and Asia and I’ve found that to be so true. No matter where you go, if you show an appreciation for the local food and culture, it’s typically easy to make conversation and begin friendships.

Many of my friends, family and peers question why I would willingly leave an established career to start at the bottom of the “ladder” again. Not only do I have a passion for cooking, but I feel that the food industry is rapidly expanding and that there are many opportunities available. Even with the trend of outsourcing from the US to other parts of the world, there continues to be a huge growth in the food industry in the United States and around the globe.

Chef Udo Prambs and PCI have given me a valuable foundation to start my career in the food industry. I feel very fortunate to have been able to study and develop my culinary foundation under an experienced, European trained master chef.

In the near term, I would like to gain further experience working in a fine dining restaurant. After finishing my externship at Chez TJ in Mountain View, I would like find full time employment at another fine dining establishment. At the same time, I plan to continue my wine studies and pass the Certified Sommelier exams.

Being that I am older than most of my fellow culinary students, I would like to work a minimum of five years in fine dining to gain experience and a better understanding of the industry and skills needed to run a successful restaurant. Ideally, I would also like to gain additional international experience. (I love that this industry provides me with the opportunity to work in most any metropolitan area and country.) After the initial five years, I may need to re-evaluate what avenues are available to me at that point in my career. If I need to shift to something that has more regular hours or less physical labor, I would still like to work in something related to food. I may explore food writing or working for a food publication in some capacity where my background in high tech and project management could be further utilized. The possibilities are endless. Completing my education at the Professional Culinary Institute is only the initial step and I’m looking forward to the road ahead.

...kind of cheesy, yes I know. =P Cheesemoso...but true. *sigh* Now I just have to figure out how to survive on a cook's salary. I may need to moonlight or work part time in the tech world just to keep the income flowing.

only 4 1/2 weeks left!!

2008-05-27T21:37:00.003-07:00

It seems like I just started culinary school yesterday...but I've only got about 4 weeks left before my exit final. YIKES!! I had these grand dreams of posting my journey through school...but those were smashed early on. Not only did it take me a couple of months to figure out a note taking methodology and a study schedule...but I quickly found that I had little time to do anything other than studying or going in to school to get more kitchen time. ARGH!!

It's been one heck of an amazing ride and I'm still loving (most) every minute of it. =) Pictures to post soon...I promise! And if school wasn't enough...I decided that I was a little bored and didn't need Friday nights and Saturdays as free time any more. I started my externship (240 hrs required for graduation from culinary) at Chez TJ in Mountain View in April.

Needless to say - free time is a precious commodity at this point...but it will be over all too soon! I've decided that I'm enjoying the time in the kitchen so much that I'm going to give it a go as a full time job. (I may need to supplement with some high tech gigs here and there...but as full time as I can.) I'd like to stay in fine dining and French cuisine, but we'll see where it all takes me. I plan on staying in the Bay Area for the next six months to a year because I haven't seen most of my friends since I've returned at the end of December.

I miss you all!! Hope you're all still talking to me...I hope to see everyone soon when I finish school in the beginning of July!! =)

quick update

2008-02-27T09:34:00.003-08:00

yes...I lag! But a good friend of mine gave me some good advice the other day when I was lamenting over the state of my house and kitchen (complete disarray, most items are still in boxes...almost unlivable given my penchant (okay, borderline OCD) for cleanliness). Between trying to get my living situation together, catching up with friends and school I was going a bit crazy. Her priceless advice was this..."Terrina, you may think that you are just in school, but that's really your full time job right now. So if it's your priority, you need to take care of those things first."

So - I've been prioritizing homework for culinary and wine, doing cooking and wine tasting outside of class whenever the opportunity (and energy) comes up. That's the reason why the blogs have been lean lately. I've got pics to post, hopefully I'll get some time this weekend to do a bit. I've eased up on the house stuff (basically, I've let it go) and I'm pretty on top of homework (need some work on wine). Believe me, the finals every 6-10-12 days are pretty intense...but I've got a bit of a breather this weekend.

Just know that I'm slowly getting around to catching up with friends and loved ones...and that I'm absolutely LOVING school. Culinary comes much easier to me than the wine - but I hope that I continue to learn. I'm going to have to do more reading about both trades. =)

CRAZINESS!!

2008-02-11T09:44:00.001-08:00

Okay - I admit, I must have been out of my mind when I was contemplating possibly working while I was attending both the culinary and the sommelier programs on a full time basis at PCI. I still think that I'm a little crazy even now and I'm not working.

Life has been a little crazy and hectic, to say the least. I've been buried in schoolwork for the last several weeks and weekends. I'm still trying to work out a study schedule and just get into the general groove of things. It's all starting to gel. I wish that my boxes and all the other things around the house would do the same! =) Ah well - we can't expect to be able to do all things at once can we? I'm a firm believer that you "can have it all"...you just can't have it all at the same time!!

So - I'm throwing myself wholeheartedly into this school business and am learning an entirely different field to see if it's something that I'd like to spend the rest of my life doing. (Or at least until I change fields again!)

It's only the 4th week since I've started school. I've already had one certification exam - passed successfully...Certified Sanitation "whatever" by the state of California. Last week was our paper exam (yes - it's JUST like school!!) and a practical exam for our first section of culinary - Kitchen Essentials 101 (Knife Skills, Soups and Sauces). This week I've got 2 field trips for wine and then we have a final next week. AAAACKKK! I'm definitely feeling a little out of depth in the wine class, I don't have the palate that many of my classmates do. But on the other hand I'm just right in the middle of that class - not the best, but I don't think that I'm the worst one. At least I hope that I'm not. I'll let you guys know how I do.

I did okay in my culinary final - I'm definitely one of the slower ones though. I've got to pick up the pace otherwise I'll never keep up when we get to the full menu preparations in a class. *sigh* Always room for improvement I guess!!

More soon!

Cauliflower Gratin

2008-01-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

We made Cauliflower Gratin yesterday in class for "dinner". Parboil the cauliflower first (we had some really pretty cauliflower of different shades - chef says they used colored water to make the cauliflower yellow, pink and purple). The cover with a cheesey bechamel (I think that's a morney or a cheese sauce? I forget, I was cooking veal stock so didn't catch that part. It's the same sauce you'd use to make a homemade mac 'n cheese - milk, thickened with a roux, flavored with a half of a yellow onion, one clove and a bay leaf, then flavored with copious amounts of your desired cheese.)

Put the cooked cauliflower on a casserole dish, cover with the cheese sauce and then top with more cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and serve. Yummy!!

I've got a long day ahead of me - my sommelier program starts this evening. That means that I rush out of culinary, change quickly into business attire and then go downstairs for my sommelier program. =) I'm excited to see how it goes. There's a field trip on the 12th and 13th of February - I'm going to have to make up for the hours missed of my culinary classes. DAMN!

More soon!

two weeks in...

2008-01-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

I'm two weeks into culinary school and this week was my first week in the actual kitchen! Hooray! Last week was an in depth discussion and lecture on food safety and sanitation (ServSafe). On Tuesday, we had our certification exam. If I didn't pass, I would have to retake the test for $40!! Luckily, my rabid 2 hours of studying paid off and I only missed one question on the test. HOORAY, I passed!!

This week in the kitchen, we're officially working on knife skills...julienne, fine julienne, brunoise (cubes of julienne) and fine brunoise (you guessed it, cubes of fine julienne - 1/8 by 1/8) and my "favorite" tourner (making 7 sided, 2 inch football shapes out of potatoes, carrots and other veggies). I'm making soup this weekend so that I can practice my knife skills - FUN! I want to try out for the competition team at the school and knife skills are important. (Especially since there are 4-5 other students from my class alone that are planning on trying out. I think the team is only 4-5 students.)

So - even though we're just doing some boring but necessary fundamentals like knife skills and stocks this week, we did do some cooking. It's nice knowing that we'll get fed at least once each day during class! On Wednesday, our first day with Chef U (who will be our chef instructor for the majority of our 6 month course) we made pesto. It was a little strong for me, personally, but I was HUNGRY!! I think I'll try it with less or even with roasted garlic to see how I like the flavor.

Thursday we had soup made from veggie scraps, roux, water, cream and seasonings. It was surprising tasty given the list of ingredients. Friday's lunch/dinner was by far the tastiest though - we had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes (potato scraps) and stir fried veggies (from practiced carrots and celeriac julienne). I luckily volunteered to cook the chicken and it was surprisingly easy and tasty, even the chicken breast was juicy.

