Saturday, July 11, 2009

Whoppers Ice Cream Pie

Wow. Has it really been 3 months since my last post? It's amazing how time flies amidst work-related projects, timelines, and deadlines. But, my hope is to get back into the rhythm of blogging (and cooking) again.

So, my first foray back into cooking and entertaining included this recipe which was not hard to find. It was right on the back of a box of Whoppers. The malted chocolate candy Whoppers not the Burger King hamburger Whopper just in case anyone was confused.

The only change I made was instead of using vanilla ice cream, I substituted cookies n' cream. This made the perfect finale to the 4th of July get together that Dean and I hosted. And it was so easy to make!



WHOPPERS ICE CREAM PIE

1 pint cookies n' cream ice cream, softened
8 oz whipped topping
2 cups of Whoppers, crushed
1 graham cracker pie crust

1) Mix together the ice cream and whipped topping until well-blended.

2) Stir in 1 cup of the crushed Whoppers.

3) Spoon mixture into the graham cracker pie crust.

4) Sprinkle top with the remaining crushed Whoppers.

5) Place in freezer for at least 4 hours.


Makes 6 -8 servings.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

IsItEDible at OB Town

A few years ago, the New York Times had a great article on Korean Fried Chicken. During my trip to to NYC last year, I had the opportunity to try BonChon's version. Luckily for those of us in the Bay Area, New York City isn't the only city that has access to great KFC. Oakland's got it, too, thanks to OB Town(formerly Oriental BBQ Chicken Town).

OB Town
6101 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 595-5338

For those of you who want to give Korean Fried Chicken a try, order the Gan Jang Chicken ($14.50), which is coated with a delicious sauce with garlic and soy. Or if you like it spicy, then try the Yang Nyeom Chicken (also $14.50).

There's also several "bar dishes" on the menu. The garlic fries ($5.90) go great with the fried chicken.

If you are in the mood for seafood, then give the Shrimp Ganpengji (12.99) a try. At OB Town, the fry up the shrimp in a nice batter and coat it with a spicy sauce. Also, good are the spicy rice cakes and seafood ($12.90).

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Split Pea Soup


Here's a dish I literally turned my nose up at when I was a kid. But like many other foods, I've developed a fondness for this as an adult. It all started with the annual pilgrimmage that Dean and I make down to Palm Springs. We usually try to stop at Andersen's Pea Soup for a bowl of the restaurant's signature dish.

With the cold, wet weather we've been having lately, I've been in the mood for the smoky goodness of this comfort food. I scouted around on the internet and found some interesting variations over at 101 Cookbooks, the Food Network, and A Year of Crockpotting.

Here's my take on this comfort food classic.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 lb dried split peas
4 strips bacon
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic
6 cups water
2 tablespoons "Better than Bouillion" chicken base
1 tablespoon garam masala
salt and pepper to taste

1) Pick through the split peas for foreign particles. Rinse.

2) In a large pot, fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove and place on paper-towel lined plate. Crumble the bacon.

3) Add onions and garlic to the bacon grease. Cook for 3 minutes.

4) Add 1 cup of water and quickly scrape off the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the remaining water.

5) Add the dry split peas, chicken base, and garam masala. Bring the water to a boil.

6) Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes.

7) Remove from heat. Place half of the soup in a blender and puree. Pour pureed soup back into the pot and stir.

8) Salt and pepper to taste.

9) To serve, ladle soup into bowl and top with crumbled bacon.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ed's 1st Note: Thanks to my honey for helping me to stage this shot. All my previous attempts looked like green gloop in a white bowl.

Ed's 2nd Note: The garam masala gives this recipe a nice "smokiness." For extra smoky flavor, I used some of the
Saltworks smoked sea salt I picked up at the Fancy Food Show.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

IsItEDible at Citron

One of the great things about moving to a new city is getting to explore all the new restaurants. Granted, Oakland is just a hop, skip, and jump away from San Francisco, but Dean and I have truly enjoying scouting out new dining spots.

One of our discoveries is Citron. Located in the Rockridge area of Oakland, this restaurant has not let us down over several visits during the last 6 months. Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle describes it as a "charming neighborhood restuarant with a destination attitude." We always appreciate the chef's amuse-bouche, the warm bread (try the orange-hued one made with pepper), and the delicious French/Mediterranean cuisine served by an attentive and friendly staff.

