The Sacramento Food Blog

Restaurant August

2009-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas St.,
New Orleans, LA 70130
504.299.9777
http://www.restaurantaugust.com/

I had seen John Besh cook in the show, "The Next Iron Chef" and thought his food was creative and interesting, so as soon as I knew I was going to New Orleans I made a reservation at his restaurant. We opted for the five course tasting and in addition I also ordered the wine pairing.

amuse bouche

Warm salad of pieds du cochon
veal sweetbreads, hearts of palm and black truffle
Marquis de Perlade, Pierre Sparr, Brut, Alsace, Sparkling N.V.

This was a great opening dish. The sweetbreads were crunchy on the outside, perfectly seasoned and moist and tender on the inside. The pieds du cochon we meaty and provided a textural contrast to the sweetbreads and the hearts of palm tied the whole dish together with a crispness and a freshness with the microgreens providing a little acid to cut through the richness of the cochon and sweetbreads. The wine was just slighly sweet, sparkling and refreshing to help cleanse the palate.

yard egg raviolo with brown butter and sage
Pinot Blanc, Robert Foley, Napa Valley, 2007

The raviolo was like a treasure waiting to be opened. Once you cut into it, the warm egg yolf came spilling out mixing with the brown butter.With each spoonful you get two different kinds of richness and a luxurious texture, but it was not heavy. It was like having an egg sunnyside up at a greasy spoon after a night of partying. The trufflewas earthy and did not let the dish get out of control. The wine was dry to cut through the richness and reset your mouth for the next bite. Yum!

Lacquered Berkshire pork belly with
Lousiana crawfish, olives and blood orange
Bourgogne, "Laforet," Joseph Droubin, 2006

It's pork belly what more of a description do you need? This pork belly was cooked nicely and had a lot of flavor. The main thing that made this interesting was the use of olives. The pork belly was seasoned well, but when you added some olive to the the fork; it added a saltiness that almost changed the flavor to more like bacon. I have never had that combination before, it was great.

Slow braised kobe beef short rib
rapini, baby root vegestable and rosti potato
Cabernet Savignon, Ehlers Estate, St. Helena, Napaa valley, 2005

The progression of each dish was awesome until this course. It was a beef short rib that was braised. It was tasty, but had one note flavor. I did not really like the rosti potato, it was like a soggy gnocchi.

Napoloen of nougatine
with Valhrona chocolate bavarois
and salted toffee ice cream
Orange Blossom Muscat, "Essensia" Quady, Madera 2005

Things finished well with dessert. The muscat had a nice floral scent to and an orange color to it. The way this dessert was construct when you cut straight down into it, the flavors, temperature and textures varied. First you get the sweet, slightly salty, cold ice cream, then the crunchy, slightly chewy nougatine layer, and then the rich bavarian cream at the bottom. The muscat matched well with the dessert, but was a little too thicj and syrupy. A good dessert overall.

Closing desserts

Commander's Palace New Orleans

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

Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
http://www.commanderspalace.com/new_orleans/

FOIE GRAS “DU MONDE”

Bourbon braised fig and foie gras beignets with

vanilla cracked coffee beans, foie gras café au lait

and chicory coffee “mist”

These were not really foie gras beignets, they were more like beignets with a piece of seared foie gras on top. It did not really matter because it was still a good opening. The beignets were light and fluffy and the sauce was just sweet enough to complement the nicely firm, seared piece of foie. The pecans added a textural contrast with a crunch that tied the dish together.

GRIDDLE SEARED GULF FISH AND SHRIMP

I forget what kind of fish it was; some kind of white fish. I am not a huge fan of cooked fish; I would rather have sushi, but this fillet was well seasoned and cooked to where it was flaky, but not too firm. The seasoning that coated the fish added just a bit of spice to add another level of flavor. The shrimp were cooked properly and were good, but nothing special.

CREOLE BREAD PUDDING SOUFFLÉ WITH WARM WHISKEY CREAM

I wondered how this would turn out because I though that a bread pudding would be too heavy to become light and airy like a soufflé should. The texture was a mix of the two different pastries. The outside was a crunchy crust of the bread pudding which contrasted with the warm and light inside. Add the whiskey cream added a luxurious texture to the entire dish. Albeit the cream was a little too sweet, but a good dessert overall.

PONCHATOULA STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Local strawberries on a fluffy buttermilk biscuit with powdered sugar and Chantilly cream

I had no idea that strawberries were in season in Louisiana and supposed how exquisite these strawberries were. These strawberries were plump, firm, and sweet with just a hint of tartness and full of strawberry flavor. It was like eating strawberries for the first time again. I have not tasted anything even close to these in California.

Here is the farm where they get these strawberries from:

http://www.lastrawberryfestival.com/index.html

Cafe Du Monde

2009-02-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

Cafe Du Monde, French Market
800 Decatur Street, New Orleans, La, 70116
www.cafedumonde.com

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Christmas Day and on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The Original Cafe Du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. In 1988 Iced Coffee was introduced to the cafe. Soft drinks also made their debut that year.

Beignets were also brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. These were fried fritters, sometimes filled with fruit. Today, the beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three.

Mason's Restaurant

2008-11-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Mason's Restaurant
1116 15th St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 492-1960
www.theparkdowntown.com

amuse bouche
I think the dough was pate a choux with stuff with a little Point Reyes blue cheese topped with a jam/jelly. It was a nice little bite of creaminess and saltiness form the cheese that matched well with the sweet topping.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup:
It was wet and rainy when we ate here a few weeks ago. A nice bowl of soup always hits the spot on nights like these. It was a luxuriously creamy, velvety and simple.

Grilled Niman Ranch Dry Aged Ribeye:
Ah, the good old ribeye, my favorite cut of beef for steak. This was my second choice since my partner ordered the cassoulet. The meat was buttery and cooked to my requested temperature of medium rare. The salsa was a little strong, so I just scapped most of it off since a litttle went a long way. The polenta was good, but not as creamy as I would have liked it and the rabe was crunchy and made me feel a little less guilty of eating red meat.

The Park Cassoulet
Duck confit, duck sausage, and pork belly, what more do you need? OK maybe a little foie, black truffle and caviar might make it sound better, but not necessarily taast better. The duck confit was good. How good? My partner ate all of it before I could even ask to get a sample. The sausage was tasty and the beans were good. The only thing was that the bread crumb crust was a little overseasoned.

Spiced Chocolate Almond Cake
It was tough deciding between this and the molten cake. When it arrived at our table, the almond cake was a little molten anyway so I do not think we missed out. The almond flavor was definitely there, but not overpowering. The cherries and gelato provided a nice textural and temperature contrast. The one thing that could be improved upon is to give me more next time!

This is the fourth or fifth time I have been to Mason's in the last year and I have had all good meals there. A few little tweaks here and there, it would have been almost a great meal. The one thing I do not like about Mason's is their off the shelf, room temperature bread. It's not the best way to start a meal there.

Edible Crawl for a Cure

2008-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Edible Crawl for a Cure is a gourmet food and pub crawl through more than a dozen, primarily independent Downtown and Midtown microbreweries, wine bars, restaurants, and coffee houses. An anticipated 1,500 crawlers will participate in this "Fun-Raiser" for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which funds research and care centers (including UC Davis and Sutter hospitals locally) to fight CF and care for the more than 30,000 in the US that have cystic fibrosis. The goal is to raise awareness of this genetic disease of the lungs and digestive system that currently has no cure, to focus on bringing research dollars to the Sacramento chapter of CFF, and to enjoy an amazing walk across the Central City. The event is the brainchild of midtowngrid.com and the Sacramento Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Brew it up!

Irish Amber: Lightly hopped and with just a touch of roasted malt flavor, this smooth bodied
Irish style amber ale is a year-round favorite

Azul served sopes, quesadillas, and taquitos and their Jamaica Margarita

The L Wine Lounge served thin crust pizza and sangria

Butch and Nellie's served chocolate mint chip gelato. It was pretty good so we decided to try their vanilla chocolate mix.

The Buckhorn Grill served a mini version of their tri tip sandwich, Yik Yak salad and a 2006 Sycamore Lane Cabernet.

Old Soul served a variety of finger food; olive, blue cheese, artichole crostini, macaroons, brittle and three types of coffee

Bistro 33 served Yellow Label Sparkling Wine or Samuel Adams Octoberfest Beer and a cold and flavorless pork taco.

Mason's gourmet Mac and Cheese

Zocalo served tequila, bloack bean empanadas and a veggie quesedilla.

Sanad's Mediterranean Deli

This was a fun event. The weather was perfect, the company was good and the drinks aplenty. I even got to meet a few fellow bloggers:

http://munchie-musings.blogspot.com/

http://justeileenandsue.blogspot.com/

Cafe Rolle

2008-10-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Cafe Rolle
5357 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-3544
(916) 455-9140
caferolle.com

Chilled Foie Gras served with baguette.
Chef Rolle’s Foie Gras is made from the same recipe that has made his father’s shop known for having the best Foie Gras in Lyon!

Two huge slices of foie gras. It was rich and buttery, had a meaty texture, and for me hard to describe the taste. It was good. It is like trying to describe butter. Do you know anyone who would argue that butter does not taste good? I think not.

Hot Brie and Salmon Sandwich
Melted brie cheese on smoked and cooked, Gravloks style or poached salmon with spring mix, with dill crème fraiche

This was a great sandwich. The bread was crust was crunchy on the outside and the inside of the bread was warm and tender. The salmon was flavorful, the brie provided another textural contrast and creaminess and the dill creme fraiche tied everything together. It was served with a mixed green salad with, I think, a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Chocolate and toffee Crème Brûlée

Of the crème brûlées that I have eaten, this was the first one with a caramelized sugar top that actually made the cracking sound as I broke through the top. The chocolate crème was subtle with little bursts of chocolate and toffee dispersed throughout. Very nice way to end the meal.

Overall, I had a very good lunch and will return for dinner. If you have time check out some of the books they have laying around. Apparently Chef William Rolle's father knows Chef Paul Bocuse and they even mention Sacramento in one of the books.

Chicago sidebar: Hot Doug's

2008-09-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hot Doug's
The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium
3324 North California
Chicago, IL 60618
Phone: (773) 279-9550
Fax: (773) 279-9553
http://www.hotdougs.com

It is nice to be back in Sacramento after this wet weekend for my brother's wedding. "How wet?" you ask.

"O'Hare International Airport recorded 6.64 inches of rain Saturday -- breaking the all-time record of 6.49 inches set in 1987, according to the National Weather Service. Records have been kept since 1871."

Surprisingly, everyone was in good spirits and the wedding proceedings went rather smoothly.

Hot Doug's is a place that I attempted to go to at least two other times I was in Chicago, but was closed for vacation. They specialize in unusual sausages made from exotic meats. I had the Cognac and pheasant bacon sausage. How do you make bacon from a pheasant anyway ;)? It was good overall and not too gamy. The fries were crispy on the outside with nice color and moist and tender on the inside. I was expecting a little more duck flavor from the duck fat fries.

I had a good overall lunch, there are so many different sausages and flavor combinations that I will have to make a few trips to try the other specials. I think many other Chicagoan would agree with me as there is always a line out the door to this place.

Hot Doug's daily specials board

Cognac and bacon pheasant sausage

Can't remember this one.

Duck fat fries, yes duck fat

The Kitchen

2008-09-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen
2225 Hurley Way # 101
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 568-7171
http://www.thekitchenrestaurant.com/

The Courtyard

The freshly baked bread.

It was crunchy on the outside and tender and warm on the inside. I think bread is always a good barometer of the restaurant overall. It is the little things that matter. If a restaurant cannot even take the time to bake (not necessarily make) their own bread or get it from a good local vendor then what other short cuts are they making?

Chef Randall Selland hypnotizing a lobster.

This was the first part of the demonstration dinner and sat at the bar so we had a good seat. He would show the ingredients and talk about some of the cooking techniques that were required for each course.

First Course

Maine Lobster Thermador with Squash Blossoms,Dungeness Crab, English Peas, Chives and Black Truffled Egg Yolk

This return to a favorite dish - with a new spin - takes our beautiful fresh Maine Lobsters in a Thermador-style preparation along with first-of-the-season delicate and tasty fried squash blossoms, which always add a hint of summer to our creations and are really pretty to boot. With the lobster, which has the piquant kick of a bit of mustard, we have fresh and tender Dungeness crab along with lovely English peas and baby chives, and then the piece de resistance – egg yolk mixed with decadent black truffles. Who can resist truffles and eggs? It’s one of life’s great pleasures. This dish is a delightfully decadent way to kick off the evening.

The next demonstration was creating a sauce using a wine reduction. I have no idea who this young lady was. Apparently it was her birthday and this was part of her gift to participate in the dinner.

Second Course

Fresh Porcini Mushroom ‘Pot Pie’ withParma Prosciutto Lardoons,Tri-Color Asparagus, Prunatelli Virgin Olive Oil, Aged Sherryand a Salad of Fried Artichoke, Frisee and Mizuna

Equally indulgent but with a totally different flavor profile is our second course, a savory house made potpie pastry literally overflowing with earthy and full-flavored porcini mushrooms and rich, hearty prosciutto lardoons. A great accompaniment to these flavors is the tri-color asparagus in green, white, and purple, which are at the peak of season. I love the combination of prosciutto, mushrooms, and asparagus, especially with a lovely Pinot Noir, which will undoubtedly be our pick to pair with this course. A bit of olive oil and sherry vinegar, and then a texture contrast with crispy fried artichoke and slightly bitter, crisp lettuces to top things off makes for a course that is sure to be a new classic.

Sushi • Sashimi • Crudo

This was excellent. There were many different types of sushi, sashimi and oysters and they even had real wasabi.

Third Course

Herb Glazed Liberty Duck Breast with Rainier Cherries, a Mélange of Almonds, Snow Peas and Peppers, Port Wine Gastrique and Ramp-Stuffed Morels

Glazed Duck Breast is one of our favorite things to prepare for you here at The Kitchen. It’s such a beautiful product we get from Liberty Farms over in Sonoma that it can easily outshine any beef, veal or pork dish in terms of complexity and depth of flavor. Moist, tender, and delectable, the duck is served with its natural perfect pairing, cherries, and then a mix of almonds, snow peas, and peppers for an overall effect that has a slight Asian flair. To finish, however, we take it back to French roots with a Port Wine Gastrique (a reduction that concentrates flavor) and woodsy Morel mushrooms stuffed with delicious ramps, or wild leeks. Come to think of it, we may have to do this dish with a Pinot Noir and find another pairing for the Pot Pie. Looks like Josh and Doug will have to put their heads together on that one.

Fourth Course

Monk Fish ‘Short Ribs’ with Wood Roasted Onions,Fava Beans, Crisped Potato, Parsley Rootand Cabernet Beurre Rouge

This final savory course is something absolutely unique. We are getting beautiful, dense, full-flavored Monkfish from the Atlantic that we are braising down in Cabernet and Veal Stock. Since Monkfish is a rich and hearty seafood, the effect is like braising down beef short ribs but with a new and unexpected twist that comes from the fact that, well, it’s fish and not beef. In keeping with the flavors and textures of braised meat, we are serving the Monkfish with roasted onions and fava beans and earthy, robust parsley root along with a rich but balanced red wine butter sauce, the Cabernet Beurre Rouge. The stunning final savory course will leave you more than satisfied.

Dessert Course

Warmed Delta Blueberry Cream Tart withElderflower and Vanilla Bean Essence,Cinnamon-Butter Ice Creamand Pecan Brittle Bits

Gorgeous delta blueberries from right here at home in the valley make for a dessert that is both familiar and new, at once reminiscent of long lazy summer days filled with picnics and parties and also offering the refining elements of elderflower and vanilla, followed by an unexpected and delightful burst of flavor from the cinnamon butter ice cream and pecan brittle. This dessert is scrumptious and divine – a beautiful combination of flavors that is totally decadent but not too heavy – perfect for summer.

Post dessert herbal infusions

I had a great experience overall. The food and service was very good and the wine we had was good. The atmosphere is fun and laid back and they will even give you seconds if you as for it. We had a second helping of the Maine Lobster Thermador that I thought they brought to us because they heard my dining partner wistfully whisper to me for another portion. I would have been really impressed if that was the case, but alas it was a mistake another couple asked for seconds, but they delivered it to us by mistake. C'est la vie.

Hing Loon

2008-08-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hing Loon
628 S Weller St
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 682-2828

After going to the grand re-opening of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, I decided to eat here for lunch because it just started to rain and I had read a few good reviews about this place. As you walk in you will see many of the menu items written in Chinese calligraphy on various walls of the restaurant. I did not see anything too exotic like black chicken so I decided to try some Chinese comfort food.