Roasted Chicken Recipe
- rinse the whole chicken (remove the bag of "goodies" if your chicken comes with one)
- generously sprinkle and rub your chicken with salt, pepper and paprika (rub the whole chicken)
- place the chicken, breast down on a roasting pan with an inch layer of mirepoix (rough cubes of about an inch wide of 50% onion, 25% carrots and 25% celery)
- roast at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes
- flip over (breast up) and baste with hot chicken stock (we had some simmering on the stove)
- finish roasting until done (leg joint should be loose and juices run clear)

Enjoy!! If you like, use the fond left in the roasting pan to make a nice pan gravy by adding more stock and either cornstarch or a roux (flour and butter) to thicken it. The oven at school is a convection oven, so timings may be a little off. Use your best judgment - the chicken was mostly cooked before we flipped it.

Lessons learned this week:

Olive oil can release free radicals (which can contribute to cancer) when heated, so Chef U doesn't use it for cooking
The top GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) crops in the US are Soy, Wheat, Corn, Canola and Cotton.
Chef only cooks with grapeseed, peanut, sunflower or safflower oil because of free radicals and GMO.
It's not the GMO that will get you...but the pesticides and insecticides. Most GMO crops are modified to make them more resistant to pests and insecticides. This makes the farmers less careful when spraying...and more gets into your food.

Food Safety and Sanitation

2008-01-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

I just started culinary school on Monday. The first class of the program is ServSafe or Food Safety and Sanitation. I actually have to take a state certification and pass it before being allowed to continue with the rest of my courses. Since I already took this course when I attended the San Francisco Culinary Academy, a lot of the information is review...but it has been updated quite a bit since 2001. =)

When I first took the course in the early 2000's, I freaked out and didn't really eat out at restaurants for several months because of all the information you learn. Basically, you could get foodborne illnesses at any restaurant. Luckily, my stint in South Asia exposed me to some pretty rough conditions and this second time around, the class isn't affecting me as much. (Thank goodness, since my pots and pans are still in storage and my eating options are pretty limited right now!)

I'll be closing out the Bangladesh blog in the next week or so and then will switch to posting on this blog (on a regular basis) about my culinary school life. Other everyday adventures and random musings will be on the main blog.

Salty and Sweet

2007-12-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

I've never been much of a fan of sweet and savory in the same dish. I have to admit though that this trip to South Asia is really developing that range of my palate. Yesterday, I had a tasty red curry with roasted duck (which I made in a Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai). In the curry was pieces of roast duck, small edamame sized eggplants (they were bitter), little globe eggplant, GRAPES and PINEAPPLE chunks.

The red curry in general is a little sweeter than I'm used to...but it was tasty, AND SPICY! Somehow the unexpected sweetness of the grapes and the pineapples, which I didn't cook very long added a nice coolness to the dish. Every time I thought the my tongue was about to catch on fire, I would take a bite with a grape or a piece of pineapple in it and it would cool it right off. It was surprisingly delicious.

I've also (gasp) developed a taste for dark meat and duck. Most of you know that I like white meat - turkey, chicken, fish...I'm a light meat kind of girl. I never used to like game or wild fowl. Somehow in the past few months (okay, that wood pigeon confit really had a lot to do with it) I've developed a liking for duck in certain dishes. Peking duck will still never really be a favorite, but I can see the appeal of a nicely roasted duck. (Yes - Shawn, you're right...I just had to have some good duck to truly appreciate it.) I also had a really nice duck and noodle dish on the Thai Airways flight from Vietnam to Bangkok of all places. The boneless duck was served in a 5 seasoning spiced gravy next to some chinese egg noodles (lightly stir fried in garlic and oil) with a side of stir fried mushrooms, carrots and bok choy. I was really pleasantly surprised at the flavor - I really enjoyed the dish (in my cramped little seat on the airplane).

Part of being a successful chef relies on having a good palate - my palate is certainly expanding as I have been traveling in South Asia. Let's see how I do in culinary school. =) Stay tuned! I start on the 15th of January...dunno when the wine classes will start. The were originally scheduled for the 29th of January, but they were postponed temporarily. We'll see when I get stateside when it's been rescheduled for.

p.s. I LOVE having my iPod with me as I've been traveling. I just caught the second season of Top Chef. I don't remember hearing good reviews about Season 2, but I really enjoyed it. I'm surprised at how well the girl from Vegas did. Looks like SF, LA, NYC and Vegas are the top 4 foodie cities. What a surprise! (NOT) Anyways - what WAS a surprise was how limited their palates were. I mean, several chefs really specialized in certain areas, which caused some difficulties during the challenges. Since I will soon be embarking on my culinary school adventure, I found it very interesting. Can't wait to download Season 3!

The "price of sugar"

2007-11-11T18:10:00.001-08:00

Read this post from Thy about concerns about growing and harvesting sugar cane - Bitter Sweet: The Price of Sugar.

Whatever am I going to do? Here I am on the cusp of starting culinary school and now I also have to worry about sugar in addition to foie gras, veal and other endangered food species like Chilean Sea Bass (Patagonian Toothfish), Tuna, shark's fin...and others?!!

*sigh* I really would like to be a conscientious consumer...and we're lucky enough in the US that we have enough resources and wealth that we can even consider the repercussions of the food that we buy and eat. It really does take some extra time and effort. =)

Wood Pigeon Confit & Chanterelles

2007-11-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

It was my last night in Bangladesh on the 11th and my good friend Tatiana shared some wonderful tastings with several of us as a part of a bon voyage for me. We had wood pigeon confit - caught and prepared by her Papa at their country home in Toulouse, in the south of France. Accompanying this yummy fowl were some tasty chanterelles which her Papa had foraged from the countryside and prepared very simply.

O-M-G...I would have expected the wood pigeon to be gamey. It wasn't. I've developed a new appreciation for ducks and wild fowl - especially in confit. I LOVE confit - anything cooked in fat tastes oh so DELICIOUSLY sinful! What is confit? Basically, confit is any meat that has been cooked and preserved in its own fat. Oh so yummy!

We also started out the meal with real brie from France and homemade deer pate on toast. (Yes - Papa hunted the deer AND prepared the pate!) I'm going to visit Tatiana and her family in the south of France someday soon!

Sorry I don't have any pictures - i was too busy being a piggy to remember to commemorate the food!

Oh - I forgot to mention that earlier this week on Monday evening, 4 of us (Tatiana, her boyfriend Andy, our friend Scott and I) nibbled on toast and foie gras confit that one of her neighbors made. Her sister just visited and brought it with her from France, along with some yummy salami!

I've given some friends a hard time about foie gras before in the past - I'm eating my words now (literally)! But these ducks are raised on the neighboring farm and seem quite happy according to Tatiana! =)

I'm so spoiled and loved! After dinner - 7 of us piled into two office vehicles and we all drove to the airport together. I don't often get a send off like that! =)

Thank you everyone! See you soon! (I'll remember all the hugs as I travel throughout South Asia on my lonesome!)

YumTacos.com

2007-10-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

I was reading a recent post in Thy's Tidbits blog and found that someone has created a website to track the location of the best TACO TRUCKS throughout the Bay (and California). Isn't that AWESOME?!!

I miss Mexican food!! *sigh*

California Taco Trucks --> http://yumtacos.com/

=p

Tidbits - Saveur Fare

2007-10-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

My friend, Thy recently had a short article published in Saveur Magazine! Saveur is one of my favorite magazines because it publishes amazing stories and pictures sharing people's personal food stories. My favorite stories are the ones where the author returns home or to a beloved travel location and shares their homey adventures (along with the recipes of course!)

Thy's blog is titled Tidbits and I link to it from the right under "Friendlies". Her blog is posted weekly on the KTEH site as well. She shares some really beautiful pictures and recipes on her site. Tidbits - Saveur Fare

Enjoy!

Epicurious: Inside the CIA

2007-10-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

I'm killing two birds with one stone - I'm cleaning out my iTunes library (running out of disk space) and I am also mentally preparing for culinary school (hoooray!). Right now - I'm taking a break on my Friday afternoon to watch the Epicurious: Inside the CIA video podcasts (Friday and Saturday is the weekend in Bangladesh - I'm also catching up on work today...since I've been working for the last 5 hours, I'm giving myself a mental break).

hehe - my intention is to blog about my own experiences in culinary school on this blog. When I'm home in the states, I'm sure that I'll be able to upload videos and more pictures because the bandwidth should be better. (droool...fast internet connectivity!!)

Argentinian Alfajores

2007-10-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

You've GOT to go to see this story on Leite's Culinaria about Argentinian alfajores to see the full picture of this amazing cookie. It looks absolutely decadent - two shortbread cookies sandwiched around a generous middle of dulce de leche, covered with rich chocolate. Oh man - someone go out and buy one right now and tell me if it tastes as good as it looks!!

Top Fruits and Veggies to Buy Organic

2007-10-15T02:43:00.000-07:00

Top Fruits and Veggies to Buy Organic:

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, DC, reports that you can lower your pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding conventional versions of the top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables.

