Meditation2

Delicious and nurtious sea veggies

I am a huge fan of sea vegetables and try to convert people. It's tough though. People aren't very keen on the stuff.

This video is great though. It's from Chow.com and shows a couple talking about their sea vegetable harvesting business. Love it! It reminds of me tugging on seaweed at the beach with my mom when I was a little kid.

Been there, ate that. What's the second course?

This was IMed to me and pretty much got no "ewwwws" from me because I've seen those suckers on my dinner table in Korea a few years ago. I also ate a small wiggling piece (which was sprinkled with toasted sesame seed oil, salt, pepper, and scallions). It was tasty but the gross out factor scores a perfect 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. Like Anthony Bourdain, there was a point in my life where I would eat most anything. From a very young age my parents applauded my ability to not shy anyway from anything they served me (from strange vegetables to acorn jelly to all kinds of kimchi and organ meat) and it's really stuck with me. Even though I don't eat land roving creatures anymore, I'll still try pretty much anything.

*In case you're an ill-informed American, please know that Koreans don't eat like this all time. There actually aren't that many restaurants that serve food like this.

Contrary to popular belief...

Whiskey does not make me violent. It makes me pink cheeked and very friendly. :)

I went to Whiskies of the World Expo on Saturday and it was pretty cool (but everyone was saying that the year previous was much better). I got to try a ton of whiskey, all different and mostly pretty good. I knew I wasn't a huge fan of peat but after trying one whiskey called The Peat Monster I am 100% sure I like them with less peat. I also got to try some fantastic Japanese single malt whiskey from Suntory called Yamazaki. Tasty!!!

And you thought "pescatarian" was ridiculous

Now introducing the term: Flexitarian

"Just fucking pick a place!"

Overwhelmed with dining options? Spin the Wheel of Food. I can't even begin to tell you how long I've wanted something like this.

Or, just stay home and eat some Ben, Jerry, and Colbert's ice cream

Early adopter

I had an MP3 player cell phone in 2000. (In hindsight it looks sooo retro.) I was hunting down bad quality recordings of Interpol before all of you. I signed up on Myspace in the first half of 2004. I was cranking out the reviews on Yelp in Feb. 2005. And now, on ThisNext I am credited with first discovering the Cupcake Courier. Yes it carries three dozen cupcakes and it's ridiculously sized like an SUV. However, it is awesome and I had it before Rachel Ray. Apparently it was invented by Jenna Fischer's friend.

I know, I'm a dork.

Twenty-five... and two days

People that remembered my birthday this year: 7 (Really good number! Are you guys using Google Calendar now?)

My favorite thing to do is go out for a special dinner on my birthday so I went to Perbacco as suggested by Tablehopper. The patrons were a little too gray haired for the restaurant to be really hip, but I still think it's a hot spot with outstanding service that's usually found at more established restaurants.

Perbacco is focused on northern Italian cuisine which means cheese and butter galore! We chose the a pear endive salad with a honey vinaigrette with generous chunks of excellent gorgonzola. The salad had some interesting flavors going on, not ones that were familiar to me. The pillowy soft nettle gnocchi had just the right amount of the aforementioned butter and gorgonzola-- unspeakably delicious. The semolina encrusted skate was probably the least impressive component of dinner. The hamachi crudo with blood orange juice, fennel, and orange oil was almost a teeny bit sweet. Again, a new sort of flavor experience for me. Finally, for dessert was a poached pear with a creamy, whipped soft cream, sprinkled with pistachios. Boozy, neither too firm nor too soft, and just sweet enough.

I shouldn't forget the Pearlini cocktail I had either: Prosecco (it's already off to a good start!), pear brandy, pear puree, and cinnamon. So good!

Next time I go I want to try more pastas, some grappa, and the cheese plate!

(Thank you, DZ.)

Turns out he's not always such a horrible writer

Scrambled egg memories Michael Bauer's post about his deceased father and the food memories related to him and growing up in the midwest. It's quite touching and really resonates with me because I have so many food related memories of my mom.

Intelligent kids turn into vegetarian adults

Children who scored higher on IQ tests at age 10 were more likely than those who got lower scores to report that they were vegetarian at the age of 30

It makes me wonder why so many very intelligent people continue to eat meat when they know full well about the health benefits of a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diet. (Deliciousness isn't a good answer.)