The first item was the vegetable chow fun. The vegetables were fresh and not overcooked, still crunchy. The sauce was light and provided the right amount of seasoning.

The next dish was the crispy smoked duck. I think it was smoked with black tea. As you can see form the picture it's not dark like the lacquer ducks that you see in the many of the Chinese BBQ shops. This was fantastic! The skin was crunchy since a lot of the fat apparently rendered off during the smoking process. It was light almost like a potato chip. The meat had a smoky background that was not overpowering and had a firm but not tough or chewy texture. Probably the best preparation of Chinese duck that I had.

If you are in Seattle I would highly recommend this place for the smoked duck dish alone.

Vegestable Chow Fun

Tea Smoked Duck

East Bay Culinary Center Second Annual Summer Culinary Expo

2008-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

East Bay Restaurant Supply
Sacramento Main
522 North 12th Street
Sacramento, California 95811
(916) 440-0620 Main
(916) 440-1525 Fax
www.eastbayrestaurantsupply.com

Kabob House in Folsom

2008-07-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Kabob House

648 E Bidwell St

Folsom, CA 95630

(916) 983-6619

www.kabobhouse.net

One word for my experience APATHETIC.

We ordered the spanakopita, dolmades and a large gyro.

Spanakopita: This was the first dish, my friend said it was chewy. I took a bite and it was like eating a tortilla with a little spinach. It was not light flaky like it was supposed to be. It was like something they microwaved out of a box.

Dolmades: Yes, not good nor bad just, "meh"

Gyro: You would think that this would be a fairly simple dish to pull off in a Greek restaurant. The major component, the meat, was flavorless like the meat was boiled not baked or roasted. The was no flavor from the lamb or from the spices. The Tzatziki Sauce was so watery it flowed out of the back of the gyro when I picked it up to eat it, what little there was of it.

To top it off the server never brought us any plates, did not clear any of the plates of the appetizers and they charged me for an ice tea refill. Who charges for each ice tea refill? Who lets food out of their kitchen like this? I really felt like no one cared about anything.

Le Pichet

2008-07-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

Restaurant Le Pichet
1933 1st Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101
Telephone: (206) 256-1499
www.lepichetseattle.com

This is a cozy little bistro with a solid menu executed well. There is not a place (that I know of) like this in Sacramento. The dish I was simple, but cooked properly. The ingredients complemented each other well. The quail was tender and juicy, but not gamy; the mushroom cream sauce was not too heavy and picked up some of the quail jus; the asparagus was fresh and went OK with the rest of the components, the livers brought some earthiness to the dish with the mushrooms and the noodles tied everything together.

The chocolate was thick, but not syrupy, warm and not too sweet with the whipped cream providing a nice cool contrast. A great end to the meal.

On their website is a schedule of different musical acts. All in all, the atmosphere is nice, the food was great as was the service as well as the conversation.

*Caille grillée sur pâtes fraîche à la crème de champignons
“Boneless Oregon quail, grilled, on house made noodles with chicken livers, asparagus, and mushroom cream

Drinking chocolate with whipped cream.

Kru

2008-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine
2516 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
Phone: 916.551.1559
Kru@KruRestaurant.com
www.krurestaurant.com

This was the best sushi that I have had in a long time. The fish was cut with precision, but delicately enough to show that the chef cares about the fish. (Yes, that is really how I felt). The fish flavor was clean and fresh enough that I could taste some of the ocean it was swimming in earlier that day.

One on the main reasons I wanted to try Kru was that the menu had more than just sushi. I have always wanted to try tuna collar (probably from watching too much Iron Chef). It was grilled tender and not dried out. Its flavor was like grilled tuna with a little more melt in your mouth quality. It was kind of like a tuna brisket.

Another thing that makes this place great is that they serve real wasabi. The experience is so much different than the powdered horseradish at most sushi places. The wasabi flavor is clean and briny, a little sweet and complements the fish with some heat instead of blowing out your sinuses.

The last thing I was impressed by was the roll. I am not a huge fan of rolls, especially at places like Mikuni's. Their sauces mask the flavor of everything so you cannot taste any of the individual components. The Jade roll had a balance of rice, lobster, crayfish, avocado, lettuce and the sauce matched well with each of these to bring it all together.

Overall, I would highly recommend this place if you are looking for a new sushi place.

Hatsumago sake

oysters - fresh pacific oysters, preserved wasabi root, ponzu,
chili paste, pink hawaiian sea salt

This is what real wasabi looks like; it's not from a can.

hamachi kama - charbroiled yellowtail collar, ponzu sauce

nigiri mix - assorted nigiri chef's choice

Jade - lobster tempura, crayfish salad, lolla rosso lettuce, chives, avocado, cucumbers, mamenori, teriyaki, and spicy cream sauces

Petition: Save Sacramento's Taco Trucks

2008-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Go here to attest that you disagree with the Sacramento City Council's decision to criminalize most mobile food vendors in the city, and agree that you'd like our taco trucks back, health-inspected & safe, where they can serve Sacramento residents.

Recently, the Sacramento City Council almost-unanimously passed a resolution drastically restricting the ways in which mobile food vendors - principally taco trucks - may do business in the city. Even though the vast majority of Sacramento's taco trucks (including all those relied upon by downtown and Natomas third-shift employees) do business from private property - parking lots where they've received owner permission to be - the new city regulations basically tell property owners that they don't know what's best for themselves, and enact all sorts of new rules on the trucks.
The rules include:

no night operations (which will kill those trucks whose vast majority of customers are police officers, firefighters, hospital and sanitation workers and other night-shift folks who need to eat too);
trucks can't be parked in the same location for more than 30 minutes, making advertising, reputation & reliability all completely moot;
every time they move, trucks must be a significant distance from their old location, and a specified distance from a "residential neighborhood," language which is vague and undefined in the resolution and city planning codes.

City Council staff have claimed that they did indeed talk to taco truck owners, but we've been able to talk to over a dozen - including the proprietors of every downtown, Arden and Natomas area truck - and not a single one can remember ever being approached by anyone from the city; none were told about the city council meeting where the vote was held, and none have been told about the new regulations.

Salumi: Seattle trip continued

2008-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Salumi Artisan Cured Meats
309 Third Ave South Seattle, WA 98104
(between Main and Jackson, across from Seattle Lighting)
(206) 621-8772
http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/

Yes, I still am blogging about my Seattle trip because I ate A LOT! As you may or may not know this is Mario Batali's father's place. A meat lover's paradise. I bought my lunch here and sat down at one of the tables in Waterfall park. I got the porchetta sandwhich with peppers. Is there a better animal to pay tribute to? This could have easily fed two, but I was greedy and ate the whole thing :) I will definitelly have to return with a cooler to get some of the unusual products such as the lamb prosciutto.

The Porchetta: Salumi's tribute to the pig, pork butter-flied and stuffed with meat and spices. The bread was crusty and had enough body to stand up to the many juices from the meat and peppers. There were a few different types of meats seemingly cooked a few different ways that provided different textures and flavors. The bigger chunks on the edges were probably roasted shoulder, there was some braised sausage and some braised pork. The meat, the crusty bread and the slight heat of the peppers made one great sandwhich.

Waterfall Park

The Scene

Waterfall Park offers an escape from downtown without leaving it. The park encompasses exotic greenery, including ginkgo trees, with several benches and small tables and a 22-foot crashing waterfall, all within four stone walls. Though hidden from street view, the park's roaring cascade reveals its whereabouts to passersby. At noon on warm days, nearby nine-to-fivers assemble at the four small iron tables for an alfresco lunch.

The History

Waterfall Gardens was built by eight Japanese stone masons in 1977, in the tradition of New York City's "vest pocket parks": small, rubble-filled vacant lots among downtown buildings transformed into self-enclosed squares and locked up at night. Per instructions from park developer and United Parcel Service millionaire James Casey, the Boston architecture firm Masso Kinoshita surrounded the property with a massive fence and gates.

reference

What's more American than apple pie?

2008-07-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the 4th of July, I suggest reading or re-reading the US Declaration of Independence. The 4th is more than just hot dogs, hamburgers, fireworks and apple pie.

Speaking of which...Here is the recipe for Alton Brown's apple pie:

For the crust:
6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 ounces vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 to 7 tablespoons applejack
12 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 3/4 cups, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the filling:

3 to 3 1/2 pounds apples, mixture of Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Golden Delicious, about 6 large apples

1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 tablespoons apple jelly
1 tablespoon apple cider
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise

For the crust:
Place the butter, shortening and applejack into the refrigerator for 1 hour.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy. Add the shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times until incorporated.

Remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle in 5 tablespoons of the applejack. Replace the lid and pulse 5 times. Add more applejack as needed, and pulse again until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Weigh the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

For the filling:

Peel and core the apples. Slice into 1/2-inch thick wedges. Toss all of the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl and allow to drain for 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer the drained liquid to a small saucepan, place over medium heat and reduce to 2 tablespoons. Set aside to cool. Toss the apples with the remaining sugar, tapioca flour, jelly, cider, lime juice, salt and grains of paradise.

For assembling and baking the pie:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator. Place the dough onto a lightly floured piece of waxed paper. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and roll out into a 12-inch circle. Place into a 9 1/2 to 10-inch tart pan that is 2-inches deep. Gently press the dough into the sides of the pan, crimping and trimming the edges as necessary. Set a pie bird in the center of the bottom of the pan.

Place the apples into the unbaked pie shell in concentric circles starting around the edges, working towards the center and forming a slight mound in the center of the pie. Pour over any liquid that remains in the bowl. Roll out the second pie dough as the first. Place this dough over the apples, pressing the pie bird through the top crust. Press together the edges of the dough around the rim of the pie. Brush the top crust with the reduced juice everywhere except around the edge of pie. Trim any excess dough. Place the pie on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake on the floor of the oven for 30 minutes. Transfer to the lower rack of the oven and continue to bake another 20 minutes or until the apples are cooked through but not mushy. Remove to a rack and cool a minimum of 4 hours or until almost room temperature.

Seattle Eats: Matt's in the Market

2008-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Matt's in the Market

94 Pike Street No.32

Seattle, WA 91801

(206) 467-7909

http://www.mattsinthemarket.com/

After the Savor Seattle food tour, it was time for lunch. I was not really all that hungry after eating sample after sample during the tour, but I was on vacation so I decided to head to Matt's. I had heard many good things about this place.

I ordered the pan-fried cornmeal-crusted oyster sandwich and tomato soup. The tomato soup has great color no? Usually tomato soup looks like watered down ketchup. It had a robust tomato flavor and a nice acidity to it.

The sandwich was just awesome. The cornmeal crust was crunchy, but the oysters were big, fat, briny and just barely warmed through and provided a texture contrast to the cornmeal. It was perfectly seasoned and the bread was crusty enough to stand up to the rest of the sandwich.

The Pike XXXXX Stout beer was a little more that I should have. That's a 22 oz bottle not your normal 12 oz. It was a touch sweet/sour and lush. I finished the meal, but went into a food coma and took a nice nap.

Tomato soup

Pan-fried cornmeal-crusted oyster sandwich on potato bread, with spicy mayo & shredded lettuce

Savor Seattle Food Tours

2008-06-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

Savor Seattle Food Tours

8521B Interlake Ave. N.

Seattle, WA 98103

(800) 838-3006

http://www.savorseattletours.com/

"Savor Seattle Food Tours specializes in guided walking food tours of some of Seattle’s tastiest neighborhoods. Our signature tour invites you to sample the gems of Pike Place Market, a beacon in Seattle’s vibrant culinary scene."

Anthony Bourdain best sums up the reason I like to stop at the local food markets first, "Food is maybe the fastest, easiest and best way “in” to an unfamiliar place and culture. Once you’ve sat down with people and eaten their food, their whole world opens up to you in ways that wouldn’t ordinarily happen. Food, after all, is the purest expression of a country, of a culture, a region and a personality."

Seattle is not a foreign country that I am unfamiliar with, but one can always get good tips from the locals and vendors about where to eat and places to avoid. The Savor Seattle food tour is a good place to start your exploration of Seattle if you like food since Pike Place is where many of the local chefs shop.

I have been on a few food tours and the Angela's was a well-oiled machine. One of the good things is that you are provided with a wireless earpiece so you do not have to stand in one place while she describes the food and vendor. It’s easy to do a little exploration of your own and see some of the other sights of Pike's Place and still hear the information. You can see that she also has a great relationship with each of the vendors; it is like they are old friends. When you complete the tour you get a 10% off card for any of the vendors that you visited. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Seattle.

Here are a few highlights of the tour.

Pike Place Fish
http://www.pikeplacefish.com/

Where they throw the fish and they are interesting characters to talk to. They whipped the fake pillow salmon at me while I was not looking, but I still caught it. Ha! :)

Chukar Cherries
http://www.chukar.com/

We had sorts of samples: salsa, trail mix and several kinds of candy.

The Confectional

http://www.theconfectional.com/

This is where we sampled Colombian drinking chocolate. How was it? Holy cow! If you like chocolate they you have to try a sample.

Beecher's Handmade Cheese
http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com/

Got to sample the Flagship cheese, "Flagship is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese with a uniquely robust, nutty flavor. It is carefully aged for one year under the watchful eye of the cheesemaker to fully develop its complex flavor and ever-so-slight crumble. Outstanding on a Beecher’s Cracker!"

Etta's Seafood
tomdouglas.com/ettas/index.html

Paul Martin's American Bistro and Crush 29

2008-06-23T08:00:00.001-07:00

Paul Martin's American Bistro
1455 Eureka Rd
Roseville, CA 95661
916-783-3600
http://www.paulmartinsamericanbistro.com/

I heard a lot of good things about this place, but the drive to Roseville is a little far. We decided we would go shopping and then head there for dinner.

We started with five oysters or should I say two and a half. These were the tiniest oysters that I had ever seen; one was about the size of a nickel. The mignonette was fine, but the cocktail sauce tasted too much like ketchup.

Short Ribs braised, with mashed potatoes, horseradish cream and beef jus.

The short rib was tender, but the flavor was flat. One of the reasons I love braised dishes is that the flavors of the stock and vegetables form a complex flavor with lots of layers. All I could taste was the beef which was good, but nothing special. Where is the side of vegetables?

Hill Farm Pork Chop with fingerling potatoes, bacon and onion marmalade.

I barely remember this dish. The fingerling potatoes were under seasoned, and the bacon and onion marmalade did not add anything to the dish they seem to be added as an afterthought. The pork chop was a little overdone and tasted like a pork chop, nothing interesting at all.

Overall the meal was middle-of-the-road at best and definitely not worth the drive to Roseville.

To top it off, none of the dessert choices sounded interesting so we decided to head across the street to Crush 29 and check out their desserts.

Crush 29
1480 Eureka Rd
Roseville, CA 95661
916-773-2929
http://www.crush29.com/

We finished off the night with a "Chocolate Bomb". It was OK, not really the explosion of chocolate that I had anticipated, maybe because the cake/pastry inside was a little dry and after the first bite everything tasted the same. I think it was a little overkill on the presentation because the sugar sculpture at the top was distracting and not making the dessert any better. Also the berries were overpowered by the chocolate and did not make the dish any better.

The dish could be simpler and better by eliminating the fluff and just plating the chocolate with some whipped cream.

Chocolate Bomb

Seattle Trip: Piroshki on Broadway

2008-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Piroshki/Pierogi (also perogi, perogy, pirohi, piroghi, pirogi, pirogen, piroshke or pyrohy), from the Proto-Slavic "pir" (festivity) is the name most commonly used in English speaking areas to refer to a variety of Slavic semicircular (or, in some cuisines, square) stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough and varying ingredients. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I saw Anthony Bourdain eat at the piroshki place in Pike's market and happen to walk by this place on the way back to my hotel. I had not eaten dinner yet so I decided to try this place.

The beef and mushroom piroshki was OK, the flavor was flat. The sausage piroski tasted (and looked) like a hot dog; again kinda blah.

The good things were the desserts. Their version of a cherry streusel was different than ones I ate in the past. It was dense with cherries, sweet, tangy and crunchy and buttery. A little heavy to eat by yourself so it would be great to share with someone. The second dessert I had was the poppy seed cookie. The cookie was soft, buttery, not too sweet and the poppy seed provided a nutty flavor. It was an interesting flavor combination that I have not encountered before.

The piroshkis were OK, but the dessert was good so if you are in the neighborhood or visiting Seattle I would stop buy grab some lunch and make sure you save room for dessert.