These are the top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables in the market:

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Grapes (imported)
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes

So which produce is of least concern in terms of pesticides? The EWG reports that these 12 fruits and vegetables tested lowest in pesticide residue:

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn (frozen)
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet Peas (frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Bananas
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Eggplant

The lesson here? If you're not ready to switch to all organic, at least make an effort to minimize your purchases of the first 12 fruits/veggies - or at least buy organic versions when possible. On the flip side, the second list of 12 provides fruits/veggies that are safer to consume as conventional produce. (As opposed to organic or pesticide free.)

Why lower your exposure to pesticides? Studies have shown that many pesticides often contribute to cancer. Besides, if it isn't good for bugs, I doubt that it's good for humans either!

How to Make a Chicago Hot Dog

2007-10-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

How to Make a Chicago Hot Dog - Dumb Little Man

Every once in a while, I crave a hot dog. I know I know - it's not really good for you. I mean - what the heck goes into a hot dog? But it's the all-American treat and sometimes you gotta have one. (Even in Bangladesh, I sometimes give in to the craving and order a chili dog from the American Club. It's a guilty pleasure...but I have to admit, the bacon cheeseburgers here are pretty darn good too!)

Click on the link above to see How to make an authentic Chicago Hot Dog.

Pappardelle Pasta

2007-10-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest lessons I've learned from cooking in Bangladesh is that you learn to make do. Who cares if straw mushrooms aren't usually used in italian pasta dishes? Use what you've got and hope that it comes close. =)

I picked up a box of Di Cecco's pappardelle pasta at one of the local food markets about a month ago. Since I'm getting ready to end my contract and travel for the month of December before heading back home to the US, I'm making a conscious effort to eat the foods in the cupboards (or give them away). Last night, I felt inspired and made pappardelle with ham, coppa ham, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and canned (Chinese) straw mushrooms in a cream sauce, topped with blue cheese.

There was a picture similar to this (above) on the box of the pappardelle pasta that inspired me. I had a small box of heavy whipping cream in the fridge for exactly this purpose. Pappardelle pasta is more fun to eat than fettucini, in my opinion. The noodles are hearty and cream sauces stick nicely to the larger surface. I'm a bit of an extremist - my favorite pastas are pappardelle and angel hair (really think and super thin). I also don't usually like cream sauces unless they've got a lot of flavor. I tend to like tomato based sauces, so a nice cream sauce with tomatoes is a nice blend of the two.

The dish came out surprisingly tasty - substitutions notwithstanding, and I would definitely make it again at home (with the right ingredients):

Sauce:

Olive oil - enough to coat the pan with just a little extra to spare
2 cloves of garlic - smashed (you can take them out after you've browned them in the olive oil for flavor or leave them in the sauce)
chopped prosciutto, parma ham or smoky bacon (I substituted some coppa ham I bought in Bangkok and ham)
1-2 tbs of chopped basil (fresh if you have it - I only had dried)
fresh (or dried) mushrooms - sliced (I would try fresh shitake or the small brown mushrooms that grow up to be portabellas - I only had canned chinese straw mushrooms available)
chopped fresh tomatoes
sliced sun dried tomatoes (in olive oil)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream (I was lucky enough to have some UHT - super pasteurized heavy whipping cream in the fridge. Ultra pasteurized isn't a very tasty option, but it's better than nothing!)
parmesan or blue cheese crumbles to finish off the dish

Start the water boiling for your pasta, according to the directions on the package. I usually throw a few generous tablespoons of kosher salt into the water to help to flavor the pasta. While the water is heating up, get the rest of your ingredients ready and start cooking. You'll have to remember to throw the pasta in the boiling water and watch the cooking pasta as you cook the sauce.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, brown the garlic and discard (or leave in as desired). Brown the ham or bacon (this gives the sauce the majority of it's smoky, salty flavor). Add the mushrooms and brown with the ham. Finally, toss in the tomatoes (both fresh and sun dried) and pour in the cream. Lower the heat and allow the sauce to simmer and the flavors to come together. Right before the pasta is done, toss in the fresh basil. (If you are using dried basil, throw that into the sauce right after you add the cream to allow the flavor to come out.) Your sauce is done if you can draw a line through the sauce that coats the back of a wooden spoon and the line stays defined. If the sauce runs down through the line you've drawn, let the sauce simmer down just a little more and test again. (If the sauce becomes too thick, you can thin it out with some of the water from the cooking pasta.)

Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. You should only use enough sauce to nice coat the pasta, not drown it. So - if you have more sauce than you need for the pasta, put the desired sauce in the pasta pot (instead of vice versa). You can always save the sauce and add it to hot pasta another day.

Top with fresh chopped parsley, a sprig of basil (for looks) and fresh cheese - either blue or Parmesan depending on the flavor you'd prefer.

It would probably be nice to toss in some fresh or quickly thawed frozen peas at the last minute to serve with the pasta. This is certainly not a low fat dish, but it's a nice pasta to serve to company or when you're feeling a bit indulgent. Yummmmmm!!

Picky Eaters? They Get It From You...

2007-10-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

Picky Eaters? They Get It From You - New York Times

Most children eat a wide variety of foods until they are around 2, when they suddenly stop. The phase can last until the child is 4 or 5. It’s an evolutionary response, researchers believe. Toddlers’ taste buds shut down at about the time they start walking, giving them more control over what they eat. “If we just went running out of the cave as little cave babies and stuck anything in our mouths, that would have been potentially very dangerous,” Dr. Cooke said.

...just thought that this article interesting for all my friends with children. We've all talked about it - why is it that at a certain age, kids decide that all they want to eat are pastas and breads?

TV Chefs, Far From Reality - New York Times

2007-10-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

TV Chefs, Far From Reality - New York Times

This New York Times article brings up an interesting point - a topic that I've been hearing about discussed in various conversation with more culinary inclined friends. The more a chef becomes a "celebrity" the further away from cooking they get. Rachel Ray is often the subject of criticism as she's never really cooked professionally other than on her shows and doesn't have a culinary education background. (She used to be a gourmet food buyer.)

But at the end of the day...these celebrity chefs are still laughing to the bank. Their fans are everyday people who don't care if they've had professional training. Regular viewers like these celebrity chefs as long as they're personable on screen and provide tasty, easy to follow recipes.

Tasso. � To be Mrs. Marv…

2007-09-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

Tasso. � To be Mrs. Marv…

Who knew that making tasso - the popular southern salted pork/ham could be this easy?

This lady has some AMAZING photos. You need to take a look!!

GREAT kitchen idea!!

2007-09-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea on a blog called Serious Eats and I knew that all my cooking friends would love it too.

Use one of these break back easel binders and some three hold punched sheet protectors and tabbed separators (available in most stationary/office supply or local Target stores) - to organize your recipes! The sheet protectors keep your recipe safe from cooking by-products (splatters, spills and the like) AND the binder holds it up for easy reference during the recipe making. Isn't that awesome? I know that I'm always printing recipes off the web and usually just throw the recipes into a manila folder, which then turns out to be this huge mess. Isn't that such a great idea??

Cold Breakfast

2007-09-11T13:01:00.001-07:00

A new five-star hotel was recently opened in the Gulshan area - The Westin. It's a little over the top and the interior decor is a little cluttered and mixed up for my taste. (Think huge marble columns and too many pieces of modern furniture stuffed into the lobby. Modern is supposed to be very minimal and clean - not CLUTTERED!!)

I digress. They have a very nice deli on the ground floor of the Westin. A few weekends ago, I bought some smoked salmon, sliced turkey and a nice loaf of brown baguette. I LOVE me some turkey! (It's not really available here in Dhaka.)

It was expensive, but I had a really nice brunch of cold cuts, salmon, double (fat) cream cheese, capers and gherkins with brown baguette. I also sliced up some shallots (or very small read onions) and let them sit for a few minutes in plain white vinegar, which takes off the sharp onion edge and gives it a nice tartness. It basically helps to dull that sharpness that makes your nose itch and your eyes water.)

YUMMMMMM...

New food blog!

2007-08-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

My friend, Thy Tran has a blog called tidbits. She's graduated from the San Francisco Culinary Academy, used to work at Aqua and now freelances as a food writer and teaches cooking courses as well as food writing courses. She's very interesting and never afraid to try a new recipe!

Check out her blog: http://blog.wanderingspoon.com/ It's also featured on KQED's Bay Area Bites!

I'll link to it from the right hand list of links as well. =) Enjoy!

Custard Apple

2007-08-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

The custard apple or shoripha as it is known in Bangladesh is a new fruit that I tried earlier this week. Unfortunately, my picture of the fruit didn't turn out very well, so I'm borrowing several from the internet.

The shoripha available in Bangladesh are a light green in color and seem to be bumpy on the outside. (similar to a jackfruit) The wikipedia entry for custard apples mentions that this fruit is less tasty than the cherimoya or sugar apple. (I'll have to try one of those - they are available from Harry & David - and sometimes at ethnic supermarkets in the US.)