Citron
5484 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 653-5484

Note the menu here does change regularly. On each of our visits, the Maine lobster bisque ($10) with creme fraiche gougere has always been on the menu. This is hands-down one of the best bisques I've had. It's svaory richness of the lobster is nicely accentuated by the gougere. This is a "must-order" if you see it on the menu. On our most recent visit, we brought Dean's mom who was visiting from out of town. She thoroughly enjoyed her butternut squash soup ($9) with orange scented shrimp and crispy leeks. For salads, try the baby spinach salad ($10). It's served with a warm balsamic dressing and accented by spiced pecans. A few slivers of sweet Medjool dates add an extra layer of sweet flavor that sets it apart from your typical spinach salad. Usually there is a choice of about 5 different entrees on the menu. We particularly liked the rosemary-scented rack of lamb ($26) which was served with a straw potato cake, romano beans. and a black olive-red wine sauce. For desserts, try the ginger ice cream ($9) served with whole wheat graham crackers and dulce de leche. A sprinkle of pomegranate seeds added a sweet and tart crunch.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Winter Fancy Food Show

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade brought the Winter Fancy Food Show back to San Francisco this year. I took the opportunity to join over 16,000 other attendees who walked up and down the aisles of the Moscone Center to check out over 1,250 booths in search of the latest and greatest in specialty food and drink. I even ran into fellow food blogger Amy from Cooking with Amy, and we both waxed nostalgic about our love of the whole spectrum of Hawaiian food... from plate lunches to fine dining.

This was my first year to attend. To say that I experienced sensory overload is an understatement. Amidst the pungent smell of the cheeses, the "oohs, ahs, and mmm's" of attendees, the celebrity chef sightings (I saw Ina Garten and Paul Prudhomme), and the delicious tastes of all the different things I tried, I definitely had a hard time narrowing down my #1 favorite food find from the Show.

So, instead I offer a glimpse at the following things which caught my attention (and may soon be found on the shelves of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, William Sonoma, or your local market).

Saltwork's Yakima Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt and their new line of Fusion Naturally-Flavored Sea Salts. The fragrant, smoky aroma of the the Alderwood brought back memories of meals around the campfire.


For those of you who like "boba" (also known as "bubble tea"...it's essentially tea with tapioca balls, keep an eye out for Sogo's popping boba. What's different about this boba is it literally pops in your mouth releasing a burst of liquid flavor.


I also was introduced to Landrin, a first time exhibitor at the show. This Russian confectionery gave out samples of their waferatto. I especially enjoyed their waferatto classic, a whole almond surrounded in white chocolate and crispy wafer with a coconut coating.

The folks at Stubb's Bar-B-Q celebrated their founder by commissioning artist Jason Baalman to create paintings using their sauces. I sampled some of their brisket with their hickory bourbon bar-b-q sauce. It was de-finger-lickin-licious.

Here's an unexpected combination: Wasabi Horseradish cheddar cheese! And it was pretty good!


Um, yeah. This company's name speaks for itself. (Or perhaps silence is golden?)


I thought that these SushiParty soy wrappers from Yamamotoyama would make a colorful addition to any Sushi party. And, yes, those wrappers are completely edible.


Did you know you could make bouquets out of lavash? The folks at California Lavash did.

I grew up on jasmine tea, but the white jasmine sparkling tea from Golden Star Tea Co was a nice twist on a classic.

You may have had madeleines, but think how much tastier they are when they are chocolate madeleines OR chocolate madeleines dipped in chocolate. These are the newest offerings from Donsuemor, based out of Alameda.

Finally, in the past year, I've developed a taste for mojitos, so I really enjoyed samplings of an iced mojito tea from Caffe D'Amore and a mojito ice sorbet from Silver Moon. Both products made their debut at the show so it may take a while before they are available in stores or served at your local restaurant.

So those are some of the things I particularly enjoyed from this year's Winter Fancy Food Show. Did you attend this year? What were some of the things you particularly liked? Were there any trends you noticed compared to previous years?

Check out what other food bloggers discovered at the Show...

Thursday, January 15, 2009

IsItEDible in Tokyo

Last month, I had the chance to spend about 40 hours in Tokyo on my way to a meeting in Palau. I didn't have much time to explore the city, but luckily I was able to maximize my short trip thanks to some helpful pointers from our good friend John who used to live there. After arriving at Narita airport at about 5 pm, I took an hour-long train ride into Tokyo. That night, I ventured out into the Shinjuku district(see photo below) where I had a late dinner at Tsunahachi, a restaurant known for its tempura.



I woke up early the next morning (thank you so much, jet-lag) and made my way to the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world's largest wholesale fish and seafood market. I wasn't quiet enough of an early bird to take in the tuna auctions, but I was able to still get a feel for the frenetic pace of this place. Like many other tourists, I indulged in a sushi breakfast featuring some extremely fresh sushi at Sushikan.


Around 10 am, I caught a ferry up to the Asakusa district to check out the Senso-ji Temple. Next, I walked over to Ueno in search of a restaurant that is famous for it's tonkatsu. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the restaurant so I ended up walking down to Akihabara, Tokyo's discount electronics district. By then I still hadn't had lunch, and my stomach was rumbling! So, I took my friend John up on his recommendation of Sugino-ko, on the Omotesando.


Afterwards, I walked over to Harajuku station in an unfruitful search for harajuku girls (apparently Sundays are when most of them come out). A quick subway ride brought me to Shibuya station where I got completely lost while looking for the next item on my "must-see" list... the statue of Hachiko (see photo below). It's a good thing I wasn't on the Amazing Race because I would definitely have been the last team to reach the checkpoint.