Sausage piroshki

Beef and mushroom

Cherry streusel

Poppy seed cookie

Happy 25 Years, Le Panier

2008-06-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

Le Panier Very French Bakery
1902 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 441-3669
www.lepanier.com/

June 17, Le Panier—the Pike Market's Very French Bakery—will celebrate 25 years of baking fabulous French breads, croissants and pastries. Le Panier was created by a French man, Hubert Loevenbruck, who missed his daily baguette and croissant. Ever since, they've been providing a genuine taste of France in an authentic setting: French bakers, classic French recipes, natural ingredients—baked every day for 25 years. I wondered why Le Panier and I clicked right away, we share the same birthday!

Latte

Rhubarb tart

This was my very first stop in Seattle after dropping off my bags at the hotel. I walked around Pike's place a little and since it was only about 9:00 am I decided to get some breakfast. I walked into Le Panier... It was love at first sight (and smell)!

I was drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and the butter used to make pastries in the air. There was an overall warmth to the place and seeing the different types of pastries made it all the better. The first day I had a ham and cheese croissant and a chocolate croissant with a great latte. The croissants were so good I forgot to take pictures of them! The croissant dough was an even balance of crispy, flaky, buttery and tenderness and complemented the fillings nicely.

I had the rhubarb tart the third time I had breakfast there. It was just as good as the croissants the crust was balanced like the croissants against the sweet and sourness of the rhubarb and another great latte.

What makes it great? Most of the lattes I drink usually require a little sugar to add some sweetness, but here as in other places I drank coffee at the milk was heated enough to turn just a touch sweet. The lattes were good as it, no additions needed. Coincidentally I discovered the lattes at Old Soul. They make them as good as any that I had in Seattle.

This will always be on my list of places to visit in Seattle.

Slow Food Nation

2008-06-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.slowfood.com/

Ticket sales commenced last week for the inaugural and much anticipated Slow Food Nation event, to be held in San Francisco at the end of August. Designed to demonstrate the bond between ‘planet and palate’, this four-day celebration is the first national American event dedicated to Slow Food goals.

The inspiring program will bring visitors into contact with the best of America’s good, clean and fair food and producers as well as providing an opportunity for cooks, farmers and artisan producers, academics and students, authors and activists to come together to discuss today’s pertinent issues around food production.

Among several key features, fifteen Taste Pavilions will each tell the story of a different American-produced food, offering tastes, demonstrations and workshops. At the cheese pavilion, for example, exhibitors will demonstrate how cheese is made and samples of more than 200 artisan cheeses will be available. Other pavilions will focus on beer, charcuterie, chocolate, coffee, fish, honey and preserves, ice cream, native foods, olive oil, pickles and chutney, spirits, tea and wine.

Slow Food Nation will also include a Market in the Civic Center Plaza, where sixty Californian producers will offer their goods. Visitors will be able to purchase directly from the farmers, breeders, fisherfolk and artisan producers as well as having the chance to learn more about the region’s biological and cultural diversity and local food traditions. Market vendors have been approved by Slow Food Nation organizers for their commitment to using good (delicious), clean (environmentally friendly) and fair (socially just) production practices.

Also in the plaza, the ornamental edible garden Victory Garden will be established on July 12 at a Community Planting Day. This example of urban agriculture will feature an array of local heritage vegetable varieties and demonstrate a range of food production practices. Produce harvested during and following Slow Food Nation will be donated to those with limited access to fresh, organic food.

Culinary icon and Slow Food International vice-president Alice Waters has played a pivotal role in organizing this national celebration and will speak at the Food for Thought series being held over August 29 - 30. Other renowned speakers include Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, Wendell Berry and Slow Food President Carlo Petrini.

For further information or to purchase tickets:http://www.slowfoodnation.org/

Seattle Trip Day 1: Olympic Sculpture Park

2008-06-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Olympic Sculpture Park
1300 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2003
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp/AboutOSP/default.asp

Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, model
1998, fabricated 1999Stainless steel and fiberglass painted with acrylic urethaneClaes OldenburgAmerican, (born in Sweden), 1929and Coosje van BruggenAmerican, born 194219 ft. 4 in. x 11 ft. 11 1/12 in. x 11 ft. 8 1/4 in.

Eagle,

1971 Painted steel Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976465 x 390 x 390 in. (1181.1 x 990.6 x 990.6cm); estimated weight 6 tons

This one is my favorite.

Wake, 2004
10 plates, 5 sets of locked toroid forms, weatherproof steelRichard SerraAmerican, born 1939each set, overall: 14 ft. 1 1/4 in. x 48 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. 4 3/8 in.; overall installation: 14 ft. 1/4 in. H. x 125 ft. L x 46 ft. W. ; plate thickness 2"; weight: 30 tons (each plate)

For Richard Serra, space is a substance as tangible as sculpture. He uses materials and scale to alter perception and to engage the body, encouraging consciousness of our relation to space. The towering, curved steel forms of Wake were achieved with computer imaging and machines that manufacture ship hulls, including a demilitarized machine that once made French nuclear submarines. It is composed of five identical modules, each with two S-shaped sections positioned in inverted relation to one another—gently curving serpentines of convex and concave parts that suggest tidal waves or profiles of battleships. The surface of acid-washed, weather-proof steel reinforces this industrial effect. Wake's powerful silhouette belies a complex configuration of parts: the whole cannot be known at once, only experienced with physical movement and progressively over time.

Elliott Bay

Seattle Trip Day 1: Seattle Aquarium

2008-06-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

I went to Seattle for a week to get away and unplug for awhile. I'll post pictures of each days events. Do not worry there are plenty of food pictures that I'll post later.

Mulvaney’s Building & Loan

2008-06-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mulvaney’s Building & Loan

1215 19th Street, Suite 100

Sacramento, CA 95814

916.441.6022

http://www.culinaryspecialists.com/mulvaneyBL.htm

This is the second time that I ate dinner at Mulvaney’s and was one of the best meals that I have had in awhile. Mulvaney's has become my new favorite restaurant, it is that good.

Here are a few shots of the all elusive menu. Since Patrick Mulvaney shops the local food markets everyday, the menu changes frequently. I usually like to see a menu ahead of time to see if the flavors sound like a good match, but I do not think I will have to worry about it the next time I eat here.

Bread, the stuff of life. The bread is from the Grateful Bread Company, a great local purveyor. It's serve with butter with some bacon bits. mmmm....bacon.

The amuse bouche

(I love free stuff, who doesn't?). Two bite sized medium rare lamb ribs with a tomato (or pepper) sauce that provided a nice contrast and addition of a little acid.

Grilled Durst Farms Asparagus Prosciutto ~ Grana Padano ~ Poached Egg
This had nice balance; the crunch and earthiness of the asparagus, the saltiness of the cheese and prosciutto and richness of the egg yolk.

Local Artisan Foie Gras Chunk pear gastrique ~ Crispy Toast ~ Del Rio Greens
Foie gras, I think it is one of those dishes that people love or hate. I have not had it awhile, so I thought I would give it a try. It's your classic foie on toast with the gastrique's sweetness complementing the foie and toast.

Double Cut Adobo Niman Ranch Pork Chop Bacon and Green Chili Mash ~ Arugula Rapini ~ Pickled Red Onion.

I do not superlatives too much, but this was the best pork chop that I have ever eaten. That includes the Mongolian Pork Chop at Mustard's. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, moist, tender, the red onion providing some nice sweetness and crunch and seasoned properly. The mash with chili was just a little spicy and was nice and creamy.

Dixon Lam Three Ways ~ Leg ~ Sweetbread ~ Bacon Del Rio Braising Greens ~ Spring Onion Polenta ~ Natural Jus

This was good overall and not too gamy. All three components had a distinct texture to them. After talking to the server, the bacon is more of a carnita, from the the shoulder because lambs do not have much of a belly. What really surprised me was the polenta. I hate polenta, at least I though I did. The polenta was nice and creamy and had an overall subtle flavor to cut some of the lamb and was perfect with the jus.

Valhrona Ding Dong Devil’s Food Cake ~ Mousee ~ Granache.

A nice dense chocolate cake, that was moist and gooey. A nice end to the meal.

The food was excellent and the only real nit picky thing that I was not enthralled with were the wines by the glass. We had four different wines and they were all OK. C'est la vie, I'll bring a bottle the next few times I go.

Zagat Sacramento

2008-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Zagat Survey is coming to Sacramento:

You can complete the survey and receive a free copy of the resulting 2009 America's Top Restaurants guide when it is published @ www.zagat.com

Vientiane Restaurant

2008-05-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Vientiane Restaurant
1001 Jefferson Blvd, 500
West Sacramento, CA 95691
(916) 373-1556

I met up with a few other foodies from the Sacramento Food Group. It was nice to meet other people who love food as much as I do. We ordered a bunch of dishes family style, so let's get to it.

Papaya salad #9: Green papaya, hot chili pepper, garlic, tomatoes, fish sauce and lime. This was a great start to the meal. I think it hit almost every sensation; sweetness, coolness, a crunch and fresh freshness from the papaya, hot and spicy from the chili pepper, tartness and acidity from the tomatoes, acidity from the lime and saltiness and a little earthiness from the fish sauce. It was cool and refreshing, but hot an spicy at the same time. I have never encountered a dish quite like this. Highly recommended!

Stuffed chicken wings #4: Chicken wings stuffed with ground chicken, black pepper, silver noodle, onions served with fresh cucumber sauce

This was akin to a Laotian buffalo wing minus the heat. That would be later. It was like a tasty sausage with the chicken skin. The noodles mixed in with the ground chicken meat provided an interesting texture.

Lao sausage # 51: Ground pork with garlic, lemongrass, hot chili pepper, green onions and kaffir lime leaves.

The sausage was nicely seared on the outside. The main difference between this and other sausage was the coarseness of the ingredients. The pork was coarsely ground and the green onion was still in chunks. There was some kind culinary magic going on. The combination of lemongrass, garlic and Kaffir lime leaves created an interesting background flavor, something like vanilla or Chinese five spice. We interrogated the owner and she would not give us the secret ingredient. Overall, the sausage was very tasty and was not too heavy.

Red Curry with beef #76: Red chili curry, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell pepper and basil.

This was a good curry with layers of flavor; the lemongrass was front and center in this curry and the beef was tender. This was another solid dish.

Sweet sticky rice with mango #85:

The sticky rice was, I think sweetened with coconut milk, warm and soft. This provided a nice contrast to the mango that was cool, firm and not so sweet.

We also had these other dishes. They were good, but I would try the aforementioned dishes above before trying these.

Squid salad # 11: Squid with chili paste, ginger, red onions, fresh cilantro and lime.

Larb #14: Chopped pork, tossed with hot chili pepper, cilantro, green onions and lime

Nam Vahn #89 (tapioca jelly and a variety of fruits drenched with coconut milk.)

The ingredient used are similar to Vietnamese and Thai, but the combinations have different flavors. Overall, I highly recommend this place this is now my favorite Asian restaurant in Sacramento.

Shoki Ramen House

2008-05-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

2675 24th St
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 454-2411

After Temple Coffee we decided to eat here for lunch. This is literally someone’s old house. It is very cozy. We both ordered the Chashu ramen with some shitaki mushrooms.

The ramen noodles were good, but the broth was just perfect. They say the sign of a good cook is one who can make a great soup. The broth had a nice velvety consistency, from what I am assuming is gelatin from the long simmer of bones, as well as the layers of vegetables. You can tell this broth is not from a powder or a can. Usually I do not drink broth in any kind of noodle soup, but my partner was like, “So you like the broth eh? You usually never drink the broth."

The pork was tender with just enough fat to add flavor and the mushrooms added nice contrast of texture and flavor.

Vientiane Post-poned

2008-05-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, there was post about the Vientiane restaurant, but that was still a draft. I am not really sure how that escaped out of the draft box. I'll repost it after I load the pictures of the yummy food.

Temple Coffee

2008-05-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

1014 10th Street (between J and K)
Sacramento, California 95814
916.443.4960
http://www.templecoffee.com/

I am a coffee drinker, but have never been much of an espresso drinker. When Temple Coffee held an espresso tasting, we took this chance to learn more about the different espressos. I had never been here before, but when I walked into this café I was pleasantly surprised. It had a lot of wood structure and a general warmness. It was more apparent that Starbucks and the like were sterile corporate buildings that lacked character. Temple coffee had a nice laid back atmosphere.

The espresso tasting was held in the basement and there was about 12 other people there. Sean, the owner of the café, conducted the class. The tasting went from more complex and astringent and went to less complex and smoother espresso. I learned a lot about crema, the dark reddish-brown foam on top, the different drying processes and how they affect the flavor, how temperature affects the flavor and the coffee tasting wheel.

Sean was very willing to answer any questions and share his knowledge. The class was worth the cost and time spent. I learned a lot, but not a converted espresso drinker. I do not think I ever will be because I would need a pastry to offset the intenseness of the espresso.

These are two of the espressos I remember tasting.

Guatemala Pea Berry

Ethiopian Limu

COFFEE TASTING WHEEL

$0.31 Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins April 30

2008-04-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Promotion/31cent.aspx

Dulce de Leche Brownies

2008-04-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a while because life is insanely busy! I will try to make it up to you today by bribing you with some chocolate.

Let me tell you how I discovered these gems. A couple of months ago my brother bought me a Chocolate Stash Gift Box from Zingerman's. A "what" you ask. It is exactly what it sounds like; a stash of chocolate.

"It'll be hard to keep prying eyes and hungry hands away from this bounty. Intended for chocolate lovers everywhere, it’s the type of gift that should come with a marauders warning. You might want to encourage the recipient to open it by their lonesome or be prepared to fend off moochers."

Indeed, enough chocolate to kill someone experimenting with chocolate for the first time, but just enough to keep a chocoholic satisfied for week. One of the treasures that was in there was a Buenos Aires brownie.

"Two layers of our Black Magic Brownie sandwich a layer of Dulce de Leche, the Argentine caramel cream. Topped with a blend of cooked sugar and almonds that makes a toasty, dark caramel that we grind into a sweetly crunchy praline powder. Wow! The $64 million dollar question is 'How do they get that caramel between the layers?'"

The brownie was good enough for me to try to replicate it. I found this recipe on David Lebovitz's site and made the dulce de leche by simmering a can of condensed milk for about an hour and a half. Make sure the whole can is immersed in water otherwise you'll have a dulce de leche ceiling, floor, cabinets, etc...you get the picture.

The recipe produces a moist and dense brownie. The Buenos Aires brownie is a little lighter and drier and used almonds (I added walnuts). I would say it is a good first try, but I will have to bake a few more to replicate the Zingerman brownie.

If you do not want to bake them yourself then you can place an order for the Buenos Aires brownie using product code "a-bue".

Udupi Cafe

2008-03-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Udupi Cafe
2226 Sunrise Blvd.
Rancho Cordova (Gold River). CA 95670.
Phone : (916) 851 5900
http://www.udupicafe.net/

There are few things in this world I like better than a nice corn fed piece of ribeye from the Midwest cooked to a perfect medium rare andd I know that it is far from the healthiest thing that I could eat. So I am always open to trying healthier alternatives. In the past year I have tried a couple of other vegetarian places that I thought were pretty good and I like Indian food so the Udupi cafe sounded so like a good idea. So we decided to order up a multi course meal.

Appetizer#1

Vegetable Samosa: Crispy and flaky crust stuffed with potato, onions and peas.

Your basic vegetable samosa that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. There was a balance of the potato, onion and peas. Some places put too much potato in their samosa, but this was balanced perfectly. It was served with a spicy green sauce and a sweet red sauce.

Appetizer#2

Masala dosai crepes filled with potatoes and onions.

As opposed to your sweet crepe, this was a savory crepe. As you can see this must have run out of small crepe pans 'cause this thing was ginormous (I know it's a stupid word). The metal ramekins are approximately 2.5 inches (6.35 centimeters for you metric folks) so the length of the crepe was about 15 inches (38.1 centimeters for you metric folks) along the longest part.

I was impressed that it was crispy for such a large crepe and when it was folded and you cut into it, there were layers of crepe, onion, and potatoes. The texture and flavor was different than the samosas. It was served with three different sauces, lentil, tomato and a coconut.

Main Course:
Chilly Gobi : Batter fried cauliflower sautéed with garlic, ginger and spicy sauce (spicy).

This was a surprise, it looked like a meat dish to me. Kind of like sweet and sour pork. The cauliflower was deep fried and with the batter it had the consistency of braised meat. The onions provided a nice crunch and textural contrast. It was just spicy enough, not to where my mouth was on fire.

Vegetable Briyani: Aromatic saffron rice cooked with fresh vegetables and fresh herb.

This was our starch, it had a clean flavor to balance out the chilli gobi. In addition to vegetables it had other peanuts and whole spices such as cinnamon and star anise.

Peas Paratha: multi layered whole wheat bread stuffed with peas and spices.