This image is pulled from a gentleman's blog from Guam

The inside was similar to the jackfruit or even pomegranate - there are numerous small black seeds, surrounded by the fruit. You eat the pods of flesh around the seed and spit them out. The pods are connected to the rind and the rest of the fruit by a network of capillaries that are similar to the white spongy insides of an orange.

It's a very tasty fruit - it's similar to a chinese pear in flavor, but the texture is softer (like a custard) with a slightly grainy texture. I would definitely eat this again! It has a refreshing, sweet flavor that isn't overly sweet or cloying.

Want a more horticultural description of the fruit?

Yummy Breakfast...

2007-08-23T23:03:00.001-07:00

I just made a yummy breakfast and had to share...

I topped two slices of crunchy rye bread with lots of seeds (lightly toasted) with slices of Camembert cheese, perfectly scrambled eggs (seasoned with Lawry's seasoned salt and freshly cracked black pepper) and shreds of some stewed beef leftover from dinner.

The cheese helped to keep the toppings on the toast - I put some under the eggs and a bit more on top of the eggs.

Super yummy!! =)

Chittagong, Bangladesh

2007-08-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to Chittagong, a port city, as a business trip. While there, one of the girls from the office hosted us to a homemade dinner at her parents' house.

The food in Chittagong is full of regional specialities and I really enjoyed the meal. =) It has been one of my favorites so far in Bangladesh!

Paragon SUPERmarket, Bangkok

2007-08-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, when I flew from Bangladesh to Canada for Uncle Simon's 60th birthday celebration I had to stop overnight in Bangkok. I had a few hours to explore before all the shops closed, so I went to the Paragon/Siam mall where there was a well reputed gourmet supermarket on the bottom floor. Walking through the streets of Bangkok is an experience of itself - there's lots of interesting things to see and vendors selling all sorts of things.
I stayed at a boutique hotel near the Soi Aree light rail station - so it was a quick 5 minute walk to the nearby station to go to Paragon. The mall is conveniently located next to another light rail station - right across the street!

I wandered about the mall - and then dawdled a bit in the gourmet supermarket. After spending the last 3 months in Dhaka, the array of foods available and variety of selection was overwhelming! (One of my favorite things to do whenever I'm somewhere new is to browse their grocery stores - aisle by aisle. I always find it interesting....but I'm weird - you guys know this already I'm sure.) =p

Here's a close up of a vegetable called a "wing-bean". I've had them at a thai restaurant in Sydney and they are so delicious! (I went back and ordered the same dish for a second time a few days later!!)

This spikey pink fruit is called dragonfruit (or pitaya). The inside is sort of light purple grey with black seeds (similar in size and shape to sesame seeds). See the link previous for the wikipedia entry and pictures of the inside of the fruit. There's an entire website dedicated to the dragonfruit as well - http://www.dragonfruit.com.my/.

Because my bags were already so packed - I only bought some mangosteen to eat in the hotel room. I think that I've blogged about mangosteen before, but in case I haven't here's more details. The wikipedia entry has a good picture of the insides of the fruit. It's one of my favorite fruits - the inside is segmented like a tangerine, but there isn't any membrane separating it from the other segments. Every once in a while, you will get a small black oval seed pit, but it's pretty rare. The fruit itself is slippery and tastes a little like lychee, but the flesh is soft and more creamy (similar to a canned pear - but smooth, not grainy). It's difficult to describe the flavor - but it's juice is supposed to be full of antioxidants. Here's more about the fruit horticulturally.

Unfortunately, I spent so much time browsing the mall and the groceries that I didn't get to eat at the amazing food court that was located in the mall! There were all sorts of asian delectables that I could have tried. *sigh*

I ended up eating at the only place left open at 10pm - McDonald's. =( I know - how disappointing, huh?! Anyways - at least I tried something that isn't avalable back in the US! I had a Samurai Pork Burger. It was smothered in terriyaki sauce and overall a bit disappointing, but it was better than nothing I suppose!

How to Roast Coffee in a Popcorn Popper!

2007-08-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

...have you ever had ambitions of being your own Juan Valdez and roast your own coffee? Apparently, it's not too hard to modify an air popper to make your very own roasted beans. =) There's a post on Wiki-How that describes exactly how you can do this...if you're ever inclined to become your very own barista!

Check it out:

http://www.wikihow.com/Roast-Coffee-in-a-Popcorn-Popper

Langer's Deli Founder passes on

2007-08-12T17:54:00.001-07:00

This is old news - I'm going through my personal email box, but thought I would share. Langer's Deli is one of my favorite restaurants in LA and is one of the best pastrami sandwiches that I've ever tasted (and I've had several in New York).

From the Los Angeles Times (original article)
OBITUARIES
Albert J. Langer, 94; founder of Langer's deli, famed for pastrami
By Jocelyn Y. Stewart
Times Staff Writer

June 26, 2007

Albert J. Langer, founder of Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant, whose succulent hand-cut pastrami on hot rye bread, topped with Gulden's mustard, won praise as the finest hot pastrami sandwich in America — or the world, depending on the critic — died Sunday in Agoura from complications of old age. He was 94.

Langer's Delicatessen marked its 60th anniversary nearly two weeks ago with a celebration that included accolades for the deli's food and its survival. Long after the Jewish community moved on and other business owners packed up and left, driven away by the neighborhood's high crime rate, Langer kept his business open at 7th and Alvarado streets, adjacent to MacArthur Park.

The intersection will be named Langer's Square in his honor next year.

"This place never gave up on the community," Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine said to the crowd at the 60th anniversary celebration.

Langer's persistence paid off in 1993, when the Metro Red Line subway opened its westbound stop not far from his deli. The subway rescued Langer's Delicatessen, depositing long lines of hungry downtown workers to its door at lunchtime.

Such twists in the story of Langer's Delicatessen led Los Angeles Times staff writer David Shaw to describe the deli in a narrative tribute as "a living microcosm of the Los Angeles story, from dramatic post-war growth through all the triumphs and tribulations, changes and challenges that have followed…."

Langer was born Jan. 6, 1913, in Newark, N.J., to Russian immigrants. Because his birth certificate was not registered until Jan. 23, the later date was used as his official birthday.

Langer learned the deli business early. He earned the money needed to pay for his $35 bar mitzvah by working at a local delicatessen, thus learning a trade that would last him a lifetime. Langer plied his trade after graduating from high school, traveling to New York's Catskills in the summer and Miami Beach in the winter to work at delicatessens.

Langer moved to California in 1937 and eventually settled in Los Angeles. While working at a deli, he met and married Jean Grace Irma Stearn. The couple had two children.

After a stint in the Army and a few unsuccessful business endeavors, Langer took over a small 12-seat deli shop to open Langer's Delicatessen in 1947. Although the couple worked long hours, the deli soon became a gathering place in the Jewish community and an important stop for new residents.

"The Jewish people when they came here came to those boarding houses, the hotels, the small ones," Langer told The Times in 1986, gesturing toward MacArthur Park.

"They come here to decide where they were going to live…. They rent a hotel room and then they'd be out in the living room, in the park, all day."

As the restaurant prospered, Langer bought adjacent properties and expanded the deli in 1952 and 1968, upgrading the small shop to a 135-seat, 4,300-square-foot enterprise.

In the late 1980s and '90s, when Latinos filled the community that once teemed with Jews and when poverty and drug peddlers replaced prosperity, Langer adjusted by changing the deli's hours and offering curbside service. With the arrival of the subway, even more generations of city residents developed a history with Langer's.

His son, Norm Langer, who began working in the deli in 1962 and assumed more responsibility for day-to-day operation with the passing years, now runs the business that remains a family affair.

In his later years, Al Langer continued to spend part of the day at the deli, reading his newspaper, greeting customers, watching the cycles of his customers' lives.

"It's fascinating," he said in a 1986 Times article. "They come in as children, they get married and they bring in their children. And the older people that used to come in, they disappear. Little by little, they're gone…."

The constant at Langer's Delicatessen is good food. The expansive menu includes fried kippers, corned beef, New York steak, and livers and onion. But the deli's hot pastrami sandwich sent critics searching for superlatives. Part of the secret, Langer said, was that the pastrami is steamed tender for hours and hand-sliced. Hot rye bread is the other key.

Writing in the New Yorker in 2002, critic Nora Ephron praised the sandwich as the finest in the world and "in short, a work of art."

"The rye bread, faintly sour, perfumed with caraway seeds, lightly dusted with cornmeal, is as good as any rye bread on the planet, and Langer's puts about seven ounces of pastrami on it, the proper proportion of meat to bread.

"The resulting sandwich, slathered with Gulden's mustard, is an exquisite combination of textures and tastes. It's soft but crispy, tender but chewy, peppery but sour, smoky but tangy. It's a symphony orchestra, different instruments brought together to play one perfect chord."