For those of you who aren't familiar with the story of Hachiko...it's a heart-wrencher (especially if you are a dog-lover). There was this Japanese professor who walked to the train station every morning accompanied by his dog. The man would get on the train, and his dog would return home. Every evening, the man would come back from work to be greeted by his dog at the train station. One day, the professor passed away while at work. For nine more years, his dog walked to the train station every evening, faithfully waiting for his master to return. The locals were so touched by his devotion that they cast a statue of him, and to this day, the statue of Hachiko is a famous meeting spot.

After finally finding Hachiko, I spent the evening wandering about Shibuya and Ebisu, and I even took in an amazing (and free) view of the city from the Ebisu Tower. And so ended my short layover in Tokyo which definitely left me with the desire to hopefully return one day to more fully experience all that Tokyo has to offer.

Below is additional information about the restaurants I dined at.



Tsunahachi
3-31-8 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Phone: 03-3352-1012

This is their flagship location. I lucked out and got a seat right in front of the deep-fry station. For me, this was a great spot, because 1) I got to watch the chefs in action 2) I was served my meal straight from the deep fryer and 3) I love eau de deep-fry. You might ask for a table upstairs if the previous things do not appeal to you. My server handed me a menu in Japanese, and he astutely observed me whipping out my English-Japanese dictionary. Luckily for me, he immediately handed me an English version. For 1995 yen (about $22), I ordered the tempura meal (about 6 pieces of tempura: including shrimp, eel, whitefish, and vegetables) which also came with a bowl of miso soup, rice, and Japanese pickles.


Umai Sushikan
5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku
Phone: 03-3541-2458

This restaurant is located in the "outer markets" at the Tsukiji Fish Market.If you're back is to the Tsukiji "inner markets" where all the wholesalers are, this restaurant is in the 2nd-from-the-right row of "outer market" shops. This place has more seating than some of the other sushi restaurants in Tsukiji so you may not have to wait as long to get seated. A couple of things I've learned about sushi etiquette over th years include: 1) if you are handed a wet towel, use it to wash your hands and NOT your face and be sure to fold it as neatly as possible when you are done, 2) it can be considered an insult to add wasabi to your nigiri as the sushi chef as already placed the amount that he considers appropriate underneath the fish, 3) that said, if you want to use additional wasabi then sneak some of it on your nigiri as opposed to putting the wasabi in your soy sauce, and 4) position your nigiri so that you dip the fish and not the rice into the soy sauce. Trying to mind all of my sushi manners, I had a very fresh sushi set (about 1500 yen) which included 9 pieces of nigiri and a few pieces of sushi. Check out the menu of sets here (I had the set on the bottom of the page).





Sugino-Ko
5-1-3 Jingumae, Shibuya
Phone: 03-3486-0160


I am so glad my friend John told me about this place. Walking down the stairs into the basement level restaurant, I was famished. The waiter placed a Japanese menu on my table, and I whipped out my Japanese-English dictionary. Luckily for me, he spoke English and helped me to navigate the menu. A lunch set only set me back 1000 yen (about $11.17), and look at all the delicious food I feasted on. Starting in the bottom right hand corner, that's miso soup with a few extras...bits of onion, carrots, and pork. Moving clockwise, in the small pink bowl are a few picked vegetable whose tartness perfectly complemente the pork. Next, a small cold dish of tofu topped with grated ginger and green onions. I'm not sure if this was the intent, but the tofu and ginger together served as a delicious palate cleanser. In the bottom left corner, a bowl of rice topped with furukake (dried seaweed flakes). Continuing clockwise, in the small square bowl is an egg...just slightly poached so the yolk was barely set and then chilled. In the large square plate, the main entree of char-grilled pork (or for the same set price you can choose fish or udon noodles). The pork was melt-in-the-mouth tender and lightly covered with a teriyaki-esque sauce. Also on the plate is a small salad of matchstick cut vegetables, including celery, daikon, and carrot. And finally in the upper right corner is a essert of almond jello and a citrus jello (not sure if this was lemon or yuzu).

Hopefully, if you ever visit Tokyo, then you will have much more time to expore than I did. I hope to return someday, and perhaps then, I might be able to explore all the placed recommended in this article by Food and Wine magazine.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Pan-Fried Tandoori Salmon

In one of the neighborhoods we used to live in , there was a deli owned by a South Asian family. One of the hot meals they offered was a grilled salmon seasoned with tandoori spice mix (which often includes coriander, cumin, paprika, garlic, ginger, and a few other spices.)

That was my inspiration for this dish. The tandoori spices are mixed with flour to give the salmon a golden-hued crust and an added layer of flavor. Hope you enjoy it.


PAN-FRIED TANDOORI SALMON

1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon tandoori spice mix
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 six ounce pieces of salmon fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil

1) In a shallow bowl, mix together the flour, tandoori spices, salt, and pepper.

2) Dredge the salmon in the flour mixture until fully covered.

3) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

4) Place each piece of salmon in the hot oil. Cook for 4 minutes.

5) Carefully turn the salmon over and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.