This was our other starch. I love bread so we had to order it. Pretty much like all naan that I have had in the past.

Don't scroll down until you read the description of the dessert and try and picture it.

Madras Special Payasam: Fine vermicelli cooked in milk and honey, garnished with raisins and cashew

I had no idea what this was going to be like. I pictured a plate of vermicelli that had absorbed the flavor of the milk and honey then garnished with raisins and cashew. What was served was rather unexpected. (Now you can scroll down if you have not already)

It was umm...different in texture and flavor than most desserts, but sweet and pretty good. Anyway I am used to something chocolate like this:

reference

Madras Special Payasam

I would recommend Udupi cafe to carnivores and vegetarian alike look for a change or a healthier meal.

Why (not) change careers; becoming a chef.

2008-03-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

This will be response to a question of someone who posed a question from another blogger who commented:

"Would you mind sharing some of your thoughts, opinions, advice for someone in similar shoes as you 3 years ago? I see you're no longer a cook? Would you mind sharing why?"

The cold hard and honest truth...I lied to myself in the beginning.

These are some of the basic questions one must ask when contemplating becoming a cook:

If there is a large pay differential, how will that affect my daily life? Can I pay rent, insurance, medical costs, student loans, new knives, etc...

Am I truly comfortable spending every Friday and Saturday night working as well as every holiday? I will not see my friends, family, significant other, children, etc..

Is my physical condition compatible with this work lifestyle, standing for 8 to 16 hours, lifting heavy sacks of rice, potatoes, meat, stock pots, etc in a high pressure environment where in the beginning the dishwasher is likely to be a much better cook than I am.

Am I really unhappy what my entire career is or is there another job in my line of work that I can be happy in?

Answer key for me: Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Fast forward: I found a job in my original career that I am truly happy (most of the time). To prove my point, I have been at my current job 2 years and 3 months. Prior to that the last 6 jobs I lasted exactly 1 year for for a couple of them, maybe 14 months for the others and one only 10 months.

Do I regret going to culinary school? That would be a resounding NO! It is a great skill to have, I mean how many times have you heard the comment, "He is too good of a cook, everything he makes is just too darn delicious"?

It is probably not the most helpful advice, but let's call this part 1 of a few.

Itsmo Sushi

2008-03-04T21:07:00.001-08:00

2252 Sunrise Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(916) 638-9990
http://www.itsmosushi.com/

I wanted to check out the Udupi Cafe, but it was closed.We did not feel like driving anywhere else, so we decided to check this place out.

Edamame is standard with the meal which is nice, kinda like beer nuts :)

I ordered the Saba and Tempura (broiled mackerel & deep fried shrimp with vegetables). When it came to the table, I was a little disappointed that it was not a whole fish, only the fillet. It was cooked nicely, a little crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. The tempura was the same as all the 100 sushi places in the Sacramento area. My partner had the lunch special that consisted of different rolls and a few pieces of salmon and tuna sushi.

Overall a decent place for lunch.

Ike's Deli & Bakery

2008-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Ike's Deli & Bakery
3000 Sunrise Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 635-9808

I live and work in Rancho Cordova and have driven past Ike's dozens of times and always wondered, "What kind of gooddies are being baked next to a gentlemen's club?" I pictured cupcakes and brownies. One day I was driving around thinking of where should I eat and this place came to mind.

As soon as I walked in I was a little disappointed that there was no glass case of cake, cookies or other pastries. What I did find was a good place to get a sandwich. I was hungry and thought that the Italian sausage and meatball sandwich sounded like a hearty sandwich. I approached the counter and gave my order. The cashier asked, “Do you want a whole pocket bread sandwich or just a half?” That should have been my cue to order the smaller portion, but I ordered the full sandwich anyway.

One of the things I heard that the sandwiches were in a pita/pocket bread instead of regular sandwich bread and you see a picture of it in the second picture. How big does the pocket bread look to you? It is 7.5 inches long, 8 inches wide and 3 inches at the thickest part of the sandwich and that equals 180 cubic inches. I’ll let you figure out how much volume that really is.

After I unwrapped the package I cut in into quarters to make sure I would not overeat because after I tasted a few bites that would have been easy to do. It is stuffed with meatballs, Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese and onions. The meatballs were firm, but moist and had a nice flavor to them. The sauce they were cooked in was great, it tasted fresh, had a nice balance of herbs, seasoning and acidity and just a slight touch of sweetness. The sausage was cooked, but not dried out and the mozzarella was literally spilling out. The pocket bread had enough crust to stand up to the other bold ingredients and not get too soggy. All the ingredients worked well together; each providing different textures and flavors.

That sandwich is enough to feed three maybe four people and for under $10. I will definitely have to order their other sandwiches to see how they stack up.

Bamiyan Afghan Restaurant

2008-02-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

Bamiyan Afghan Restaurant
7622 Greenback Lane
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
(916) 725-6009
http://www.afghancuisine.com/

BEEF SHAMMI KEBAB

Very lean ground beef mixed with spices and seasonings, cooked on the skewer like skinless sausage and served with homemade chutney sauce

CHICKEN SHISH KEBAB

Skinless and boneless cubes of chicken breasts marinated and charbroiled golden and moist on the skewerEggplant (Brony Bonjan)

Sliced steamed eggplant, fried and topped with tomato sauce,. homemade yogurt, and mint

KABELI PALOW

Special rice topped with seasoned almonds, raisins, carrots, flavored with cardamom served with Eggplant or Pumpkin Puree and sauteed lamb or char-broiled chicken. Samosa

Fried crispy, thin dough with filling of spiced eastern peas, potatoes and vegetables, served with homemade cilantro chutney sauce

Sharpara
Traditional Afghan sweet made with milk, cardamom, walnuts and pistachios.

We went here on a cold and rainy night a few weeks ago. The kabobs we had were a little dry and overcooked and did not have a lot of flavor. The eggplant was tender and moist and tasted like eggplant. The yogurt and tomato sauce made the eggplant a little sweeter.

The Kabeli Palow was not memorable as well and the samosas looked like fried won tons. It must have been an off night because everything tasted the same, none of the dishes really seemed any different than any other.

The Hidden Kitchen

2008-01-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

The Hidden Kitchen

P.O. Hidden Kitchen Way

Sacramento, CA

http://www.thehiddenkitchen.net/

What do three Yelpers, the Board President of Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, a Mr. Fiddyment (http://www.fiddymentfarms.com/) and his wife and a couple who order their eggs from a secret vendor because they are just that good have in common?

We had dinner at the Hidden Kitchen a couple of weekends ago and I dare say a good time was had by all. More on that later.

Since this was a BYOB, I had to choose a lighter white wine to go with the menu items, I decided to buy a bottle of 2006 Frei Brothers Reserve Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc. This was a total shot in the dark because I love big and bold red wines this bottle was quite the opposite, but I got lucky because it was pretty good. It can be described as, "This sauvignon is infused with sweet lime flavors, both of the zest and the pulp. It's clean and mouthwatering, with plenty of lift to match grilled mahi-mahi or other game fish." Link

As you can see from the picture below the theme of the night was Meyer Lemon. The Meyer lemon is native to China and thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange or sweet orange. This skin is a little thinner than regular lemon as well as a little sweeter with about the same amount of acidity.

The theme for the night

Tartare Duet House Cured Salmon with Honey Dijon Drizzle Ahi Tuna Tartare

This was the starter. Dennis (our chef and one of the hosts) cures his own salmon and made wasabi tobiko. Both the salmon and tuna were fresh and had good flavor, not overpowered by the other ingredients in the tartare. The tobiko provided just a touch of salt as well as just a tiny bit of heat from the wasabi. I have never seen that combination before; it is one that works well together and I would like to see it used more in restaurants.

Duck Confit and Baby Arugula in Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

The duck confit was done right, it was not too heavy. The arugula provides nice background of pepperiness and the orange segments provided the acid to cut some of the fat of the duck confit making the entire dish balanced.

Soupe de Moules au Safran – Billi Bi Soup

This is what I love about simple cooking; get some mussels, some white wine, a little saffron, butter, a little cream and this is what you get; a soup with layers of flavor. It is hard to describe, but I will give it a try. As soon as you taste a spoonful, you get a little bit of cream and butter, with a hint of aromatics, then the mussels, then back to the cream with some mussels. You get different combinations of flavor at any one time.

Pan Seared Bluenose Bass Roasted Lemon/Rosemary reduction Cauliflower Puree, Artichoke Hearts, Morel mushrooms.

The bass was cooked nicely and seasoned appropriately. The roasted lemon and rosemary reduction complemented the fish and did not overpower the bass. The cauliflower puree was light and the texture was very similar to mashed potatoes. The morel mushrooms provided a contrast to everything else on the plate as well as a bit of “meatiness”.

Meyer Lemon Souffle with Strawberry Jus

This was a nice way to end the meal. The soufflé was light and airy, but you could taste the Meyer lemon and well as get a bit of acid in the background. The strawberry was a nice addition to the soufflé, adding some color and sweetness.

Cantuccini: Classic Tuscan Biscotti

These classic Tuscan biscotti are very popular all over Italy.

What made the experience great was that there were people who shared the same passion and interest for good food and wine. What made it even better, some of the conversation turned to health care, the profession I am in, and I got to here about several patient experiences and I was even able to answer a few questions. In turn, I learned more about the Sacramento food co-op, how people make wine through their wine clubs, some history about Fiddyment farms and these eggs that are from a secret vendor.

Mary and Dennis were gracious hosts and it was nice to have them sit down and chat with at the end of the meal.

All in all, good food, great company and highly recommended.

Panaderia Don Pancho

2008-01-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

Panaderia Don Pancho
10491 FOLSOM BLVD
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA 95670
(916) 363-9080

After reading some reviews for Da Nang, we decided to check it out. As we pulled into a parking lot, I noticed a sign that said,"menudo pupusas." I thought cool, I just found out about pupusas a few months ago when I was in LA and I will have to comeback and check this place out. For one reason or another we always seem to try to eat out for lunch on Sunday, but many places are closed. Da Nang was no exception. So instead of pho we got a few pupusas.

A pupusa (from Pipil pupusawa) is a thick, hand-made corn tortilla that is stuffed with one or more of the following: cheese (queso) (usually a soft Salvadoran cheese called Quesillo), fried pork rind (chicharrón), chicken (pollo), refried beans (frijoles refritos), or queso con loroco (loroco is a vine flower bud from Central America).

The place is a little family run business that reminded me of some of the ones in my old neighborhood. As you walk in there are a bunch of pinatas hanging from the ceiling. It make you want to grab the nearest stick and start flailing away. We ordered a few pupusas revueltas that contained some shredded pork and beans and pupusas con queso. The flavors were kind of muted. You really could not taste the beans or the pork, just a combination of the two and the masa. It was not either good or bad, just different. It's like meat and potatoes in a handy carry size food.

We also ordered a steak burrito to see how it was. It was different in a good way. Some of the herbs and spices that were used were different. The major thing I noticed was use of more fresh cilantro that brought and freshness and lightness to the heaviness of the steak. I am not sure what other differences there were, but I am going to have to go back and get another one and do some more taste testing.

After I was done ordering, I guess I was so excited about getting pupusas that I did not even notice the shelves of pastries behind the glass. They had many of the traditional Mexican pastries as well as some other ones. We bought about five or six of them. None of them were very good; they were all kind of dried out so I am not sure if they were day old or what.

Pupusas Revueltas: A mixture of chicharrones, cheese and refried beans.

Salsa roja: A simple tomato sauce

Cinnamon and sugar dusted concha

Apple turnover

New Canton: Part II Geoduck adventures

2008-01-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

BACKGROUND
Q: How do you pronounce 'geoduck'?
A: OK, so maybe people haven't been asking this, but they're almost certainly getting it all wrong, so you have to read this one anyway, and read it first.

The proper way to pronounce the word is "gooey-duck", not "gee-oh-duck". Unlike learning the proper way to pronounce words such as "Cthulhu" and "YHWH", this admittedly does not entail risk to your mortal soul. Nevertheless, if you one day happen to fall into a conversation with a group of geoduck aficionados, you don't want to instantly reveal yourself to be a clueless newbie outsider, now do you?

Q: Where did the species get that weird name from?
A: The name seems to have originated from an Native American word meaning 'to dig deep'. It worked its way into English via a pidgin trading language called 'Chinook', which was developed and used between the area's Native Americans and the arriving European settlers. Why these two groups felt the need to discuss clams, I do not know.

The world's first geoduck fishery was created in 1970, but demand for the semi-forgotten clam was low. Today, they sell in Asia for up to US$30/lb (US$65/kg). Geoduck, like abalone, is highly regarded in Chinese cuisine. Its large, meaty siphon is prized for its savory flavor and crunchy texture. It is extremely popular in Hong Kong, China and Japan, where it is considered a delicacy. Geoduck is mostly eaten cooked in a fondue-style Chinese hot pot or raw sashimi style, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi. On Japanese menus, geoduck is called mirugai or mirukuigai. It also has a texture similar to an Ark Shell (Akagai). (Although mirugai is sometimes translated to English as "Giant Clam", it is distinguished from "Himejako" sushi made from Tridacna gigas.)

References
http://www.olywa.net/cook/faq.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck
Let's start with something a little more pedestrian. Here in a picture of New Canton's house fried rice. I liked it. The shrimp were not over cooked, there was not too much soy sauce and the asparagus added some crunch and a little sweetness to complement the saltiness of the soy sauce. The rice was fresh and it came hot and steamy to our table.

Next up we have stir fried chicken...

umm NOT! Looks like it right? This is one of our preparations of geoduck. I have seen this on TV many times and said, "What the hell, let's order it!" The stir frying mush have caramelized some of the geoduck because it brought out a lot of the sweetness. Surprisingly it was firm, but not chewy. My friend said, "It tastes like chicken!" and my response to that was "Shut up! With that response you have earned the privilege of paying the bill." Well it did taste a little like chicken. hmm...think about it:

Geoduck McNuggets

Geoduck fried steak

Geoduck kiev

Geoduck pot pie

The next thing we had was the geoduck sashimi. (I guess when you order geoduck, you get it prepared two ways). This was the first time that I had seen wasabi at a Chinese restaurant. The flavor was very much like the clam sashimi that I have had at Japanese restaurants, but much fresher. It had a firm almost crunchy texture. The flavor was slightly sweet, fresh and briny.

After...

Before...

Overall, I was happy with the meal at New Canton.

New Canton: Part I

2008-01-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

New Canton Restaurant
2523 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818-2658
Phone: (916) 739-8888

We started off the meal with dim sum and ended with a few menu dishes. The first part of this post will discuss the dim sum portion.

The Cantonese phrase dim sum means literally "touch the heart" or "order to your heart's content". It may be derived from yat dim sum yi , meaning "a little token". ("A Touch of Heart" is perhaps the more poetic translation.) Though the English word "dim sum" refers to the Cantonese variety, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China. - Wikipedia

The short ribs are one of the things we always get no matter where we go for dim sum. These were tender moist and tasty.

Fun guo are typically filled with chopped peanuts, garlic chives, ground pork, dried shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. The filling is wrapped in a thick dumpling wrapper made from a mixture of flours or plant starches mixed together with boiling water.

The ones we had were very gummy and it's flavor was hard to figure out.

The next thing we tried was Shaomai (also spelled shui mai, shu mai, sui mai, sui maai, shui mei, siu mai, shao mai, siew mai or siomai). As prepared in Cantonese cuisine, shaomai is also referred to as "pork and mushroom dumpling." Its standard filling is a combination of ingredients, consisting primarily of seasoned ground pork, shrimp, and Chinese black mushroom in small bits. The outer layer is soft, made with wheat flour. The center is usually garnished with an orange dot, made of roe or diced carrot, although a green dot (made with a pea) may also be used.

As you can see New Canton's fit the description perfectly. Such an interesting combination, pork and shrimp. These were nice and warm when we receieved them. The texture was good, not too firm or too soft and had a nice flavor.
Xiǎolóngbāo (literally "little basket bun"; also known as soup dumpling[1] is a type of baozi (filled bun or bread-like item) from Eastern China, including Shanghai and Wuxi. These buns are traditionally steamed in bamboo baskets, hence the name. Locally in Shanghai and surrounds, they are more often known as xiaolong mantou (traditional Chinese: 小籠饅頭; simplified Chinese: 小笼馒头; pinyin: xiǎolóng mántóu). Mantou means both filled and unfilled buns in southern China, but only means unfilled buns in northern China. To avoid confusion, the name xiaolongbao is usually used in other areas.