If Langer's Delicatessen were in New York, the critic opined, "it would be a shrine." As it was, people from New York and other distant locales came to determine whether the deli indeed deserved its lofty reputation.

"We did," Langer told The Times. "They were never disappointed."

Langer is survived by his son, Norm Langer of Woodland Hills; a daughter, Laurie Bernie of Agoura; grandchildren Darren Langer of Calabasas; Trisha Langer of Sherman Oaks; Emily Alexandrian of Agoura Hills; and Shauna Lester of Agua Dulce. His wife died in 2004.

Langer's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Eden Memorial Park, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills.

Food Tour of the East Coast - July 2007

2007-07-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

4 of the 5 Wong Kids flew out to Baltimore, MD in July 2007 to visit with our sister, Korrina, check out an anime convention and of course, EAT our way up the coast! Here are some photos of our adventures!

Our non food related adventures are available on my Tea Time in Bangladesh blog.

Friday - July 20, 2007
Cheeburger Cheeburger

Apparently, if you can eat a 1 lb burger at Cheeburger Cheeburger, they will post your picture on their Wall of Fame. Being as competitive as our family is, the boys couldn't resist the challenge. It's a chain restaurant, but the only one in California is in San Diego. You can order unlimited toppings on your burger. Most are free of charge.

The infamous 1 POUND burger

The Wong Boys - Brandon and Matt - posing after their success with the signature Cheeburger Cheeburger stuffed hamburger.

Monday - July 23, 2007
Blue Crabs from Chesapeake Bay

On Monday we ordered a bushel + 18 of the famous Baltimore Blue Crabs. They steam them when you arrive to pick them up and toss them with Old Bay Seasoning. At the place where we got our crabs, you call a few hours to see what is available and reserve your order. They are live until you arrive to pick them up. Unlike the California Dungeness Crabs that we are familiar with - these Blue Crabs are smaller with most of the meat in the body and the two front claws of the crustacean. You don't even bother with the other little legs. It's pretty tasty - I ate 8! I actually prefer the crab cakes - all the yummy crabmeat with none of the work!

Wednesday - July 25, 2007
Bob Evans Family Restaurant

My sister and Benson really like the breakfasts at Bob Evans Family Restaurant, so we stopped by the one near their place for breakfast one morning.

I had the Pot Roast Hash with Eggs and Biscuits with Sausage Gravy. It was tasty - a few steps up from Denny's and Carrow's. =) The sausage gravy was a little salty, but still nice and creamy with a hint of mushroom...EXCELLENT over their delicious buttery biscuits!

Brandon ordered the Strawberry Banana Pancakes. He loved it - there was a layer of banana creme pie filling in between the pancakes, and the pancakes themselves had fresh mashed bananas in the batter.

Thursday - July 26, 2007
Philly Cheesesteaks @ Pat and Geno's

Another item on the Wong Family Food Tour of the East Coast was a trip through the city of brotherly love, on the way to NYC. Of course, we had to stop for a signature Philly sandwich at the infamous corner where the cheesesteak supposedly was born.

First, we tried Pat's. We each ordered our own sub. We lined up nervously and ordered our cheesesteak exactly as outlined. Apparently, if you order wrong you get sent to the BACK OF THE LINE!

Mushrooms Pepper and Steak wit Whiz witout Onions

Original Whiz wit

Then - since we were tourists, my brothers picked up a sandwich from Geno's across the street to compare! (I personally preferred Pat's - but Geno's lets you order one with Cheesewhiz inside AND outside...meaning a squirt of the Whiz on the bread and then another on top of the steak and toppings!)

Thursday - July 26, 2007

White Castle

We were curious to see what had inspired Harold and Kumar's wild adventures to White Castle from the movie, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. We were obviously quite excited to finally arrive - we drove up from Baltimore through Philadelphia and arrived at the White Castle in New Jersey near our hotel. Tomorrow, we are headed to NYC.

We ordered one of each kind - the regular slider, jalepeno cheeseburger, chicken ring sandwich and bacon cheeseburger. I also tried the "Chicken" Buffalo Bites. (It didn't taste like real chicken.) I have to admit that the famous White Castle slider was a little disappointing. I wouldn't eat that again. The chicken ring sandwich and bacon cheeseburger were okay though. Each "burger" is slightly larger than 1/4 of a sandwich made with regular sliced bread.

More to come...we're here until the 28th of July!!

Jackfruit

2007-07-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

You've seen pictures of the fruit on the tree on my blog before...I've finally had a chance to try fresh jackfruit! June/July are full of fruits in Bangladesh - lychees, mangoes and jackfruit, not to mention all the other fruits that I haven't yet tried!

My driver knew that I hadn't had jackfruit before - so he generously bought one and shared some with me. These fruits are HUGE - no one could possibly finish one alone...but they are also expensive. Apparently these fruits are very popular with the Chinese, who buy them up at the local markets and drive the prices up for these fruit.

The jackfruit "skin" and inside fibers contain this extremely gummy and sticky sap. You have to cover your hands with some kind of oil (mustard oil is traditional in Bangladesh) to protect it from the sap. You prepare the fruit by ripping an opening at the top, using the stem - similar to opening a banana. Then you pull the yellow bulbs from the inside fibers of the fruit.

Fresh jackfruit has a nice perfume - similar to a flowering banana shrub. It's like a cross between jasmine and bananas. It tastes a bit like bananas and apple. The flavor is not bad - it's nice if you like apples and bananas. Unfortunately, I'm not very partial to bananas and rarely eat them except in banana walnut bread. The texture is a bit slimey and fibrous - I had to eat it with a fork and knife - eating the entire piece in a single mouthful was a bit daunting and hard to chew and swallow. (I found the fibers too long to be able to swallow down without first cutting a single pod into 4-8 pieces.)

Here's a closeup shot of the fresh jackfruit. Each pod surrounds a single seed.

The jackfruit is an amazing fruit though, the skin of the fruit can be given to livestock as food. You can eat the fruit fresh and dried (I prefer dried). AND you can even eat the seeds! I had my housekeeper prepare them for me. You can fry them in oil or even boil them and mash them up. The are actually quite starchy and tasty - something between a potato and a turnip. (Starchy like a potato, but more grainy in texture...like a turnip or jicama.) The whole fruit is edible in some form or another - isn't that pretty amazing?

A major drawback of the fruit (besides the texture and stickiness of the sap) is that after you've opened the fruit and it starts to degrade, it begins to smell awful...like durian, with an overtone of over-ripe bananas. UGH!

But - some people LOVE this fruit, and I can see why...I just personally wouldn't eat this particular variety again. Apparently there are several different varieties of jackfruit - a friend who grew up in Brazil says the ones there are the best. Guess I will have to try those at some point! =)

PyongYong - not JUST the capital of North Korea!

2007-07-14T00:36:00.001-07:00

I was surprised to find out recently that there is a restaurant in Dhaka called PyongYong that serves North Korean food. I was even MORE surprised to find out that this is a chain supported by the North Korean government as a means to educate other countries about "the great leader". (Just kidding...) It really is supported by the North Korean government - but I think it's more to educate people about North Korea and build more goodwill towards that nation.

PyongYong's draw is that their waitresses sing and dance during the evening to provide entertainment for the diners. They are the "famous" North Korean "dancing girls". hehe - you know I HAD to check it out!

So far...somewhat similar to the South Korean kimchi that we are all familiar with - it was slightly less flavorful than I was used to (less strongly spiced and salted); but still tasty.

When our waitresses served us the beginnings of our meal, they asked us what countries we were from. We had no idea why...but later they performed songs from all of the different countries that everyone was from! (Mandarin for the Chinese, English, Japanese and of course Korean!)

The entertainment lasted about 20 minutes longer than it should have - but it was still a lot of fun! =)

Lychees...

2007-07-14T00:22:00.000-07:00

Lychees are unique to East and Southeast Asia - I'm sure that most everyone has had lychee in some form or another at this point.

Lychees are often sold canned in Asian supermarkets, and those little gelatins packets are often lychee flavor (similar in size to the individual containers of liquid half and half for your coffee...you know, the ones that caused a huge scandal because little kids were choking on them?).

June is lychee season in Bangladesh - I ate so much I got sick of them...but these lychees were delicious!! (I've eaten an entire bunch like the one pictured below in one session!) Lychee to me is a quintessential flavor of childhood - it was one of my favorite fruit and candy flavors growing up.

High End Foodie

2007-05-25T01:39:00.001-07:00

There's a new show with the editor of Gourment Magazine, Ruth Reichl called Diary of a Foodie. It's being broadcast on public television and is also available as a podcast from iTunes.

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but it seems pretty interesting. The show purports to focus on haute cuisine and shows viewers how to do the same in their own homes. I'll have to try to catch some episodes when I get back to the States!