Ed. 12/20/2006: Whoever is leaving comments from an IP number coming from what looks to be Yelp needs to add their name to the comments. I don't like comments without names. It feels creepy... but perhaps it is more creepy that my mad Googling sKiLLz could track down an IP number to Yelp. :D

Easy as pie?! Uh huh

This is the first pie I've ever made. Rolling out the crust was pretty tricky. This crust has vegetable shortening (for flakiness) and butter (for flavor). The filling is canned pumpkin puree with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. I cooked the filling before putting it into the pre-baked crust to get rid of the tinny canned pumpkin flavor and to reduce the water content. Hopefully, it'll be pretty tasty.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

This pound cake is phenomenal. The spices are assertive, the crumb is tender and incredibly moist, and it gets better with age. My shitty bundt pan decided to keep the top of the cake but with a cake this tasty you don't need it be beautiful. It was easy to make too.

Crapari and soda

I hate Campari. After watching Life Aquatic and seeing Steve Zissou take sip after sip of Campari I bought it on a shopping trip with my brother. It's pretty icky (but not nearly as bad as it's evil sibling, Aperol) unless you mix it with tons of orange juice. Anyway, I already hate the stuff despite having half of bottle of it sitting my kitchen so guess how grossed out was I today when I found it that its bright red coloring is from crushed south american cactus bugs. Eww. Definitely not vegetarian.

70 (Gross) Steps To Foie Gras Torchon

Everything you never wanted to see about the making of foie gras, from lobe to the dinner plate. I enjoy the occassional gross out that reaffirms my commitment to not eat meat. :)

Twinkle, twinkle

Tablehopper:

According to a poster on Chowhound, ~LITTLE STAR PIZZA~ is opening a second location in the former Baku de Thai and (extremely short-lived) Opium Den space on 15th Street and Valencia. I spoke with owner Brian Sadigursky, who said they are optimistically hoping to open by mid or late September. They’re gutting the space right now and doing the design themselves, like the first location on Divis. It’ll be roughly the same size, seating 49 guests. No guarantees about a jukebox for this location, but Sadigursky assured me it would be musically appealing no matter what. The same focus on beer and wine will carry over. No one in town can really touch their deep-dish pizza—it made a believer out of me. 400 Valencia St. at 15th St.

YES!!!

Cupcake!

Cupcake!
Oh man. I need to exercise some more.

I leave "celebrities" alone

Local beatboxer Kid Beyond wrote me a short message via Yelp. SWEEEEETTTTT!!! He was sitting next to me during dinner on Sunday night and I wrote about it in my NOPA Yelp review.

:end starstuck feeling:

All hail ice cream gods

I finally went to Mitchell's Ice Cream (site + reviews) in the Mission over the weekend and it wasn't quite the ice-cream-gasm I was hoping for. It was still really good so I was planning on giving it 4 stars for my review*. A girl messaged me about how the Mitchell's review guardians (or gods or overlords whatever) were punishing me by fucking up my computer. I think I must have done something good for them because I just found out that not only is Cold Stone Creamery opening one San Francisco location, they're opening at least two more!!! I done good.

Opening this Friday at 11:00AM 119 Ellis Street (according to Daily Candy)
Opening soon: Fisherman's Wharf (Jefferson Street) and 835 Market Street (maybe in the new mall on Market?)

* Mitchell's Ice Cream

Last night I was trying to pen my review for Mitchell's that was going to say that I wasn't *that* impressed with the ice cream. Then as I was starting to type it all out, my computer suffered a "system failure." I kid you not. I'm bumping my 4-star review into a 5-star one in hopes that perhaps this will pacify the Mitchell's review gods. It was damn tasty ice cream, I swear! Although... I was really hoping that the "thin mint" ice cream was gonna have those deliciously bad for your Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies instead of the typical thin pieces of chocolate in the pastel green mint ice cream. It's really not all that much better than other popular frozen treat shops like Pollyanna or Ciao Bella. Oh wait, I mean, Mitchell's is the best. :prays for the return of the health of Lappy: Anyway, inch through the crowds to the left side of the door to take a number and wait patiently. I've never seen so many people so happy to wait for their number to be called.