Xiaolongbao are traditionally filled with soup and meat, but variations include seafood and vegetarian fillings, as well as other possibilities. The soup inside is created by placing some meat gelatin inside the dumpling before steaming. The steam heat melts the gelatin into soup. In modern times, refrigeration makes it easy to wrap up using chilled gelatine which otherwise might be liquid at room temperature during hot weather. - Wikipedia

One usually has to request these as they are not a standard dim sum item. This is the second time that I have had them. I first saw these on the Shanghai episode of No Reservations. They taste good, but have not been filled with soup like I saw on the the show. They were very moist and had nice flavor. Maybe I got the ones with holes in the bottom :(

Next post the geoduck...

Real Pie Co. is closing

2008-01-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

This is so sad...

From: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/dining/ on January 04, 2008:

Family First, Says Baker

Sometimes, too much success can be, well, too much. That looks to be the case with downtown Sacramento's Real Pie Co. A hit since it opened last February, Real Pie Co. will sell its last "seasonally inspired pastry" on Saturday, Jan. 19, says proprietor Kira O'Donnell.
In what she acknowledges was an "agonizing decision," O'Donnell is closing the shop to devote more time and energy to her family, which includes two youngsters. The success of the shop, she indicates, was drawing too much of her attention to the potential detriment of her family's well being.

"It has been an amazing, exhilarating, fulfilling year, and I have never been happier in my professional life," says O'Donnell. "But my involvement in this project has taken a real toll on my family, and now I have to take responsibility for repairing the damage." Over the past year, the success of the shop allowed her to add seven employees, but the workload, which included finding locally produced fruits and other ingredients to feature in her pies, was too much.
On the up side, she plans to return to commercial pie baking in three years, when her children are older. "I'm keeping all my equipment. I will do it again," she vows. In the meantime, get your Shaker lemon, chocolate pudding and Cazuela pies now.

Sacramento Dine Downtown: January 12 to 18, 2008

2008-01-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

Not all the restaurants have their menus up yet. Here is the originial web page that you can check for updates.

4th Street Grille (Coming soon)

Gaylord India download pdf here

58 Degrees & Holding Co. download pdf here

Mason's at the Park (Coming soon)

Brew it Up! download pdf here

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood (Coming soon)

California Fat's Steakhouse download pdf here

Melting Pot download pdf here

Chanterelle download pdf here

Morgan's at the Sheraton Grand download pdf here

Chops Steak, Seafood & Bar(Coming soon)

Spataro download pdf here

Dawson's at the Hyatt (Coming soon)

Restaurant 55º download pdf here

Ella Dining Room & Bar download pdf here

Rio City Cafe download pdf here

Esquire Grill dowload pdf here

Sakura Sushi & Teppan Grill download pdf here

Fat City Bar & Cafe download pdf here

Three Monkeys Restaurant download pdf here

Frank Fat's downtown pdf here

The Broiler Steakhouse (Coming soon)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-01-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Real Pie Company: Seasonally Inspired Pastries

2007-12-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

Real Pie Company
1201 F St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 446-2885
http://www.realpiecompany.com/

The Real Pie Company is great. How many other websites can proudly proclaim, "Our crusts are made with all butter..."? The other great thing about them is that, "...we follow the seasons and source most of our produce from local small farms..." Is there anything worse in the food world than eating food that is out of season or shipped from 1000 miles away?

I was watching Anthony Bordain on A Cook’s Tour the other day and he commented that we try to make food consistent across the US. Food should be local to ensure that it is fresh, high quality and supports the local economy. I could not agree more.
So local ingredients + butter = heavenly.

"Chicken pot pie
It’s hefty and loaded with chunks of chicken, oven-roasted carrots, mushrooms and potatoes (and sautéed onions, red bell peppers and peas!) -- all bathed in a creamy house-made gravy and encased in crispy pie dough. Weighing in at almost a full pound, it’s enough to satisfy even the hungriest of our customers. "

I had heard about these from other people and was interested in trying one out. I was pretty lucky that day. I ordered the last two chicken pot pies. First you have to try the crust. It was crunchy, tender, light, buttery and flaky all at the same time. These people have some skills and you could literally taste the care they put into the crust.

As you can see, there was just enough broth to keep all the ingredients moist without making the bottom of the pie soggy. The chicken was perfect; moist and tender. The carrots, peas, potato and chicken flavors complemented each other well. The little bit of broth at the bottom was delicious as well from absorbing all the flavors of the chicken and vegetables in it. It was by far the best chicken pot pie that I have ever had.

"Quiche of the Day
We fill our quiches with fresh vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, asparagus, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes – the combination changes daily. The all-butter crust also contains chunks of ham, and feta and cheddar cheeses – and, it’s made with non-fat milk, not cream, so you don’t have to feel guilty eating it (plus, we think it tastes better that way). "

Sorry, quiche, I should have tried you first. The crust was similar, but not the same as the chicken pot pie. This one was a spinach quiche. Overall it was good, but it was not in the same league as the chicken pot pie.

Satsuma Orange Chocolate Tart

This was interesting. The tart crust was very crunchy tasted of bittersweet chocolate. The orange custard on the top was tart and not too sweet. The flavor combination was good, but not great. I brought this to a friend at work. I think it would have been better if I was able to heat it up and serve it warm with a side of vanilla ice cream.

Next time, I will have to try one of their pies.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T16:56:00.001-08:00

Michigan Ave in Chicago

My old backyard

One of the lions in front of the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago

Palmer House Hilton hotel Christmas tree

House of Nanking

2007-12-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

House of Nanking
919 Kearny St - Btwn Jackson St & Pacific Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
415 421-1429

If you look online there are a lot of mixed reviews of this place. Reviews either love it or hate it. Go figure? The trick I learned later is to do what some "higher end" places do; order the chef's menu. Basically you say, cook me something good! We ordered off the menu and from what I had this place has some real potential.

Alas, I did not know about that option until we were a good portion done with our meal. C'est la vie next time.

As you can see, the tea is pretty and different, but good. The first thing we started with was the won ton soup. Sounds pretty vanilla eh? I have to say that is some of the best soup I have had period. The broth has layers and layers of flavor. I could taste the soup stock, the vegetables that were added, lemon, and the spices. The broth had a perfect consistency (great mouth feel); not too watery and not too thick. That was just the soup.

The next thing we ordered was the sesame chicken and it came with sweet potatoes. This dish was good; the chicken was moist, crunchy and not too sweet. Like I said it was good, but not spectacular. The next time I will definitely let the chef pick and choose my meal for me.

Hot tea

Won Ton Soup

Nanking sesame chicken

San Francisco Chinatown:Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

2007-12-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

Golden Gate Fortune Cookies
56 Ross Alley (at Jackson St)
San Francisco, CA 94108

This is just a neat place to see; not spectacular. I love commercialism! There is now a sign that if you want to take a pictures of the young women making the fortune cookies; it will cost you a $1. Well this is America. You can get regular fortune cookies, chocolate fortune cookies and unfinished fortune cookies. Just plain and round with not fortune inside them. If you have never been here before I would make sure that you map directions to go. I have been here a few times, but there are so many little alleyways that it is a little tough to find it just based on your memory.

San Francisco Chinatown Self Guided Foodie Tour

2007-11-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

Life is a little busy now, so I'll just provide a pictorial tour of some time I spent in Chinatown in San Francisco about a month ago.

The Wok Shop

718 Grant Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94108

Here they sell you guess it! Woks and other cooking tools used in Chinese cooking. I have been in here once before and it a very densely pack shop. I have never bought anything norcan I comment on the quality of the tools purchased here. I do not cook too much Chinese food and I do not think that my burner has enough muscle to heat up a wok properly.

Where they make fortune cookies.

Happy Halloween!!!

2007-10-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

Rander says, "Be safe!"

Display at Teuscher Chocolate in San Francisco

Zinfandel Grille: Gold RIver

2007-10-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Zinfandel Grille
2220 Gold Springs Ct
Rancho Cordova, CA 95760
916.852.0214
http://www.zinfandelgrillegoldriver.com/

Kobe steak

Pork Loin

Bread Puddin

I started of the night with a glass of wine. I feel lucky that there are so many good wineries in California. The Zinfandel Grille features local wines, this is one of the things I really like about this place.

The wine I had was:

2005 VENTANA PINOT NOIR

“Our Pinot Noir was harvested after a long mild growing season just perfect for this varietal. This resulted in a wine that has an explosion of vibrant cherry flavors with a delicious hint of milk chocolate. Lengthy barrel aging in French Oak for over 18 months gives the wine structure and vanilla tones. This food friendly Pinot Noir will be a very pleasing accompaniment to almost any entrée from almond encrusted salmon to duck in cherry reduction sauce.” Link

This was a nice wine. It was smooth with a little bit of the cherry. I could not taste the milk chocolate because I do not think my palate is that sophisticated or they have a very imaganitive author. J It was very drinkable and went well with my pork loin.

These are the entrees we had:

Grilled Kobe Steak with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and baby summer squash. The steak was seasoned an cooked perfectly as requested, medium. It may be time to change the menu soon, baby summer squash in late October? Hmm. Nonetheless this was a good dish.

Grilled Niman Ranch Pork Loin: Served with creamy Parmesan polenta and baby green beans.
Topped with roasted nectarines.

I ordered this minus the polenta and substituted the garlic-mashed potatoes. I had a very bad experience with polenta once so I try to avoid it. I just do not like polenta or risotto. This was delivered as requested: medium rare. I like my pork medium-rare. The picture does look quite pink, but it was cooked just to perfection. The roasted nectarines sweetness complemented the pork and the green beans were cooked al dente. Another good dish.

White Chocolate & Cherry Bread Pudding warm and moist bread pudding. With fresh cherries and the perfect touch of white chocolate. Served with vanilla gelato.

Can we make it three in a row? Yes. Warm bread pudding with chunks of white chocolate mixed in…yum! The chunk of white chocolate provided a nice textural contrast to the bread pudding. The cherry gave just little extra tartness/sweetness in every few bites. Topped off with a vanilla bean gelato pulled the whole dessert together.

I am not quite sure why this place is not packed on a Saturday night. I suppose everyone goes downtown to have dinner. I have always been happy with the rustic, simple, properly cooked food at the Zinfandel Grille, both this one and in Sacramento.
My rating = 15/20 = Very Good. I would miss a Chicago Bears game to eat here.

Lime Tree, San Francisco

2007-10-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Lime Tree
450 Irving Street
San Francisco, CA, 94122
(415)665-1415
http://www.limetreesf.com/

These are the dishes we had:

Chicken Satay: grilled skewered chicken marinated in Lime Tree's special sauce served with fresh vegetablesThese were tender and tasty, albeit a tad undercooked. I got mild case of food poisoning from this. C'est la vie.

Pork Spareribs in Tangy Soy-Vinegar Sauce served on a bed of spinach with jasmine rice. The pork spareribs were braised until they fell off the bone. Soy-vinegar sauce? That sounds like my country's adobo. It was good though. The spinach I could have done without. The vinegar made it too sour.

Singaporean Curry Noodle glass noodles with shredded chicken in our special curry sauce.

My friend is from Singapore and she said it tasted like nothing she ever had back home. I thought it was OK. The flavor was kind of even, nothing standing out.

My impression 11/20 = average. I may or may not dine here again.

Chicago Fire Folsom

2007-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Chicago Fire
614 Sutter St
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 353-0140
http://www.chicagofirerestaurant.com/

DEEP DISH PIZZA

This is the pizza made famous by restaurants like Lou Malnati's, Uno's and Gino's East. The rich, flaky crust is pressed into and up the sides of a deep pan. The cheese goes down first, sealing the crust. The toppings are then placed over the cheese and covered with our sauce, made from premium plum tomatoes. Please allow approximately 35 minutes to prepare.

CHICAGO FIRE COMBO
Italian sausage, pepperoni, green pepper, onion, mushroom

BUFFALO WINGS
These wings are made to order from scratch. You'll taste the difference! Please specify Mild, Medium, Hot or Extra Hot. Served with ranch or blue cheese, & celery.

I am a native Chicagoan, so it is nice to have a little piece of home every once in awhile. I ate at all the great pizza joints in Chicago; Gino’s East, Lou Malnati’s, Pizzeria Uno, Giodano’s, etc…
I have been here 3 or 4 times and I think it is a good tribute to Chicago pizza. They have your thin crust, pan pizza and stuffed. Their deep dish could be just a touch thicker, it would be closer to Gino’s East and Uno’s. The toppings are generally good. They use crush or diced tomatoes not tomato paste/sauce and or sausage they spread it in a layer, not chunks of sausage like some other places. This is almost like Gino’s East where you can get sausage patties on your pizza.

Mmmm……

The only real thing I long for is a touch of cornmeal in the crust and room for dessert. I still have not had a chance to eat the chocolate chip pizza!

I would rate it 14/20 = Good, I would recommend eating here.

India House in Folsom

2007-10-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

India House

2776 E Bidwell St

Folsom, CA 95630

(916) 817-4356

www.indiahouse-online.com

Vegetable Biryani

Veggie Samosa

Two crispy patties stuffed with potatoes and peas

Mango Lassi

Free Stuff!

Chicken Tikka

Boneless breast chicken marinated in herbs and spices

Masala Dosa

Crepes filled with spicy potato & onions

Indian "pickles"

We started off the evening with some veggie samosas. They are sort of like empanadas as far as the pastry is concerned and where stuffed with mainly potato, some peas and seasoned with an array of spices. I do not cook Indian food, so I could not tell you what spices were in it.

The next thing we had was the a masala dosa. As described by wikipedia,” A masala dosa is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices, originating in Mysore. The King of Mysore hosted a big festival, after the festival there was a lot of food left over , he ordered his cook to think of somethig to make, so nothing is wasted. The cook came up with the brilliant idea of stuffing a plain Dosa with potatoes and spices.Hence originated the Masala Dosa.”

It was a huge (18 inches in length) crepe and had the potatoes, onions and spices. It was good, it could have been a tad bit crispier. My friend said at a place near her, they make it really crispy almost like a taco.

The drink I had was mango lassi. Lassi is a traditional North Indian beverage, originally from Punjab made by blending yogurt with water, salt, and spices until frothy. It was tangy and sweet at the same time. It was refreshing and help cut some of the heat back during the rest of the dinner.

The entrees we had were veggie biryani and chicken tikka. The biryani was good with a lot of vegetables and properly cooked rice. The chicken tikka was cooked nicely and not dried out. The orange red sauce was thick and had a ton of flavor. It matches with plain white rice vs biryani. The flavors do not try to compete so much. I wonder if they made the tikka with chiken thighs or wings? Maybe I will try that at home sometime.

The last thing that our waiter asked if we wanted to try was Indian “pickles”. Of course, I will try almost anything. It consisted of mango chutney; slices of tomato and japaleno, a lemon wedge and a curious pickled “something” I tried that something and was intrigued/shocked at the texture and flavor. I found out it was pickled lemon. As someone who eats and enjoys lots of weird food; pass on this.

Otherwise, the meal was solid with lots of good flavor and texture. I would give it 13/20 = Good. I would recommend eating here.

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tour Last Stop

2007-10-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

The next two stops were Fresh Farms and Patel Bros on Devon. As you walk into each of these store you are bombarded with the scent of spices, it almost knocks you over. They had things that I had never seen like fresh red and white (no blue) tumeric, black radishes and fresh dates. From looking at the freezer sections, it seems that you can get just about any mainstream Indian dish to take home and enjoy or pass off as your creation at the next potluck.

Being a line cook in my former life and a displaced Chicagoan, I was still able to learn a lot about the neighborhoods, some history, and different foods associated with different kinds of culture. For $35 you get to have a fun 4 hour tour, learn some new things, enjoy great company and best of all eat and experience new food. To top it off Evelyn drives so this is a great value. I would highly recommend this experience.

Fresh Dates

Red and white tumeric

Chinois City Cafe

2007-10-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

I have been here a few times in the past and thought the food was pretty good. I am not sure what happened, but this last meal was awful. I am not sure how this happens in a Chinese/Asian place, but my rice was CRUNCHY! That is something that is inexcusable in my opinion, but let me rewind.

For an appetizer, we started with a Mushu pork wrap. Not exactly your traditional Mushu pancake, but it was decent. Not a whole lot of pork in the wrap, but plenty of flavorful vegetables such as cabbage and carrots.

Next is one of the main entrees; lacquer duck. It was supposed to be something like Peking duck. It was nothing like that. You can see in the picture that the duck is a dull brown. It tasted like it was deep-fried and finished in the oven; dry and overcooked. Though not dry enough to get the skin crispy like with traditional Peking duck. The rice flour buns that came with the dish must have been cooked with the crunchy rice that I got. This shows a true lack of caring. They were cold and dry.