Crisp Pork Medallions in Creamy Caper Sauce

2007-03-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

Okay - this is sort of cheating, as I didn't cook the recipe...I asked my housekeeper to make it for dinner over the weekend. But it was really tasty!

CRISP PORK MEDALLIONS WITH CREAMY CAPER SAUCE

ingredients

For sauce
2/3 cup plain yogurt (6 oz; preferably whole-milk)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons drained bottled capers, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For pork
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lb pork tenderloin
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
About 1 cup vegetable oil for panfrying

Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer

Accompaniment: lemon wedges; watercress or other baby greens

preparation

Make sauce:
Stir together all sauce ingredients in a bowl until combined, then chill, covered, until ready to use.

Cook pork:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut pork crosswise into 1 1/4-inch-thick slices (medallions).

Whisk together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl.

Whisk together eggs with a pinch of salt in another shallow bowl and put bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl.

Working with 1 medallion at a time, dredge medallions in flour, shaking off excess, and dip in egg, letting excess drip off, then coat with crumbs, pressing to help them adhere. Arrange pork in 1 layer on a baking sheet.

Heat 1/4 inch oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then panfry medallions, turning over once, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a clean baking sheet and roast in oven until thermometer inserted horizontally into center of meat registers 145 to 150°F, 6 to 7 minutes.

Serve pork with sauce, lemon wedges, and watercress.

Gourmet, March 2007

Quick Kitchen

tw notes: Substitutions

we used cilantro instead of parsley (because its not available here)
panko flakes were used instead of breadcrumbs

More about food writing...

2007-03-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

hehe - THIS is why I'm not a food writer...there's just too much damn competition. =) Everyone's a food critic, and with the advent of the internet and blogsites and restaurant review sites like Yelp that let everyone have their say...E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E really can be a critic.

Here's the coolest part though - someone that I know only peripherally through a friend posted a review on Yelp which was read by the owner of the restaurant. AND - the restaurant proceeded to change their menu based on his review. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Check out his first hand account in his blog - Stranger in Berkeley. Not only are there people out there who are just as passionate (or MORE passionate) about food as I am - but they are completely willing to put themselves out there for their art. It's admirable and just amazingly cool.

Other cool blog that was linked from Coco's site - Exploring the Silver Spoon.

Seriously - food is what brings people together from all over the world. We all gots to eat, right?!

Ode to the Anchovy

2007-03-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

The anchovy is such an underrated fish - it can add an amazing complexity to the simplest dish. My favorite way to use anchovies is in pasta. I was so happy to be able to find a jar of nice anchovy fillets in oil at the store the other day - trust me, it's not easy to find in Bangladesh!

DARN - forgot to take a picture, I was so anxious to eat - you'll have to imagine it.

Here's what I cooked up for lunch today:

Ingredients (makes 1-2 servings)
Prep & Cooking time - less than 30 minutes
Olive oil
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic - smashed and chopped coarsely
3-4 anchovy fillets
Chile flakes (or ground chile) to taste
2 tablespoons of GOOD tomato paste (I'm talking real Italian concentrated tomato paste here - just tomatoes and salt, simmered down to a paste...none of this canned stuff with vinegar in it!)
Spaghettini (or spaghetti/angel hair - spaghettini is between angel hair and spaghetti) pasta

Start the water boiling for the pasta with a couple of generous pinches of salt. Various cookbooks/cooking shows mention that this is the only way to introduce flavor into the pasta itself - during the cooking time.

While the water is coming to a boil - get the remaining ingredients set out. For my *spamolicious* friends out there - I included a couple of slices of SPAM, julienned into short, thin strips. I know lots of people who don't like SPAM, so you can omit it from the recipe (which is why I don't detail it in the list above) or use prosciutto or other tasty pork product. Either way - the pasta is tasty with/without any meat in it.

By the time you've got your mise en place (all your ingredients prepped and set out) - the water should be boiling. Add 1-2 handfuls of pasta (broken in half) into the boiling water, turn it down to a joyful simmer to continue to cook while you prepare the sauce. (Stir occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking into clumps.)

Heat a frying pan/saute pan with several tablespoons of good olive oil - since the sauce is so simple, the better your olive oil the more tasty your sauce will be. You want enough olive oil to nicely coat the bottom of the pan since it will be a main component in the sauce. (Don't go running out to buy anything fancy - just use what's in your pantry...it's just something to keep in mind if you want to increase the quality of this simple dish for guests.)

Toss in your anchovy fillets - notice how the fillets sort of melt away into the oil as it breaks down in the heat. If you need to, you can help to break the anchovies using a wooden spoon. Add your chopped garlic and let the garlic brown nicely. (Don't burn it!)

SPAM fans - add the julienned spam now and let it brown with the garlic.

At this point - your pasta should be al dente. Did you forget about your pasta? Drain the pasta as soon as it's al dente, regardless of where you are with the sauce. If you need to - turn down the heat on your sauce while you quickly pour the pasta into a colander to let it drain. (Don't rinse the pasta - you want it to have the starch from the cooking water on it to help the sauce to stick.)

If you don't have tomato paste or feel like a simpler sauce - you can sprinkle in the chile flakes/powder to your frying pan of "sauce" and then lightly toss with the hot pasta. Top with freshly grated Parmesan for a simple pasta dish.

If you want a light tomato sauce - then add the tomato paste to the pan after the garlic is nicely browned and mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate the flavorful oil into the tomato paste. Sprinkle with chile flakes/powder to taste and then toss with the hot pasta until it is thoroughly coated. You'll end up with tasty pasta dish that's super quick and easy. Just remember that this isn't a pasta dish with a lot of sauce, its just enough to lightly coat all the strands of pasta with yummy tomato goodness. (Trust me - you won't even be able to taste the anchovies, they just add a wonderful complex saltiness to the dish!)

Give it a try - it's always good to have anchovies in the pantry. This dish is so simple to make - and most folks have all the ingredients they need at any given time!

Ferment Failure

2007-03-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

I should have taken pictures but I've been a little disappointed with my baking this last month, so not much to report.

I tried to make sourdough wheat bread - but it turned out pretty dense and didn't have very good flavor. The ferment made with wheat got hard on the top - and I wasn't sure if it was because I had put it in a plastic container that wasn't air tight (because I wanted the CO2 to be able to expand somewhere and not "blow up" the container).

So the following week - I "fed the ferment" with regular white flour vs. wheat flour. After a week - the ferment was looking good...but didn't smell right, so rather than chance it, I tossed it into the garbage.

Since the sourdough wasn't as successful as hoped, I think that I'm going to stick to regular white bread. That one I've got down pat!!

I've been dubbed the "Bread Lady" by some - so I've got to maintain my rep!! (Contrary as I am - the more people expect my bread, the less inclined I am to make it!) But - if I continually try something new, it will keep me challenged and looking forward to the next week's experiment!

5-Layer Tea

2007-03-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

No - this isn't some crazy alcoholic shot...it's a concoction called 5-Layer Tea. In late February, I went to Srimonal, a small town in Sylhet, Bangladesh that is known for their tea estates. Our guide dutifully took us to this place that is known for selling layered teas, Nilkantha Tea Cabin - it was one of the stops in our "tour".

The tea apparently takes a long time to prepare...we waited 20 minutes for our order...you can see that this place is fairly popular with the tourists. The tea comes out sitting in cups of hot water to keep it warm.

E - happy to see 5 distinct layers. We keep our expectations fairly low, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. =)

Here's what the breakdown tasted like - the first layer was like chai, with a slight cinnamon bit. The next layer was less spicy, more strongly tea flavored. The next flavor to hit my palate was a sweet ginger "tea" - they make it with grated ginger and sugar and hot water, I don't think that there are any tea leaves in that drink. The very bottom layer was just syrupy - but overall, I really enjoyed the drink. I guess the different drinks and different saturations of sugar helped to keep the layers separate. It was a fun touristy thing to do and everyone enjoyed the drink.

Grits & Eggs

2007-03-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

I found some grits in the cupboard the other day, so decided to try a recipe I found online from Emeril Lagasse - One-Pan Cheesy Grits with Eggs and Bacon.

This was my first time making grits - but for future reference, grits should be cooked until soft not al dente. =) That was mistake number one. It came out edible - but it could certainly use some tweaking to be more tasty. Next time - I'll make sure that the grits are seasoned and tasty before I add the egg. I thought that the bacon would add more flavor that it did, so I under salted the dish a bit.