Double :shudder:

If I read another article about how kombucha is the Web 2.0 drink of choice I might actually try to drink some.

Seriously though, it really is the Web 2.0 drink.

Now, before Flickr and Yelp and Skype and whatever the hell else is Web 2.0 I think the web drink of choice was Mountain Dew.

For Ice Cream Lovers

Cold Stone is opening a location in Union Square in April

Fans of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream will be pleased to learn it will be opening its first San Francisco location in Union Square in April. The secret recipe-ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet are made fresh daily at the Creamery. One of their trademark services is mixing in any toppings on a frozen granite stone set at 16 degrees. The Creamery will employ approximately 30 entertaining crewmembers, so it’s no small operation. 119 Ellis Street, next to the Monticello Inn, San Francisco.

No, I'm not PMSing

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Don't you wish you were hanging out at my place tonight?

Heh heh heh, take that overpriced Delica rf-1!

Potato Salad with Daikon and Cucumber
And what a ridiculous name for a deli too. I found this potato salad recipe on Epicurious and made it tonight for dinner. It makes a lot of potato salad so good thing it's really tasty.

It ain't no Craptastateria&trade

Google serves kombucha in its cafeteria. Wacky.

Super Sorbet

Healthy Sorbet
I had this brilliant idea to make sorbet out of Odwalla's Superfood juice. The texture is closer to a granita than a sorbet but it's still pretty damn tasty. Next time I'll add a teeny bit of vodka to keep it softer when I put in it the freezer from the ice cream maker.

The taste of vegetable suffering

Every so often I get this insaitable craving for raw vegetables... only this time instead of eating huge salads, I made sherbert. Raspberry and strawberry sherbert to be precise. I've had this phlegmy cough for the past days and have been drinking Odwalla's Superfood juice in attempt to fortify my immune system. Then I came up with a brilliant idea: Superfood sorbet! Oh yeah. Just wait for the photos!

MS Paint freaking rules!

I was looking up recipes for okomomiyaki and found this totally rad site with complete with beautifully crude illustrations. Best site ever!

Hungry ramblings about groceries

Natural Food, Unnatural Prices "Is it possible for a corporation that sells everyday, necessary products like food to do three things at once: (1) pay a living wage, (2) charge prices that most people can afford and (3) provide an acceptable return to its shareholders?"

This is an interesting article on a company that looks like they're trying to provide good food and jobs to the public but are perhaps only interested in providing good food to people who can afford it provided that it also helps them make as much money as possible. I've only shopped at Whole Foods once (my dad and I were searching for an organic chicken and were told that we could get one at Whole Foods) so I don't really have an opinion about their prices or products. I like Trader Joe's prices ($0.89 organic beans!!!) but their produce selection is mostly a joke so I get genetically modified fruits and veggies at the Albertson's downstairs (better selection but crappier quality with pesticides). Albertson's is also an Evil Chain&trade but they were bought up recently by yet another Evil Chain&trade called SuperValu for $9.8 billion. Does make it even more evil? This looks like a no-win situation. Rainbow is too far away for me to shop there regularly. I once made a trek on Muni to Rainbow (two buses plus walking) in record heat so I could buy some organic foods. I decided that was insane and haven't been back since.

Holy shit, this is fucking depressing. It really is going end up being that rich will make cheap but less safe (even unsafe) products for the lower classes so the rich can buy the organic, healthier goods for themselves. What will be the point of that anyway when pesticides start leaking into the organic food supply? I may as well go buy my groceries from Wal-Mart. Oh, I know. I can grow vegetables with Roundup Ready seads in my backyard and then zap it with Roundup when the dandelions pop up.

I'm not down on companies making money but there's there's gotta be a point where they need to stop thinking about only money and start thinking about what's best for the our environment and our health.

Oh, I leave you with this Consumer Reports guide on when buying organic is beneficial for your health and when it's a waste of money. The term "free-range" apparently doesn't mean much anymore so there's not a whole lot you can do for the humane treatment of animals.

Reviews and news

Two of the five Chronicle Rising Stars (chefs) of 2006 were born in Korea. Hey, how about you chefs start promoting Korean food? We could really use it.