The Mongolian beef we got was very OK, nothing really bad or good about it. The last dish was the seasonal vegetable medley. Someone please tell me how canned mushrooms are seasonal?
I think the vegetables may have all been frozen they definitely did not taste fresh.

The only real thing I liked was the white chocolate covered fortune cookies, that is it. Until the quality improves, I cannot see recommending this place. Got to either Hoi Cin or New Canton.

My Rating 8/20 = Poor. I would not eat here for free.

Monterey Trip: Part II Passionfish

2007-10-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

701 Lighthouse Ave
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(831) 655-3311
www.passionfish.net

This was one of the worst meals I have had in the last five years. The one word that would describe my experience is: "under seasoned" or more appropriately the lack of salt. These are the dishes we had:

Dungeness Crab Cake: A standard breaded crab cake that lacked the proper amount of salt. I was not too happy with the consistency. There were no big chunks of crab in it, mainly lots of the fine shreds of crab meat.

Alaskan Halibut: This was my dad's entree, I had a bite and it was bland and flat.

Sturgeon with corn and bacon: This was my dish. Again, like everything else it was bland and flat. The bacon provided a little saltiness that made it better, but the bacon was cooked by a moist heat method so the fat and the meat was chewy. That with everything else turned me off to the whole dish.

Scallops: These were seasoned correctly and were sweet.

I could have asked for some salt. The thought is that if I have to add the salt, it does not correct the problem. Why did I not send the food back? The food took quite a bit longer than I was used to and at that point did not feel the wait would have been worth it. With so many other restaurants in the Monterey area, I will not be returning to Passionfish.

My rating 2/20 = Very Poor. I would not eat here if you paid me.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Monterey Cannery Row
647 Cannery Row
CA 93940
831-372-1065
http://www.rmcf.com/

After that experience, let's end on sweet note.

I had white chocolate covered toffee and a couple of milk chocolate cover nut pieces. I also bought a mini-truffle collection. Here is a description from the website:Each truffle shell surrounds a soft chocolate filling made from the finest coveture chocolate, designed to liquify the moment it touches your tongue. Our truffles are flavored just right with a hint of liqueur (non-alcoholic) or fruit juice so as not to overpower the rich milk, dark or white chocolate for a truly exotic flavor experience.These are some of the prettiest truffles I have ever seen (See picture above). The chocolate was good and there was a nice balance between the chocolate and the added flavor. They are also mini truffles, so you do not feel so guilty eating them!

I guess I never noticed them in Old Sacramento, I will have to make sure I stop by there next time I am in that area.

Monterey Trip Part I: Hula's

2007-09-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

We started off the day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Here are some pics:

Then we headed over to Hula's for lunch.

Hula's

622 Lighthouse Ave

Monterey, CA 93940 (831) 655-4852
www.hulastiki.com

I had been to Hawaii and was hoping to catch some of the island flavors here. We had:

Island Style Poke: Fresh Island Catch Marinated In Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Seaweed And Onions.The lunch portion was huge about 14 oz of fish cut up in one-inch cubes. I ordered this raw and it had pretty good flavor.

Abalone-Style Calamari Sandwhich: This was another huge portion of seafood that was OK. There was not enough flavor to cover the large pieces of calamari.

The Hula Burger: With Maui Onions, Hula Sauce, Lettuce And TomatoYour standard burger not too memorable.

Fresh Catch Of The Day: Mahi-Mahi with a sauce.

I would give Hula's a 10/20 = Average. I would or would not eat here again. It would depend on my company.

La Fiesta Taqueria

2007-09-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

La Fiesta Taqueria
1105 Alhambra Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 454-5616

I had the chorizo tacos and the BBQ pork tacos. The chorizo tacos were good, but the BBQ pork ones were a little tough and dry. My friend had the beef burrito and she said it was one of the best burritos that she has ever eaten. Their avocado sauce was fresh because it was a nice bright green, which you do not see everyday.They have some of the classics like linguica and cabeza tacos. I really need to go back and check those out.

Avocado sauce

Beef burrito

Chorizo and BBQ pork tacos

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tour IV

2007-09-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Thai Grocery store was next. In the back, they have a place where you can buy freshly fried fish. Other things of note that I saw were Thai eggplant and Luk Chup (fruit-shape desserts made of mung-bean flour with natural coloring). As we were walking out of the store, we saw a stack of the infamous durian. There were quite a few so I wondered who buys this on a regular basis.

Thai Eggplant

Luk Chup

Middle East Bakery was the next stop. Here we got to see all sorts of interesting grains and lentils. This was the first time I saw red lentils and red rice. We sampled Za'atar which I had only seen on Iron Chef America. They were many interesting desserts like a jar or nuts filled to the brim with honey and raisin and walnut sausage. Yes, I said sausage. They string raisins and walnuts together and dip it in honey to form multiple layers. Lastly the sample of fresh savory pastries stuff with chicken, broccoli, cheese, olives or a combination of the three was great. I hear that he sells these to Whole Foods. So you can actually buy from the source.

Raisin Sausage

Red Lentils
Red Rice

The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die

2007-09-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die

The hamburger is a symbol of everything that makes America great. Straightforward, egalitarian, substantial, and good-natured, it is also a little bloody at times.

It may come big and ungarnished, the East Coast ideal, tender and untroubled by bones or gristle, everything you look for in a filet mignon but seldom find. It may be the West Coast model, swelling with vegetation, brimming with health and well-being, piled high with all that a seed catalog can provide. A great burger, regardless of regional differences, instills a sense of optimism and fulfillment, that all is right at the table or the counter or the woodgrain, screwed-to-the-floor, fast-food booth.

At its best, it eliminates the need for conversation or the urge to glance up at the TV over the bar. If you find yourself eating silently, eyes closed, ignoring everything around you, even the unavoidable burger-joint din, you have come upon a burger that can be pronounced a success.

Here are the 20 best burgers in America:

20. Hamburger SandwichLouis' LunchNew Haven, CT
19. Our Famous BurgerSidetrack Bar and GrillYpsilanti, MI
18. Hamburger Poag Mahone's Carvery and Ale HouseChicago
17. Double Bacon Deluxe with CheeseRed Mill BurgersSeattle
16. Hamburger & FriesBurger JointSan Francisco
15. Build Your Own BurgerThe CounterSanta Monica
14. HamburgerJ. G. MelonNew York City
13. CheeseburgerWhite MannaHackensack, NJ
12. HamburgerBobcat BiteSante Fe
11. Grilled Bistro Burger Bistro Don Giovanni Napa, CA
10. Number FiveKeller's Drive-in Dallas
9. CheeseburgerBurger Joint, le Parker Meridien HotelNew York City
8. HamburgerMiller's BarDearborn, MI
7. Buckhorn BurgerBuckhornSan Antonio, NM
6. California BurgerHouston's Santa Monica
5. Kobe SlidersBarclay PrimePhiladelphia
4. Rouge BurgerRougePhiladelphia
3. Not Just a BurgerSpiced Pear Restaurant at the Chanler Hotel Newport, RI
2. Luger Burger Peter Luger Steak HouseBrooklyn
1. Sirloin Burger Le TubHollywood, FL

Bread Store

2007-09-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Bread Store
1716 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 557-1600

The one thing that I dislike about Sacramento is that a lot of the good places in the city for lunch are closed on the weekends! To name a few:

La Bonne Soup Cafe
Sampino's Italian Deli

So I ended up going to the Bread Store

I had their signature sandwich; Cuban panino, heavy with roasted pork loin, ham and Swiss cheese on grilled ciabatta, with pickles and "Caribbean aioli" (a mix of lime juice, cilantro, chipotle, mayo, salt and black pepper). This is their interpretation of a traditional Cuban sandwich. This sandwich was huge! I would say it was about 16 oz, more than enough for two people. The grilled ciabatta was warm, chewy and crunchy at the same time. The roasted pork had good flavor and the ham was a little more subtle. Both meats matched well with the bread. I could not really taste the Carribean aioli and the pickle could have been sliced a little thicker; I barely noticed it was there.

Overall, it was a good sandwich. Sad to say I have never had a good, authentic Cuban sandwich so I cannot tell you which one I like better.

The other sandwich I had was a hot pastrami. I liked it because it was not super thick like New York pastrami sandwiches. The rye was nice crunchy and had just enough rye flavor to match well with the pastrami and not overpower it. They balanced each other nicely and the cheese was nice and melted too. This one is another solid sandwich that I would eat again.

Lastly for dessert, I had a pumpkin muffin. This was OK. I think it would have been better if they made a pumpkin spice muffin. If it had cinnamon or some curry spices it would have been really good. The pumpkin flavor was barely there and was flat. So I would pass on this muffin the next time and try another one.

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tour III

2007-09-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

The next stop was the Devon Market that caters to mainly Eastern Europeans. Here we see a lot of the same fruit and vegetables. They have a wide variety of wines form Eastern European countries such as Romania. The great thing about this market is the freshly baked bread. As you start to approach the bread section, the scent of freshly baked bread begs you to take a look. From what I remember a huge loaf was about $1.59. They also had fresh bread stuffed with cheese, meat, spinach or a combination of the three.

Cho Dang Tofu House

2007-09-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have been here a few times. The Hae Mul Bi Bim Bop, the marinated short ribs and most of the tofu dishes are all pretty good.

It is the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop that keeps me coming back.If I was Korean and my mom made Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop then I think this is how it would taste. Beef, rice, spinach, carrots, bean sprouts, and some hot bean paste in a ketchup bottle (they don't use an egg) thrown in a iron bowl (not stone as some places do). It is one of those things that is so simple, yet so umm...good almost divine.

So a torchon of foie gras at the French Laundry or Cho Dang Tofu House's Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop? It's a toss up, it really is.

Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop (Sample picture only; my camera battery ran out)

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tours Part II

2007-09-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

The next place was La Unica that has food for all types of Latin cuisine. Some of the unique items I saw were the quince and mango jellies that were sliced and place on crackers with cheese to provide a sweet contrast. Block and cone sugar and chocolate was interesting to see as well as purple corn. People of the Andes make a refreshing drink from purple corn called "chicha morada" which is now recognized as a nutritive powerhouse due to its phenolic content.

The interesting thing was the eating area to the side. Walking past the store front, one would never know that it has a restaurant in the back. We took a little break and tried a few foods; yucca (pan fried?) with some picked onions and two types of plantains. The yucca was very starchy and dense. It tasted like a potato, but was a little grainier. I could see how the yucca could make food go a long way because it was filling. We also had a fried sweet yellow plantain that was tender almost creamy. The green plantain was lightly fried and then pounded flat and fried again. It was like a very dense potato chip with just a light hint of sweetness. The sweet lemon and a sour orange we bought from the Rogers Park Fruit Market added a nice amount of acidity to the plantains and cut some of fat. The rest of the menu was pretty varied including Cuban sandwiches and some Peruvian dishes.

What If.. Fridays

2007-08-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

If you could automatically be able to speak and understand another language besides English, which language would it be and why?

Sincemy parents are from the Phillippines then I would say Tagalog.

Tagalog (pronunciation: [tɐˈgaːlog]) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. It is the most spoken Philippine language in terms of the number of speakers.
Tagalog, as its de facto standardized counterpart, Filipino, is the principal language of the national media in the Philippines.

It is the primary language of public education. As Filipino, it is, along with English, a co-official language and the sole national language. Tagalog is widely used as a lingua franca throughout the country, and in overseas Filipino communities. However, while Tagalog may be prevalent in those fields, English, to varying degrees of fluency, is more prevalent in the fields of government and business.

Being able to read and write just opens up other worlds for you to explore. Yes, you can travel to other countries and not speak the language, but I think speaking it opens up another layer of experience. You can just sit and listen other people in a cafe or watch local news and feel right at home. Also, I wish my parents taught me Tagalog so I could communicate with my older relatives easily.

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tours Part I

2007-08-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Chicago area or are planning a visit from anywhere in the world, you should call or e-mail Evelyn to book an unique and exciting tour. As you stroll down the isle of any store, Evelyn will answer all of your questions about all of the exotic ingredients. Not only will she tell you how it is prepared but also it's discovery, cultural history and any unique properties. Be sure to bring an appetite, along w some extra change, because you will be sampling and tasting lots of things. Many people stock up on ethnic grocery supplies and/or plan to do some of their holiday gift shopping on the tour. It's sometimes hard to keep this page up to date about Evelyn. In addition to helping run her husband's computer consulting business, she now also teaches a course entitled "Food and Culture" at the University of Illinois (Chicago)in the Department of Human Nutrition.

From http://www.ethnic-grocery-tours.com/

The tour started with a bang; a heavy thunderstorm unusual for the month of August in Chicago. I was used to hot and humid, but sunny. We met Evelyn Thompson, a vibrant and knowledgeable young lady who teaches an ethnic food class at UIC so that future health care professionals and dieticians can be sympathetic to other cultures needs when planning food plans. We decided to stay in the Rogers Park area, but she said that she would do South side tours or Polish and Chinese grocery stores depending on what people were interested in.

Cactus Pears

Supermercado Chapala was the second stop of the tour. This Mexican grocery store sells fresh produce, memorable guacamole and specialty items such as Mexican sour cream. There is an eating area with about 10 little booths where you can eat some the best carnitas around and roast chicken. They also have a selection of tacos like cabeza tacos. The store was packed when we went in on a Monday morning, it might have been due to the heavy thunderstorm, but people looked pretty happy to be there.

to be continued...

Amarin Thai Cuisine

2007-08-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Amarin Thai Cuisine
6608 Folsom Auburn Rd Ste 9
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 988-8581

Tom Yum Kai Soup

Spicy eggplant
Spicy green curry with chicken

I have been here 3 or 4 times and the food is pretty consistent. As you can see we ordered the Tom Yum Kai with Chicken soup, spicy eggplant and green curry with chicken. The Tom Yum soup had a alot of flavor to it with just enough sourness (from the lemon grass?) to contrast with the slight saltiness and complement the chicken.

The next thing I tried was the spicy eggplant. Frying eggplant is not my favorite way to prepare it but my partner in crime wanted it. It was OK, I like the texture of the tofu where it is firm on the outside and soft on the inside when fried. It is kind of like a steak.

The green chicken with curry was next. My friend cannot handle any heat so we requested it mild. After the first bite, I noticed it was sweeter that usual. My guess is that they added more coconut milk to cut the heat. C'est la vie. Generally the curry is pretty good.

Then as we were waiting for the check I tried the candy for dessert (Kopiko). I was like WHOA! It was literally like a shot of brandy with coffee. It was very intense, but after the intial shock it was good.

Overall I would give this place a 13/20 = Good. I would recommend eating here. I would say it is probably just as good as many other Thai places I have eaten at.

What if...Fridays

2007-08-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

I just came back from Chicago and will have a number of Chicago food related posts soon, but for now:

If you had to choose between love and no money or money and no love for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

I can never answer these types of questions with a simple, "I choose A over B." For me there is always a way to beat the system or the question. I think I think like the devil in the movies. In those movies the character will say, "Make me rich and powerful." like in Bedazzled. So his wish is granted a he is turned into a drug lord with the US about to invade his property and take him down.

So to answer the question, I would choose love and stipulate that the woman would make a decent salary or all the money would be in her name. (IF we ever divorced then according to California law, I would get 50% anyway.)

Bobo's Cafe

2007-08-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I was all excited to try some of the "Best Vietnamese in Sacramento." It was ranked even higher than Lemon Grass.

So we went to the one off Marconi on Fulton for lunch. There were other Asian people eating inside, which is a good sign.

So we ordered a crispy crepe. It is a crepe with chicken, bean sprouts and some miscellaneous ingredients. That came first. The size impressed us as it was large. We had this dish many times from La Vie in San Francisco. My first bite...where the hell is the flavor? The crepe was sort of crunchy. After adding some hot sauce it was OK.

Next up on the menu was lemon grass chicken, but our server kept saying Kung Pao chicken which is #45. This went on for 30 seconds and we decided to trust the waiter. What we got was overcooked chicken in a sauce which was much too thick and a cross between Kung Pao and a cream with tomato sauce. No lemon grass to be seen or tasted.

Moving on the the last dish, beef, chicken, shimp, vegestables on a crispy noodles. Sounds more Chinese to me. Well the same chicken that was used to make the previous dish appeared again. Tough, dry, and had the same flavor as the previously mentioned dish.

I should have know something was wrong when the iced tea tasted funny.

Who in the hell voted this best of Sacto, not me. I would give this place a 3/20. I would not eat here if you paid me to unless I could take the money and eat somewhere else.