It's nice to make this recipe all in one pan from a convenience perspective, but it was difficult to serve without making a mess or breaking up the egg. Next time - I'm going to make the following changes to the recipe.

add more cheese - the grits should be of smoother consistency, but be nice and cheesy and properly seasoned before adding the eggs (I may keep back a tablespoon of the bacon fat to help give the grits a nice bacon flavor.)
spoon the grits into ramekins & place a pat of butter on top before breaking the egg(s) on to the grits
cook each serving individually (1-2 eggs per serving) in the oven (the bacon got soggy instead of being crispy) - the dishes may have to start out covered but then get broiled to get the bacon nice and crispy...or I'll leave the bacon to be added at the very end
garnish the final serving with fresh herbs - maybe parsley for freshness and scallions or chervil for flavor
serve additional bacon on the side

I forgot to take a picture of the entire dish before my housemate and I decided to have some for dinner, but here's a shot of the entire pan. =)

Inside the CIA

2007-02-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

...as in - inside the Culinary Institute of America. =)

Following the popularity of shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen that feature culinary competitions and authors like Michael Ruhlman who have helped to bring the public eyes into the world of culinary education...epicurious.com is featuring webisodes and student blogs of 4 chefs in training at the famous CIA (Culinary Institute of America).

Check out Inside the CIA

PBOM???

2007-02-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

On the Travel & Living channel the other day - Ruth Riechl was talking about easy meals and snacks that can be made from pantry staples. She mentioned this one sandwich that a friend of her's from the Midwest had taught her. Intrigued - my roommate and I gave it a try. You're going to laugh when you read the ingredients.

What you need:

Sliced bread - we used a honeyed wheat bread
Peanut Butter
Pimento Olives
Mayonnaise

Spread the peanut butter on one piece of bread. On the second piece of bread - spread the mayonnaise. Top one slice with sliced pimento olives and sandwich the two pieces of bread together. Enjoy!!

My roommate and I shared a sandwich. Surprisingly, it wasn't as awful as I was expecting. I fully ready to toss the thing after a single bite. I actually finished the entire 1/2 of the sandwich! I imagine that a peanut butter and pickle sandwich would taste somewhat similar.

Anyways - give it a try if you're feeling adventurous some day or have an empty fridge and tummy!!

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

2007-02-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

yuuuuuuummmmyy!! I got a craving for artichoke dip when I found a can of artichoke hearts in the cupboard the other day. Trader Joe's has these amazing "pretzel slims"/pretzel crackers that I thought would be pretty tasty as an accompaniment. THEN - I found a package of cream cheese in the freezer a few days later. (Who knew that you could freeze cream cheese?!) JACKPOT!!

I found a recipe online for artichoke dip to start out with and I played around with it a bit and came up with this one. I have to admit - it's pretty yummy, if I do say so myself. =) At first I just had artichoke in it, but it was a bit too rich and creamy...so I added a package of frozen spinach I found in the fridge.

My picture taking skills aren't so great though. The first picture (above) was under exposed and then I played around a bit with the brightness and contrast. The one below seems a little over exposed. *sigh*

Here's my "new" recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip:

1 can of artichoke hearts (not marinated) - about 5-7 artichoke hearts - diced
2 small green chilies (like serrano chilies) - chopped finely
3/4 to 1 cup of mayonnaise (I personally thought 1 cup was a little too rich)
1 cup of grated Parmesan (freshly grated if you can get it)
1 - 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 - 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed to drain any liquid)
1 small clove of garlic - finely chopped and smoothed to a paste (use the side of your knife)

Mix thoroughly - serve hot or cold!! =) I personally think that the flavor is better room temperature or cool, because you can taste the individual flavors better; but I know that this dip is often served at restaurants as a hot appetizer. If you pop it in the oven, sprinkle a little bit of the Parmesan on the top of the dish to add a nice golden brown crust!

The flavors would probably develop nicely if you left it in the fridge overnight before serving, although the garlic flavor could possibly get a little strong. Enjoy!

Making Bread - Week 3

2007-02-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

This week - I tried two new recipes.

White Dough with the addition of a ferment
Olive Oil Dough with Olives

The book says that if you keep back a 7-ounce piece of dough when you make your first batch of bread, you can leave that piece in the refrigerator, while "refreshing" it once a week to develop flavor. Sort of like making a starter for sourdough, is what I'm thinking.

Last week - I kept back 200 grams of dough (almost 7 ounces). It was placed per instructions in a tightly covered bowl in the refrigerator for 2 days. On Monday evening (I forgot on Sunday night) - I pulled out the dough and added double it's weight of flour and of water (as per Bertinet's instructions) and mixed everything together until I had a firm dough...and back into the fridge it went.

I made a total of three different loaves - plain white bread, "sourdough" or white bread with ferment, and olive oil bread with olives:

Dry ingredients for the sourdough. The ferment is in the bowl on the right.

Recipe for Olive Oil Dough
18 ounces Bread Flour
2 tbsp Coarse Semolina (which I omitted - none available)
1/2 ounce (15g) Fresh Yeast or 1/4 oz envelope of dry active yeast (1 1/2 tsp)
1/3 ounce Salt (about 2 tsp fine-grain)
2 ounces Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
11 1/2 ounces Water

Dry ingredients for the Olive Oil Dough - hand pitted olives in the bowl on the right.

Follow the same method of combining the ingredients and make a ball of dough. Here's a picture of all three balls of dough lined up on the counter, including the new ferment (after mixing the ferment thoroughly into the new white bread dough, I again separated out 200 grams for next week's ferment).

White Bread

White Bread with Ferment

Olive Oil Bread with Olives
And the finished products - Plain White Bread

Sourdough (White Bread with Ferment)

Finished Olive Oil Bread with Olives

Making Bread - Week 2

2007-02-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to find any good artisanal bread in Bangladesh, so I've decided to make my own. I purchased a book on baking when I visited home for the Christmas holidays, and brought Dough by Richard Bertinet back home to Bangladesh with me.

The first week, I forgot to take any pictures, but since it was the very first time I tried to make bread like this...it was probably a good thing!

Week 1 and Week 2 - I tried the recipe for White Dough

1/3 ounce (10g) Fresh Yeast or envelope of active dry yeast (1-1/2 tsp)
18 ounces White Bread Flour
1/3 ounce (10g) Fine-grain salt (about 2 tsp)
12 1/2 ounces Water

I was only able to pick up a low tech scale at the local stores to weigh my ingredients. And the measurements don't go as low as individual grams. =( My scale had increments of 40 grams...but I'm making do until I can pick up a digital food scale.

First - mix the flour with the yeast and then add the salt and water. Mix in the water using a scraper or spatula.

Once the dough begins to come together - move the mixture out on to the counter. Then you follow Bertinet's "swing and fold" technique (more like "slap and fold") to help the ingredients incorporate into a nice smooth ball of dough.

Liberally dust the bowl where you mixed the ingredients and place the ball in the bowl to rise (or proof).

Since it is still a bit cold in Bangladesh (mid 50's farenheit) - I've had to place the dough in the oven or the microwave with some boiling water to help the dough to rise.

After about an hour or two - gently use the scraper to help the risen dough out of the bowl and on to a flour dusted counter top. Shape the dough into a rectangular shape, stretching the dough out with your fingertips...try not to push any of the air out of the risen dough. Pull one part of the rectangle over a third of itself (keeping the length of the rectangular). Use your finger tips or the heel of your hand to gently push the edge into the dough. Pull the bottom part back over to meet at the same place and push it into the same "line". Then fold the dough in half - in the same direction of the other folds...and you have a little loaf!

I cut half into small rolls, and made the other half into a loaf.

Let the rolls/loaf rise for another hour, while the oven is pre-heating to 475 farenheit (250 celsius). Using a sharp knife - slice a single line across the top of the buns to allow the bread to expand and more surface area to get crusty. Baguettes traditionally have 7 slashes across the top of the loaf.

Bake the bread on a baking stone or on the back of an overturned baking sheet. Sprinkle water in the oven before closing the door - the humidity helps to create a nice chewy crust.

Here are fruits of my labor!!

Genki Sushi

2007-02-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

Genki Sushi...more Singapore Changi Airport fun =)

In Japanese - Genki , pronounced with a hard "g" means good. So, Genki Sushi means good sushi.

Sometimes when things just don't seem right...or are slightly off, I've heard the word "jenki" used as slang. So, when I first saw the sign for Genki Sushi, in my head I thought...oh no, Jenki Sushi...that can't be good. =) Slightly off Sushi...not too appealing to the tummy.

RAT season

2007-01-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

...that's right, I said RATS!! Apparently restaurants in Cambodia are gearing up for the upcoming rat season, which is a delicacy for many foodies in South East Asia.

yummm...rice fattened rat meat..."tastes like snake!!"

Cambodia's rat restaurants brace for seasonal boom

Bun Rieu - Vietnamese Crab Soup

2006-12-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wow - this looks so yummy!!