North Tahoe resort food gets better but I wouldn't really know 'cause I can't eat 90% of it.

"This time, the warning is: Do not read this if you have never wondered what Motion Lotion -- yeah, I mean that kind of Motion and that kind of Lotion -- tastes like."

Birthday Dinner at Campton Place

Zucchini covered squab at Campton Place
Oh. My. God. Can you imagine weaving zuchhini like that just so you can eat it?!? (I didn't eat that nor was it available.)

I was surprised with a birthday dinner at Campton Place. I couldn't order the tasting menu because it featured a lot of land roving animals so I had three courses instead. The restaurant was pretty quiet until this irritating, snotty, woman with a very loud voice kept talking. The most hillarious thing she started talking about was TB. I guess she knew someone who got TB and she asked them if they rode the bus much and she something like, "Of course you got it from Muni!" Um. K.

Ever since a friend of mine turned me on to better food about 4.5 years ago, I've been keeping a short list of restaurants I want to dine at before I die (or, heck, before the chefs die). Campton Place was one of the places on my list.

I've wanted to try Campton Place for about a year now after hearing about their executive chef, Daniel Humm, who quickly drew comparisons to Thomas Keller and received numerous awards. Apparently, he is so careful with the dishes he creates that he doesn't let anyone else in the kitchen do the final check for salt. I also heard that the manager of the Campton hotel found young Humm, who could barely speak English, in Switzerland. When he was brought over to San Francisco to cook he had some issues with his visa/greencard and it looked like he might have to go back to Europe but he got that all straightened out (I bet all he had to do was FedEx some food over to the INS). Well, I finally ate there this week but Humm didn't salt my food because he decided to leave for New York at the end of 2005. His stay was short lived but awesome chefs like that can go wherever they please.

At this point it barely mattered to me what I ate for my birthday dinner because Humm wasn't back in the kitchen, still, he came up with this stuff so my expectations were still high. The butternut squash soup with hazelnuts and goat cheese was so perfect that I didn't even think to offer a taste to my Campton Place dinner benefactor. Main course? I can't even remember what kind of fish I was served because I could only think about how much it tasted it my mom's cooking, and I mean in that in best possible way (my mom was an outstanding cook). Dessert, apple cinnamon beignets, could have been better but it's only because I want to compare them to New Orleans beignets. The best part of the meal had to be the little plate of mini goodness that came after dessert and after my mini chocolate bundt birthday cake (served with a "Happy Birthday" from the server). One of the things on this little plate was a heavenly clementine orange flavored marshmallow. Now that's gourmet!

I've never been to another four star restaurant so I can't really compare but I thought the service was flawless.

Gravenstein Apple

Apparently this is an Italian variety of apple grown locally in California. The aroma is amazing-- smells faintly of a nectarine. Texture is similar to a Gala. Beautiful, isn't it?

Spanglish Sandwich

I caught the second half of the movie Spanglish with Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, and Tea Leoni. It was actually really well-written and well-acted.

Anyhow, in the movie Adam Sandler makes the World's Best Sandwich. My brother and I decided to make them for dinner. I subbed in Boca's veggie bacon. It's actually really excellent. I should taken a picture. Oh well. Here's the recipe from the DVD's extras:

3-4 slices of bacon
2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese
2 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (pain de campagne)
1 tbsp of mayo
4 tomato slices
2 leaves of butter lettuce
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg

Preparation:

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels
2. Place slices of cheese on one side of bread. Place in toaster oven to melt.
3. Spread mayo on other slice of bread top with bacon, sliced tomato, and lettuce
4. On non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Fry the egg over easy, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep yolk runny)
5. Slide cooked egg on top of lettuce, top with other slice of bread
6. Place sandwich on plate and slice in half, letting yolk run down sandwich

*recipe was developed by world-famous chef Thomas Keller who opened French Laundry and Per Se.

Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes

I was a little skeptical about these Hostess-like cupcakes when poured the batter into the muffin tins-- it was very, very, very thin. Fifteen minutes later when I took them out of the oven I was worried. The tops were very sticky and a lot of holes. Piping the cream filling created a sloppy mess on my counter and I wasn't too hopeful about the outcome. Then I dunked the tops into chocolate. Still, the cupcakes were not looking too hot. So I stared at the cakes for a while and decided to dip the tops into the chocolate again. Then they started looking kinda hot. I popped them into the fridge to set. Twenty minutes later the moment of truth... ::melt:: gahhhhhhh. Sooo, good. :drool: I licked the sticky chocolately goo off my fingers.

I wasn't feeling too good about this recipe in the process but the outcome... Oh, the outcome.

Prep Time: 1 hour (it takes longer than an hour, people!)
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Nonstick vegetable spray for coating muffin tin
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (recommended: Dutch-processed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coffee, brewed strong and hot
Vanilla cream filling, recipe follows
Ganache frosting, recipe follows

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously coat a 12-slot muffin tin with nonstick vegetable spray.
Into a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together three times. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at high speed for 15 seconds, until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes more. With the mixer on its lowest setting, beat in a third of the flour mixture. Beat in the buttermilk and vanilla, then another third of the flour. Beat in the coffee and then the remaining flour. Fill the cups of the muffin tin two-thirds full and bake for 15 minutes, or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed and a cake tester comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. With a small knife, carefully carve a 1-inch-round by 1-inch-deep plug out of the bottoms of the cupcakes-you're going to need the plug to refill the hole, so don't chuck it out. Fill with vanilla cream. Cut a 1/4-inch disk off the cake plug and cover the exposed cream. Dunk the cupcakes into the frosting to coat, then place on a rack, frosted side up. Transfer to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to set before serving.

Ganache Frosting:
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream

Ganache Frosting: Put the chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the cream just to the simmering point. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and, working from the center out, gently stir with a whisk to melt the chocolate and blend until smooth.

Vanilla Cream Filling:
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup light corn syrup

Vanilla Cream Filling: With an electric mixer, beat together the vegetable shortening and butter until blended. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Turn the mixer back up and beat a high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. At a drizzle, gradually beat in the vanilla and corn syrup until the filling is the consistency of mayonnaise, about 2 minutes more. Scrape the vanilla cream frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip.

(by Wayne Harley Brachman, Retro Desserts, Harper Collins Publishers, 2000)

Living to eat

I've been eating a lot of Cara Cara and blood oranges. Sooo tasty!

I've discovered recently that kale is pretty good sauted with olive oil and kalamata olives with a squeeze of lemon juice to finish.

I made a cheesecake today. It took 2.5 pounds of cream cheese! And nearly two hours in the oven.

I bought a coffee grinder, finally. Coffee made with a french press is so much better than ones make with a drip machine so now with a grinder my coffee can be even more deelish!

I've been visiting the Epicurious Food Dictionary everyday to learn more culinary terms. Like: spaetzle.
[SHPEHT-sluh, SHPEHT-sehl, SHPEHT-slee] Literally translated from German as "little sparrow," spaetzle is a dish of tiny noodles or dumplings made with flour, eggs, water or milk, salt and sometimes nutmeg. The spaetzle dough can be firm enough to be rolled and cut into slivers or soft enough to be forced through a sieve or colander with large holes. The small pieces of dough are usually boiled before being tossed with butter or added to soups or other dishes. In Germany, spaetzle is served as a side dish much like potatoes or rice, and is often accompanied by a sauce or gravy.

I would never make it as a professional chef; I'm sure of this. Chef never, gourmand forever.

I really need an effin KitchenAide mixer. My arms hurt. Ah well, it's a work out.

My first attempt at making creme brulee was pretty sucessful. Learning to burn th sugar on top perfectly is gonna take a few more tries, I think.

Heaven must smell like bergamot.

Are you a professional chef?

I went to Sur La Table to redeem the last bit of credit left on the giftcard John gave me for Christmas. My plan was to make Molten Chocolate Cakes with a raspberry and pomegranate coulis so I need to get some ramekins. After hunting for some suitable bakeware I brought the 4-pack of ramekins to the counter to pay for them and the lady says, "Are you professional chef?"

Um, no.

However, the cakes were hot and liquidy and to die for. I would have taken a photo but they were consumed immediately.

I loooooove tasty, tasty food.