Outbreak of Botulism Associated with Castleberry's Canned Chili

2007-07-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

Public health officials in Indiana, Texas, and at CDC are investigating an outbreak of botulism associated with canned hot dog chili sauce manufactured by Castleberry's Food Company.

http://www.castleberrys.... (for all products)
http://www.fda.gov/opaco... (for FDA-regulated products)
http://www.fsis.usda.gov... (for UDSA-regulated products)

Funny if you look at these lists, canned chili and pet food are on there. One product sounds almost edilble to eat, "Eatables for Dogs Chinese Take Out With Sauce With Vegetables and Chicken."

How many dogs order take out?

Zachary's Pizza

2007-07-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Zachary's Pizza Oakland
5801 College Ave.
Oakland, California 94618

Guess: Is it pepperoni or spinach and mushroom?

Pepperoni Pizza
Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

I did not actually eat at the restaurant, but I took two half-baked (not what you are thinking; no green involved) pizzas. I had heard a great many things about this pizza and If I have not said this enough, am from Chicago where deep dish pizza was invented. I so wanted to fall in love with this pizza to have an excuse to drive to the Bay area.

I have been to Chicago Fire in Folsom and think that is a pretty good pizza. It is on my list to go to Zelda in Sacramento. Since I am more of a carnivore I baked the pepperoni pizza first. It looks pretty thick and heavy for its size. So I take my first bite and I start to chew and the first thing I taste is salt. Lots and lots of salt. It is like someone poured a teaspoon where I took a first bite. I am the type of person who really likes salty foods too, but this was too much. Luckily the rest of the pizza was not so bad, but the first bite kind of ruined it for me.

I froze the spinach-mushroom (which they do not recommend). So what I did was to cook it on a cast iron griddle (instead of a pizza stone) at 475 F for 10 minutes to crisp up the crust and then turned the heat down to 350F for an additional 30-35 minutes to cook the insides. It turned out perfect. A nice crispy crust with a little chewiness and the inside of the pizza nice and melted. There was a nice amount of spinach and mushroom taste, the cheese binding everything together. and the crust was providing the crisp background.

Now I am happy.

That first pizza must have been an anomaly. I want to get another pepperoni pizza to gain a better experience.

What if Fridays

2007-07-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

If you had to repeat any single year of your life to date, without changing a thing, which year would you relive?

This is really a tough one, I feel lucky; I had had a few good years. I would have to say October 1997 to September 1998. That was the year I met my soon to be wife, living in Chicago and still a student with very few responsibilities.

Yes, they say people from Chicago never shut up about Chicago even though they are living somewhere else, but it is great town.

So many memories, so few pictures. C'est la vie.

Dreyer's Dibs 94% of RDA of saturated fat

2007-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Usually 94% is a good number such as if I have a 94% chance of winning the lottery or if I scored 94% on the exam. We decided to watch Spiderman 3 at the Imax on Saturday. We had an ice cream craving so this is what we ordered. I ate one and thought, "these are pretty good."

Until I looked at the nutritional content. 94% saturated fat? really? The numbers not transposed wrong;did they mean 49% as in the number above it? No. I wanted to return the Dibs.

So even if I split this evenly I still would eat 50% of my RDA of saturated fat? Not cool. I mean they taste pretty good, but not worth the fat content. On one hand, at least they did not make the entire package 26 servings to try to confuse consumers, BUT if yo look at their website

Dreyer's lists the total fat content, but not the percentages. Sneaky, eh?

So for fun I listed comparable portions (105 gm or 3.7 ounces) of different food.

Pork Rinds = 15 gm fat (74%)

Breyer's Triple Chocolate ice cream 4.5 gm of fat (22%)

Round Table's 1 slice of King Arthur Supreme 6 gm (30%)

1 apple 0 gm (0%)

The moral of the story? Buyer beware or eat some Breyer's ice cream before you go to the movies.

Mustard's Review

2007-07-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

Mustard's Grill
7399 Saint Helena Hwy
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 944-2424

This review encompassed the last three visits to Mustard's. One in October 2006, February 2007 and June 2007.

I mean doesn't that pretty much say it all? I make reservations four weeks in advance to make sure that we get to eat here. Usually I am one who likes to try a different place and a different item whenever I eat out, but Mustard's is one of those exceptions.

The Welcome Sign

Garden Shot in October

The Menu

Tea Smoked Duck, February 2007

The duck had a nice smoky flavor that was not overpowering and made the duck less gamy. It was cooked perfectly to medium rare and as with many things the pineapple chutney's sweetness complemented the duck nicely. The sticky rice cake was interesting. It was grilled? so that it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I guess it was an appropriate starch, I am not really sure was would go better.

Mongolian Pork Chop, October 2006

Mongolian Pork Chop, June 2007

Why is it so hard to cook pork? I guess the risk Trichinellosis is too much of a liability.

"The United States, reported 25 cases per year from 1991-1996 with few implicating pork. Documented sources of human infection have also included game meats such as wild boar, bear, walrus, fox and cougar. " Do I care? Not really, I will still order and cook my pork to medium rare if I can. Obviously things like bacon and pork shoulder will be cooked thoroughly.

Anyway back to the Mongolian pork chop. The pork chop is usually a double cut rib chop as you can see from the picture and is has been cooked perfectly to medium rare the two times I have had it. The sweet and sour cabbage provide a nice textural contrast as well as sweetness to complement the pork and a little acid to cut through some of the fat. The mashed potatoes work well as a canvas for the rest of the food. A dish I would highly recommend.

Truckstop Deluxe, October 2006, 12 oz ribeye steak

I just have a picture of this, my brother ordered it and I cannot remember how it was. It probably was good.

Warm Chocolate Hazlenut Truffle Tart, local Guittard bittersweet chocolate, Jack Daniels brown sugar ice cream, coffee caramel sauce.

I am a chocoholic and this satisfied all my cravings. You can tell the the chocolate was of high quality as it had a few layers of flavor not just chocolate. The tart was nice and crunchy and the caramel sauce brought the whole dish together. I wish there were two scoops of ice cream as with many desserts as there is the ratio of chocolate to ice cream is overwhelmingly in favor of chocolate. For me the ice cream provides a break/palate cleanser so I can enjoy more chocolate.

Two things we had last time were the corn tamales and spring rolls. No pictures though. Those two appetizers were as good as everything as well.

I would give this a 16 = Very Good and 16 vs all the restaurants as a whole. My only real disappointment was the menu had not really changed from February to June.

"What if..." Fridays

2007-06-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

If you could be a bird, what would you choose to be?

This reminds me of the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". I think this book was one of my roommates' and was just laying around one day and I decided to pick it up and give it a read.

There are so many choices and some obvious ones to avoid. Obviously being a dodo would not be good. Hmm, so a parrot or hawk, ostrich, penguin, robin? I definitely would not want to be a game bird or a chicken.

I would want to be a falcon, more specifically a Peregrine Falcon because it is the fastest animal on the planet in its hunting dive, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then dives steeply at speeds of over 200 mph.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Like a lot of people, I love speed plus this falcon eats a lot of duck! That's why I would like to be a falcon

FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Veggie Booty Snack Food

2007-06-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

Veggie Booty? :) It must be Friday (What if... to be posted later) because that name just cracks me up! And if you must know, yes I am only 16 years old. ;-)

Risk of Salmonella Contamination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat Veggie Booty snack food, marketed by Robert's American Gourmet, due to possible contamination with Salmonella Wandsworth, bacteria that cause gastrointestinal illness.

FDA advises consumers to throw away any Robert's American Gourmet brand Veggie Booty they have in their home. Veggie Booty is sold in a flexible plastic foil bag in four ounce, one ounce, and one-half ounce packages.

Veggie Booty is often consumed by children, so parents are encouraged to watch their children, and seek medical care if they observe signs of illness.

Individuals who have recently eaten Veggie Booty and who have experienced any of the symptoms described below should contact a doctor or other health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses in persons with a recent history of eating Veggie Booty should be reported to state or local health authorities.

This warning is based on 52 reports of illness across 17 states, beginning in March 2007. Almost all the illnesses have occurred in children under 10 years old, with the most cases in toddlers. Most persons had reported bloody diarrhea; four were hospitalized. FDA learned of the illnesses on June 27 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted an investigation of the illnesses with state and local health officials. The outbreak is considered likely to be ongoing.

Salmonella typically causes diarrhea (may be bloody); the diarrhea is often accompanied by abdominal cramps and fever. Symptoms typically begin within one to four days after exposure to the bacteria. In infants, persons with poor underlying health and those with weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections.

States reporting illnesses include: California (seven cases), Colorado (five cases), Connecticut (one case), Georgia (one case), Indiana (one case), Massachusetts (three cases), Minnesota (two cases), New Hampshire (two cases), New Jersey (two cases), New York (13 cases), Oregon (one case), Pennsylvania (three cases), Tennessee (one), Texas (one), Vermont (three cases), Washington (four cases), and Wisconsin (two cases).

Robert's American Gourmet, of Sea Cliff, N.Y., which markets Veggie Booty, and its contract manufacturer, are fully cooperating with FDA's investigation into the cause of the contamination. Manufacturing and distribution of this product has ceased, and Robert's American Gourmet is recalling all potentially contaminated product, including all expiration dates and lot codes. The product is sold in all 50 states and Canada at retail locations and over the Internet.

FDA will provide updates as the investigation progresses and more information becomes available.

FDA Detains Imports of Farm-Raised Chinese Seafood

2007-06-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Products Have Repeatedly Contained Potentially Harmful Residues.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced a broader import control of all farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace (related to carp), and eel from China. FDA will start to detain these products at the border until the shipments are proven to be free of residues from drugs that are not approved in the United States for use in farm-raised aquatic animals.

This action by FDA, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will protect American consumers from unsafe residues that have been detected in these products. There have been no reports of illnesses to date.

"We're taking this strong step because of current and continuing evidence that certain Chinese aquaculture products imported into the United States contain illegal substances that are not permitted in seafood sold in the United States," said Dr. David Acheson, FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection. "We will accept entries of these products from Chinese firms that demonstrate compliance with our requirements and safety standards."

During targeted sampling from October 2006 through May 2007, FDA repeatedly found that farm-raised seafood imported from China were contaminated with antimicrobial agents that are not approved for this use in the United States.

The contaminants were the antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet, and fluoroquinolone. Nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet have been shown to be carcinogenic with long-term exposure in lab animals. The use of fluoroquinolones in food animals may increase antibiotic resistance to this critically important class of antibiotics.

None of these substances is approved for use in farm-raised seafood in the United States, and the use of nitrofurans and malachite green in aquaculture is also prohibited by Chinese authorities. Chinese officials have acknowledged that fluoroquinolones are used in Chinese aquaculture and are permitted for use in China.

The levels of the drug residues that have been found in seafood are very low, most often at or near the minimum level of detection. FDA is not seeking recall of products already in U.S. commerce and is not advising consumers to destroy or return imported farm-raised seafood they may already have in their homes FDA is concerned about long term exposure as well as the possible development of antibiotic resistance.

The FDA action includes conditions under which an exporter can be exempted from FDA's detention action by providing specified information to the agency This information must demonstrate the exporter has implemented steps to ensure its products do not contain these substances and that preventive controls are in place. The additional import controls placed on seafood from China will last as long as needed.

FDA may allow the entry into the United States and subsequent distribution into the marketplace of individual shipments of the Chinese farm-raised seafood products if the company provides documentation to confirm the products are free of residues of these drugs.

Sacramento Ranking: Some good news!

2007-06-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

In the Forbes.com article, "Best Cities For Young Professionals" Sacramento ranks #28.

28. Sacramento, Calif.
Not having a single one of our best 400 big businesses or best 200 small businesses really hurt Sacramento's standing, and the 34th ranking for its share of high-powered young graduates doesn't help either. The silver lining: a rank of 10th for its never-married 20- to 35-year-olds.

My question is, "Where are all these 20- to 35-year-olds?" I have been here about 3 years, but the number of clubs that have an 18+ night are increasing. They must be having fun somewhere without me :(

It surprising that we do not have any of the big businesses that Forbes.com mentioned. Oh well, C'est la vie.

"What if..." Fridays

2007-06-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

If you could suddenly possess an extraordinary talent in one of the arts, what would it be?

Of course I could say the culinary arts, but whether cooking is an art or a craft that is a debate for another day. Besides food, one of my other passions is classical music, especially the huge symphonic pieces such Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, Berlioz' Symphony Fantastique and Smetana's Moldau.

The ability to write a symphony with layers upon layers of instruments amazes me. I mean who can write a piece of music that will be played and loved 200 years from now. Anyone from American Idol? Ummm not a chance. Elvis or The Beatles? Maybe, but I think most of the kids nowadays would ask "who?" since the culture nowadays is what is the latest and greatest.

Back to the original question.

I would like to write something like Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The first four notes are probably the most widely known, even if you do not know the name of the piece.

"da da da dah"

Something that touches the hearts of men, a musical piece that hits you hard in the beginning, and then dissipates. It builds and builds and builds and comes crashing down around you at the end leaving you breathless.

That is the kind of piece of music I would like to compose.

Bounty Hunter Wine Bar Review

2007-06-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Bounty Hunter Wine Bar
975 1st St # B
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 255-0622

Napa Day 2: Lunch

If you want a bare bones meal and opportunities to try some good wine then this is the place. The only reason I heard of this place is that the guy who gave us our tour at the Del Dotto Winery told us that the Bounty Hunter uses the old barrels of their Cabernet wine to smoke their meat and I LOVE Del Dotto's wines.

I was torn about which sandwich to order. My significant other ordered the pulled pork, so that left me with The American Kobe Brisket roasted over the barrels of great Cabernet from Del Dotto or the Bounty Hunter Sliders. What you cannot see in the picture of the menu is that the sliders are made of wild boar. Sliders also remind me of my old days of working at White Castle. I decided to go with the sliders. since I am always up for trying new things.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Bounty Hunter Sliders

The pulled pork sandwich was great. The pork was tender and had a great smoky taste. You can tell it was cooked for a long time to get that tenderness and flavor. The BBQ sauce was a nice complement to the sandwich; just a little bit enhanced the pork flavor. The only thing I can see for improvement is making the sandwich with a little more body and crust, like the bread used for the sliders. Otherwise it was one of the best pulled pork sandwiches I have had in a long time.

The sliders were a little different. I was expecting a more intense and gamy pork burger. The burgers were juicy with a nice meaty texture. The flavor, to me, was similar to a turkey burger. She tried it and she said it was a little gamy. Hmm... Overall they were good and tasty, but I think I will try the Kobe brisket next time.

Below is a picture of what I had as a wine flight. All nice big, but soft reds. I liked them all and did not a preference of one over another.

Bayleaf Restaurant Review

2007-06-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

Bayleaf Restaurant
2025 Monticello Road
Napa, CA 94558
707-257-9720

Napa Day 1: Dinner

We went to Napa for the weekend to relax and celebrate my birthday. When I started to plan this trip six weeks ago, I originally wanted to go to Cyrus because the menu looked interesting. I was so excited that I made the reservation, not really knowing the location of the restaurant. We were staying at the Silverado Resort in Napa and when I mapped out the directions, it was quite a trek out there and did not know if the 1.5 hour trip would be worth it. So I was lazy and made a reservation at Bayleaf since it was right around the corner.

We arrived shortly before 8:00 PM, at sunset. When you arrive in the parking lot, you are first greeted by a wall of bamboo. As you turn the corner, the courtyard opens into a few sections. Pictured below is one of the sections. The outside was reminiscent of the French Laundry; French county/Napa country style.

I know we were in Napa, but I had a couple of rough weeks at work, so for my drink I ordered a martini instead of wine.

For our appetizer we ordered the Oven Roasted Crab Cake: Saffron Aioli, fennel and Meyer Lemon Preserve, Lobster Demi Glace. The crab cakes tasted fresh and the outside was cooked so that it was nice and crispy. The fennel was caramelized to a dark brown color and sweet flavor; no Meyer Lemon or lobster flavor. As far as the aioli, it tasted like mustard with no saffron flavor. Overall, I liked the crunchiness of the cakes and sweetness of the fennell, but the aioli might as well have been Dijon mustard.

The entree I had was the Beef Wellington.

I am surprised that I have never had this classic dish. One of the only reasons I wanted to try it was that Gordon Ramsey always has it on his show, Hell's Kitchen. Let's decontruct it:

Do I like filet mignon? yes; puff pastry? yes; foie gras? yes; quail egg? yes. So in theory this should be a spectacular dish, right?

I received my dish at the requested medim rare and started to cut into it and took a bite. Let's step back for a second and ask, "Why is this dish not served in more restaurants?"