Bun Rieu is a flavorful Vietnamese noodle soup that is made with shredded crab, egg and tomatoes (among other ingredients). It's a really tasty dish and one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. A friend hosted a party and shared photos...which another friend posted on her blog. Check it out! I'm sure it was wonderful as the friend that made the soup is a real chef - like graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco...worked at fancy restaurants...co-authored cookbooks...REAL deal chef. =)

Nothing beats a home cooked meal!! I just realized that it's been a looooong time since I've had Bun Rieu! (Or as they would say in South Asia - It's been too too long since I've had Bun Rieu!!)

I'm just a blog thief!! =)

SPAM I am!!

2006-12-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

In November, I bought this "Luncheon Meat" at the small Korean Market in Bangladesh. I was hoping that it would be SPAM since I couldn't read Korean. I mean, the can LOOKS like it should be SPAM, right? The color and style of the can seemed very similar to the familiar can of SPAM.

Out of the can - it looked like I made the right decision. It fried up nicely, like SPAM.

Doesn't this look good?

WRONG!!! I was soooo soooooo WRONG!!!

This was so NOT SPAM!!

This Luncheon Meat stuff was made by www.lottehammilk.co.kr
I should have read that on the can right off.
How can anything made by Lotte Ham Milk be any good??!! =p

The texture just was not right - it was sort of soft and mushy. And taste was absolutely wrong! It was too salty. It felt like I was eating deviled ham!

Thank goodness I had this SPAM Single pack stashed in my luggage. A very kind friend got this as some food fair and was sweet enough to gift it to me. It was a life saver when I had a craving for my SPAM!!
I know you're thinking - how can you be a foodie and like SPAM of all things? If you are a SPAM junkie like me, then you know. There's no explanation needed. For those of you who don't understand...just know this...I'm an equal opportunity eater. =) I'm no snoot when it comes to food! If it tastes good, then I'm all for it!!

Food Machine of the Day

2006-12-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

In one of the Japanese malls in Singapore I saw this machine. Apparently it's very common in Japan.

Can you guess what this does?

Did you guess?? It's a Chicken Yakitori Machine!! The machine helps to make teriyaki chicken skewers. The machine operator places skewered chicken in a clip that holds the skewer in place as it rotates around a grilling element, then takes a dip in yakitori sauce, before continuing a second spin around the grilling element. =P Those Japanese are sooo smart!!

Singaporean Food Stalls

2006-12-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

In Singapore, you often see a number of food courts around town. There are several large food courts that are well known throughout Singapore. Because the country is so clean, I don't have any reservations eating at most of these food stalls. They are also marked with a letter grade (like many restaurants in Southern California) - A, B and C, which indicates the cleanliness and food quality of the stall.

The stalls often work together in harmony. Someone will seat you and get your order, even if they usually man one of the other stands. You just sit at one of the tables and order any food you like from the nearby stands - grilled sting ray, laksa (a coconut curry soup served with noodles and meat), chicken and rice, prepared fish, chinese barbecue and rice, sugar cane juice...or any number of tasty treats.

It's Singapore's version of fast food. Your meal usually is served within 10-15 minutes of ordering!

Papaya with Lime

2006-12-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

I don't usually like papaya because it tends to have the smell and slight flavor of over-ripe or rotting fruit (to me at least). I've recently had it served with a wedge of lime. The lime helps to add a freshness to the cut papaya and masks the unpleasant odor and flavor. I have actually developed a liking for fresh papaya served with lime. The lime also makes the papaya seem juicier and sweeter.

Mango Cornflakes

2006-12-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Kellog's Mango Corn Flakes - made with mango puree, so the cornflakes are orange mango colored. It was pretty sweet, sort of like mango flavored frosted flakes - but the mango flavored milk left in the bowl after I finished my cornflakes was absolutely the BEST part of this breakfast cereal!
Milk in Bangladesh is sold in either plastic pouches - like wine in a bag (without the box) - or ultra-pasteurized and packaged in boxes like juice.

Affle Fie

2006-12-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

I don't normally like apple pie - but I have to admit that this was one of the tastiest apple pies that I have ever had. =)

In Bangladesh - my friend's housekeeper, Sujit made this apple pie for dessert one evening. For some reason, many Bangladeshis pronounce "p" using the "f" sound.

So - here's a picture of Sujit's Affle Fie...

Chicken Fried Bacon Strips

2006-12-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Yeah - you read it right... CHICKEN FRIED BACON STRIPS - they are served with a side of country gravy. I was intrigued when I read this on one of the food blogs that I subscribe to - http://www.megnut.com/

You can see the origin and how they make this snack on youtube. At first I thought - okay, this should taste pretty good. I mean - what's NOT to love about bacon? After watching the video though - I had to think again. You've got to check out the video. One lady comments that it's not bad - it just needed more SALT!! Watching the video made me want to go to the gym...check it out, you'll see. But seriously - I'm still intrigued. I mean - you've GOT to try this once right?!

Foodie Doubts

2006-12-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around with different RSS feeds and readers lately. I have two that I use - Google Reader and Bloglines. I find that Google is much easier and more intuitive to use...Bloglines initially had the best reviews on cnet for free reader services, but Google's Reader has really caught up.

I just use both for different purposes - the google reader can be added as a widget to your personalized google home page...so I use that for catching updates on friends' blogs and news feeds. Basically - anything that I want to stay current on a daily basis, I use for my Google Reader.

I use the Bloglines reader to monitor all the different blogs and websites that I like to check out infrequently. I consider my Bloglines reader as my "weekend" reader...or when I've got time to peruse articles online and catch up on my reading.

Now that I've been finding different food related blogs online - I realize what a foodie neophyte I really am. There are some SERIOUS foodies out there and they blog...A LOT. (There goes my dreams of having someone "discover" me as a food writer...they are a dime a dozen out there. EVERYONE loves food!)

That's okay - I'm still going to continue to blog for my own personal enjoyment...and for those friends who find my food blog fun. After all - I've got to have some kind of hobby, eh?! =)

I have a bunch of food pictures that I need to upload to publish to the food blog - so, please be patient. It's a work in progress!!

I want my Thanksgiving Turkey!!

2006-11-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

Okay - I know that everyone in the United States is probably groaning at the thought of another bite of Thanksgiving Turkey, but I just wanted to share my Thanksgiving experience this year. =)

I'm currently living in Dhaka, Bangladesh and was in Kathmandu, Nepal for the Thanksgiving week due to issues with my Bangladesh visa (long story, not interesting whatsoever in the context of food). My new Nepali friends - via co-workers from Bangladesh - asked around for a good Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. Since I was staying in the touristy Thamel neighborhood - apparently several restaurants cater to this American holiday.

We ended up at the Northfield Cafe - which serves an annual Thanksgiving Buffet in honor of Turkey Thursday. There was a huge line of Americans and other tourists lined up at the buffet that night. Even one of the authors of the Lonely Planet guide to Nepal made an appearance! But ALAS - the buffet selection was too sad for me to even attempt it. (Reheated frozen veggies, Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, a huge tray of shreds of "Roosted Turkey"...and oh! complementary Nepali Hot Rum Punch - a popular local drink.)

I am happy to report that I had a good Thanksgiving dinner after all - Northfield Cafe serves a pretty decent plate of chicken nachos. I had good company and followed the nachos with a plate of chicken soft tacos (more like wraps than soft tacos - but they could certainly have been worse, so I'm not complaining!!). If only I had me some good rice and beans - I would have left a very happy woman!

So I'm thankful for my health, the opportunity to be in Kathmandu...wonderful friends and a full belly of Mexican food!!

Cheese Pollacky

2006-10-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

I could spend days wandering the snack aisles in the Japanese grocery stores! Cheese Pollacky is another snack that we picked up while in Singapore. It's a cheese snack that does not need to be refrigerated, and is surprisingly tasty.

At first glance, it looks like small strips of dried cheese covered on two sides with a thin papery substance. I was told by a friend that the papery substance is actually dried cod. When eaten alone - it tastes like dry processed Brie with a slight fishy flavor. (Think of a firmer, "drier" version of the soft Babybell processed soft cheese wedges.)

When sampled with saltine crackers - the fishy taste is not as pronounced. But either plain or accompanied with crackers, I really enjoyed the Cheese Pollacky and will have to look for more the next time I go to an Asian or Japanese grocery store!

Crunchy Sesame Seaweed Snack

2006-10-25T03:29:00.000-07:00

While in Singapore - we picked up a bag of Crunchy Sesame Seaweed Snack from a local grocery store. The snack is imported from Japan and I thought it was pretty tasty. It's made from seaweed, sugar, sesame seeds and mirin.

I found it to be slightly sweet and the tiniest bit sticky - not enough to really stick to your teeth. At first, you get the salty/fishy taste of the seaweed. Subsequent tastes of the snack allow the flavor of the sesame and mirin to come thru. It's a pretty substantial crunch vs. strips of nori snacks. The salesperson at the store encouraged us to buy the snack because seaweed is supposed to be good for the skin and keeps your hair from turning grey!