Hmmm. let me take another bite...interesting...Five bites later, I have decided, I do not like this at all. The flavors are muddled, not really complementing or antagonizing each other. With each bite I tasted a litte beef, a little foie gras, puff pastry and a little egg. The foie gras was barely warm, the quail egg overcooked and the filet underseasoned. Too many flavors. What would have been interesting would have been to serve it deconstructed. Sear the beef, sear the foi gras, top the beef with the gently cooked egg and the puff pastry as a base for the foie gras instead of the usual bread. But then again I am not a chef.

My significant other had Hickory Smoked Babyback Ribs: Watermelon BBQ Sauce, Fries, Wine Country Slaw.

These were a whole different story. They were tender and you could taste just enough hickory so that you knew they were barbequed and not just grilled. The BBQ sauce had that right balance of sweetness and acidity to complement the pork. These were so much better than my Beef Wellington.

For dessert we had the special, fig tart plated with a caramel sauce. This was good, but could have been better if they tossed the tart and the plate with the caramel in the oven for like 5 minutes. The caramel was obviously plated much earlier because it was cold, not even warm as was the tart. The other thing is that there was barely half a fig on it.

In summary, a good start, muddled middle and a decent end.

So overall I would give this restaurant a 10/20 = average vs. other similar restaurants and as a whole I would give it 10/20 = average vs the entire landscape of restaurants.

Sunflower Natural Food Restaurant Review

2007-06-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sunflower Natural Food Restaurant
10344 Fair Oaks Blvd
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
(916) 967-4331

Just to prove that there is no bias, I AM A CARNIVORE. I truly like vegetables and fruit, but I do not think I could willingly give up meat. I have seen, "Super Size Me" and read "Fast Food Nation", but as Marcus Tullius Cicero said, "Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide. " Now that is out of the way, let's get to the meat (pun intended :-P).

I went up there this past Saturday and ordered a Nut Taco, a Mushroom Millett burger and a Nut Burger (pictured below) to share between a compared and myself and is the only item I took real notes on. The Nut Taco and the Mushrom Millett burger were good. They both had a nice amount of flavor with out the heaviness of meat.

As you can see the Nut Burger looks like a real hamburger. Along with the alfalfa sprouts it had lettuce, tomato and I think mayo. I am not sure what kind of nuts were used in the creation, I did not taste any distinctly. The other part of the burger might have been made with some chic peas (garbanzo beans) and the spices smelled like a mixture of curry.

The alfalfa sprouts and the lettuce make a nice, crisp contrast to the patty. The one thing I am not huge fan of is the chopped lettuce, I prefer my leaves whole otherwise they kind of fall all over the place.

As far as the texture is concerned it is really close to a nice medium rare burger. Some of the patty was caramelized with a little crunch, some of it was medium firm. The other thing that would have made it better for me, would have been the toasted bread like they do with the mushroom millett burger. That would have made it better.

Overall the three items I had were good and yummy. I would recommend this place for the vegan/vegetarian or the omnivore who wants something a little healthier.

As far at rating it, it's a little tough. I have not eaten at another vegetarian restaurant so I have nothing to compare it to. I can compare it to Boca burgers which I regularly eat since red meat is not that healthy for you. I would say it is a lot better than a Boca burger in terms of texture and flavor. I would say it is a better burger than fast food places like McDonald's, but not as good as a burger from some of the better burger places; In and Out, Squeeze Inn, Red Robin, etc...(from a carnivore's perspective)

Samurai Sushi Review

2007-06-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Samurai Sushi
12251 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 353-1112

This place has become my sushi place of choice, first as a fall back to Mikuni's on Hazel, then for its location, now I genuinely enjoy going to this place for lunch or dinner.

Like I said, if the wait at Mikuni was too long then we would head over here. For me the quality of the fish and preparation of the sushi is equal and that is what counts. I am into straight sushi and sashimi. I am not a huge fan of the many sauces and other flavors that muddy the freshness of the fish, especially a lot of those of some of the rolls like the, "kitchen sink" roll.

(flashback)

I was working in this restaurant a few years ago and this beautiful slab of tuna came in and the chef was breaking it down. I was standing there with the pastry chef (who was a cute girl, of course) and he cuts a huge piece off and offered it to the young lady. She was like "yuck!", he's like "you want it?" I was like, "Hell Yeah!" So there I was happily munching away on what was probably an 8 ounce piece of toro (fatty tuna belly) when I think about it.

Back to the review, I have been there about 7 or 8 times in the last six months for both lunch and dinner. What I like is, it is a fairly large restaurant, so even if it is busy the wait is never very long to begin with. This last time I was there I had the chirashi, I think it was about 3 pieces of tuna and salmon, a couple of the sweet egg triangles, and 3 or four miscellaneous pieces. The sushi rice was cooked properly with a little bit of sweetness and sourness.

All my pieces were cut nice and clean and tasted (and smelled) fresh. The tuna was nice and meaty and the salmon had that melt in your mouth quality.

Overall, I would rate Samurai Sushi 14/20 vs other Sushi places in Sacramento and 13/20 vs all food places overall.

Pancakes!

2007-06-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had a morning meeting a few days ago, so we decided to host breakfast as my place. One of the things I made was pancakes. I used on of Alton Brown's recipe. When I cook I usually do not measure things to accurately, usually just to taste. BUT, if there is flour and some kind of leavening agent then I will usually weight the flour to make sure that the proportions are correct.

I am not usually into details, except when I bake since it is fairly easy to mess up a whole batch, especially when you make large quantities. These turned airy, but a little dense to soak up the maple syrup or blueberry compote.

"Instant" Pancake Mix
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

6 cups all-purpose flour (28.5 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:
2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
1 stick butter, for greasing the pan 2 cups fresh fruit such as blueberries, if desired

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.

Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 pancakes

FDA Warning on Mislabeled Monkfish

2007-06-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

I like monkfish too! I love food, but not at the risk of dying. I think it is OK for people who choose to eat the puffer fish.

I would much rather leave this world doing something more exciting like wrestling a bear or fighting ninjas.

Fish Believed to be Puffer Fish; Contains Deadly Toxin

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to buy or eat imported fish labeled as monkfish, which actually may be puffer fish, containing a potentially deadly toxin called tetrodotoxin. Eating puffer fish that contain this potent toxin can result in serious illness or death.

Tetrodotoxin is not destroyed by common food preparation or storage, such as cooking or freezing. Monkfish do not contain tetrodotoxin.

The product was imported and distributed by Hong Chang Corp., Santa Fe Springs, Calif.
Consumers concerned that they may have purchased this fish should contact their retailer and ask if the product was received from Hong Chang Corp.

The product should not be eaten, it should be thrown away. Care should be exercised in handling the fish, as the tetrodotoxin may be present on the skin and flesh of the fish. Consumers should wash hands thoroughly after handling the fish.

Two people in the Chicago area became ill after consuming homemade soup containing the fish. One was hospitalized due to severe illness.

FDA's analysis of the fish confirmed the presence of potentially life-threatening levels of tetrodotoxin.

Initial symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning occur 30 minutes to several hours after food containing the toxin is consumed. Tetrotoxin poisoning is characterized initially by tingling of the lips and tongue. Tingling of the face and extremities and numbness follow. Subsequent symptoms may include headache, balance problems, excessive salivation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Consumers experiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medical care and are encouraged to report their illness to local health authorities. In severe cases, muscles can become paralyzed, and death may follow from respiratory muscle paralysis.
A total of 282 22-pound boxes labeled as monkfish were distributed to wholesalers in Illinois, California and Hawaii beginning in September 2006. These fish were then sold to restaurants or sold in stores. In one instance, the retailer labeled the fish as "bok," the Korean name for puffer fish.

The white 22-pound boxes were labeled in black ink. One box panel is labeled as: "FROZEN MONKFISH GUTTED AND HEAD-OFF" and "PRODUCT OF CHINA." A second panel bears nutritional facts and the following: "Ingredients: Monk fish; Imported by: Hong Chang Corp, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670; Product of China (P.R.C.)." A third panel has a checkbox indicating the size as either "0.5-1" or "1-2" and shows the net weight as 22 pounds. There are no manufacturing codes on the box. The fish in the box are individually wrapped in plastic bags with no labeling.

FDA allows puffer fish to be imported into the United States only under strict provisions that minimize the risk of the toxin being present in the fish. The recalled fish were not imported in compliance with those restrictions. FDA is examining all entries from the Chinese supplier and will take additional action, if warranted.

Baking Bread in a Rice Cooker

2007-06-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Baking Bread in a Rice Cooker?

Well I am up for just about anything. I found the procedure here.

I might try it some time in the next week, we'll see what happens!

HoiCin Cantonese Restaurant

2007-05-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

HoiCin Fine Modern Asian Cuisine
9555 Folsom Blvd #D
Sacramento CA 95827

I have had dim sum, lunch about five or six time, dinner 3 or 4 times and their, yes, All YOU CAN EAT!!!

It is kind of funny, I think that HoiCin is the only restaurant I have ever had breakfast, lunch, dinner and all you can eat.

Let me start with dim sum. We had the promotional items; I think we had:

Sesame Seed Ball (5) $2
Shrimp "Har Gow" (5) $2
Pork "Shu Mei" (4) $2
Steamed Pork Buns (4) $2.50

Everything was good, but I was disappointed that the steamed pork buns were store bought and not made in the restaurant (the tag gave it away). All in all we were pretty full for about $12. I think that's a pretty good deal.

Lunch is either hit or miss; sometimes the food is cooked well, sometimes a little overcooked, sometime canned fruit is used like when I ordered pears pork chop. Today I had the BBQ pork, that was good. You know how a lot of times when you get BBQ it is a little tough? I think they used a pork shoulder because it had a nice crust, but was tender.

Dinner I remember having:

"SAMPAN" STYLE CRAB

Smoked Sea Bass.

The smoked sea bass was really good. It was cooked perfectly with a nice amount of smoke permeating each bite. I think it was a little sweet too.

The All YOU CAN EAT, well that was just a blur, all the dishes I had were good, none great.

Overall I think it is a pretty good place to eat Chinese as good as Fat's in Folsom. So 14/20 vs other Chinese restaurants in the area and 12/20 overall.

Roasted Pork Shoulder

2007-05-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

I hope you have a good weekend.

"What is the difference between baked and roasted?"

Answer: Basically the cooking term "baking" refers to the method of cooking food in the dry heat of an oven. According to Williams-Sonoma Cooking Companion (Time Life Books 2000), the terms "baking" and "roasting' equally refer to the method of cooking uniform pieces of meat, poultry or vegetables in a small amount of fat or liquid in an open pan or dish in the hot, dry air of the oven. "Baking" is most usually associated with the process of making baked goods like cakes, pies and cookies. While "roasting" generally refers to meats, poultry, large fish, and vegetables.

I think the origin of he words may be the difference also, spit-roasting- impaling meat on a metal or wood spike and turning it continuously near the radiating heat source...McGee H. (2004) On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner.

Have you ever spit-roasted a cake? If you have, I am very impressed.

I highly recommend getting an over thermometer to make sure your oven is really at the correct temperature. I lived in an apartment once where the actual oven temperature was 75 degrees above what I set it at! That's a huge difference over a few hours.

1 boneless pork shoulder with skin if possible (about 4 pounds)
4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon Chinese five spice powder
Smashed 1 handful fresh thyme
4 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

The night before toss everything into a ziplock bag and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator. If you cannot do that try to let it marinate at least an hour.

1. Take the shoulder out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Roast for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours take it out of the oven and let it rest at least 30 minutes before slicing and eating.

Career Path Fork; Left or Right?

2007-05-24T12:51:00.001-07:00

A few years ago, I was in this career rut. I just moved to Sacramento and was just working part-time and the other 50% of the time I tried to "find myself". Corny and cliche, I know :) I went through a barrage of career tests. After about a month, I had it narrowed down to ER doctor, HS science teacher and cook.

I finally decided on HS science teacher. I figure I could help struggling students and make a decent living. So I started to study for the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET). As I started to study basic science, chemistry, astronomy and earth science I realized one thing. Teaching erosion for the next 20 years is something I did not want to do. The basic sciences do not change and I get bored semi-easily.

So after about a month of studying I decided to look into becoming a cook, then maybe a chef. I started in intern at Cascades in Roseville. The restaurant closed down a few years ago. How I chose this restaurant, in the middle of nowhere, I really cannot say. It was very interesting, was it like Kitchen Confidential? Well, almost. If I told you everything now, what you you have to look forward to?

That's all I will say for now. For a more mundane view, you can check it out here.

If you are seriously looking into a career in cooking, check out the rant below, I copied it, I did not write it.

Got this rant from a long time ago http://www.chef2chef.com/:

Thank you for applying, you want to be a cook huh?

No you say, a chef? OK then, here's the MINIMUM BASICS I expect you to know.

Each of these skills you will be required to perform rapidly, under pressure, within a set time frame, in a team environment with minimal supervision.

You must work in a safe, organized, clean and sanitary fashion with little to no waste. These skills I expect you to perform with complete competence and understanding of proper technique and procedure.

Ability to dice, slice, chop, julienne, carve, brunoise, peel and turn standard fruits, vegetables and proteins.

Knowledge of grading, butchery and cooking techniques of beef, pork, poultry, fish and shellfish.Ability to bake, broil, boil, saute, braise, blanch, grill, steam, stir fry and roast primary cuts of beef, fish, shellfish, pork, poultry and vegetables.

Know what can be baked, broiled, boiled, sauteed, braised, blanched, grilled, steamed, stir fried or roasted...and what can't.

Know when a food is cooked enough.

Know when a food is cooked too much.Know how long a food is to be cooked.Knowledge of dairy products, fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and pastas. Stocks, demi's, remi's, fumes and glace.

The how's and why's.The 5 mother sauces and those that aren't; purees, coulis's, jus's, essences, foams, ect.

Sanitation and hygiene: Safe temperature zones, holding times, cross contamination, basic foodborne illnesses, receiving and storage applications, pest control.

Knowledge of nutrition.

Full service, working experience of ala carte pantry, grill, saute and expedition.Knowledge of salads.

Knowledge of salad dressings - vinaigrette and emulsions. Ability to prepare steaks and roasts to desired doneness by internal temperature, time or feel.

Service of hot food hot, cold food cold, and all that implies.

Strong garde manger skills to include but not limited to hot and cold buffet/platter presentations, center piece art work and hors d'oeuvres.

Basic baking and pastry skills.Write, execute and delegate mise en place and prep lists. Menu development, costing, testing, training, set up and execution.Read, create, write, calculate, adjust and tweek recipes.

Knowledge of basic first aid.Safely operate and maintain slicers, mixers, robot coups, buffalo choppers, convection and conventional ovens, tilt kettles, flat tops and steamers.

Interview, hire, train, evaluate, organize, lead, discipline and motivate a staff of your peers.Understanding of food costs, inventories, scheduling, payroll, P&L statements, marketing, ordering and receiving.Understanding of labor laws to include equal opportunity employment, workmans comp, sexual harassment, employee discipline and termination procedures.

Let me ask you, did a book give you this knowledge? Yes, some you say.

Did your 2 year AOS give you this knowledge? Yes, some you say.

Great, please go over in detail your experience and expertise in each area I've listed that qualifies you for the chef's position.....I thought so.

So ends the rant. lol.Not to be taken too (cough) seriously.

Comfort Food

2007-05-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

I love a good burger, who doesn't? So what do you do when you have craving on a Sunday when a lot of the good burger joints are closed like Squeeze Inn and Nation Meats? Any man should be able to make a burger. So few Sundays ago, I went down to the Safeway and bought 80/20 lean ground beef and put. (I know I should have ground the meat myself, but I was feeling kinda lazy) I opted to go with the jalapeno foccacio bread instead of a bun and one of my favorite sides, onion rings. I had some Havarti cheese around so I ended up making a cheeseburger.

Onion Rings

INGREDIENTS
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup beer
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
4 onions, peeled and sliced into rings

DIRECTIONS
In a large, deep skillet, heat oil to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, combine flour, beer, salt, and pepper. Mix until smooth. Dredge onion slices in the batter, until evenly coated. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

I used red/purple onions so they were a little sweeter and cut them thick so that they would stand up to a little extra fry time since I like my onion rings very crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.

I needed to buy beer for the beer batter anyway, so I decided to treat myself to some Newcastle. Newcastle is my favorite beer. Open and pour.

Overall, it was a pretty solid meal. I had no complaint except for the likely high fat content of the meal. Well I skipped dessert that day so everything evens out, no?

Fun Food Fact

2007-05-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

In the 17th century, based on a question raised by the Bishop of Quebec, the Roman Catholic Church ruled that the beaver was a fish. The legal basis for the decision probably rests with the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, which bases animal classification as much on habit as anatomy. Therefore, the general prohibition on the consumption of meat on Fridays during Lent did not apply to beaver meat.

Source

So I guess land sharks are are forbidden during Lent?