The White House

Today I got a personal tour of the white house! Sorry, the inside is secret. :)

Peregrine Espresso

Yum! Artisan drip in DC! We had an Indio Misty Valley from Ethiopia and a Tegu from Kenya.

Lighthouse

I am so happy.

Nara Sushi

I dropped into Nara and asked if they do this every day, and they do! I am so here next time we crave sushi. Their quality is not too bad at all.

Korean BLT

Thanks, S, for this amazing idea.

A Korean BLT is just a traditional BLT but with the bacon substituted with bulgogi. When S told me her friend's mom fed them this as kids, I thought "What a fun idea." After I made one and ate it, I thought "OMG, how am I going to resist eating this every day?"

Mmmm....closeup shot. It's so delicious. I have no words.

Kukje Korean Supermarket

This week's trip to the Korean supermarket included a rare Korean meal out. Oh, Los Angeles Ktown, how I miss you.

The panchan at Kukje are pretty good. The broccoli with little tofu curds was a little different from usual, but tasty. I should start making little dishes like this at home so we eat more kinds of vegetables every day.

I had dok bok gi (spelling known to vary widely), Korean rice cakes in a spicy chili paste sauce. I fell in love with this dish in high school during International Food Week, when all the foreign language classes would team up with food-savvy parents to run food stalls representing all the cultures of the kids at school. It was always such a great time, and one of the most fun fundraising events I've ever seen. Kukje's version is a little lacking in depth of flavor (usually achieved by adding something fishy or meaty), but quite tender and saucy. Good enough, though not fantastic.

J's neng myun was less exciting. The noodles looked a little overcooked, but he said overall it was fine if not great.

Happy Birthday, W!

Birthdays are always a great excuse to eat and drink too much, and this Saturday was no different--except maybe the party lasted a little longer than a normal one. Oh, let's say, 12 hours? We started the afternoon with a trip to the gym. And if you don't think that sounds like birthday fun, you're thinking of the wrong person whose name starts with W.

After the gym, we hightailed it to Waterbar for their daily $1 happy hour oysters (11:30-6:00 daily, with $5 drink specials on weekdays). We discovered a new beer, the Pinkus Organic Hefe-weizen. The Leffe blond might have a more interesting flavor profile, but the Pinkus is really smooth and neutral; a nice fizzy drink to have with food.

Two dozen oysters were enough to leave our inner mollusk-lovers sated while leaving room for what lay ahead.
And, in the first surprise of the evening, a free drink! This apparently basil-grapefruit concoction was presented to us by a server who said the bartender had made it by mistake. Another table's reject was our gain. I'm puzzled why another table would reject a free drink even if it were a mistake, but freeloaders don't ask questions. It was tasty.

We hung out in the Fillmore for awhile, stopped by Harry's bar for a quick beer, and then went to Woodhouse Fish Company to wait for a table. As soon as we sat down, we ordered and killed this plate of deep-fried Ipswitch clams. It might have been a fluke of the evening, but I think the Woodhouse on Market does a better fry job. A bunch of W's friends joined us at this point for a lobster-fest.

Almost everyone ordered one of these, and the birthday boy ordered two! Delicious, and not overly mayonnaise-y.

J had the crab cakes instead, and I think next time I might too. J didn't think they had enough flavor, but at $12 for a pretty big portion I don't think he should complain too much.

A block's walk later and we were at Wine Jar, which is a cute little neighborhood wine bar but not somewhere I'd go out of my way to frequent in the future. To his credit, the proprietor did pour W a great glass of champagne when he heard it was his birthday. Pretty generous, given that our group of 8 only ordered a bottle of malbec and glass of red. To his credit, W doesn't love champagne and bequeathed his windfall to me. What are friends for?

Speaking of what are friends for, the above image is stolen from the web because we had too much fun at Mad Pianos to remember the camera. What happens at Mad Pianos stays at Mad pianos, but let's just say the group owed W a round of Jack D. shots after what we did to him.
Ah, Pearl's. It might just be W's favorite restaurant in SF. He introduced a lot of his friends to this place at the end of the evening, and put away a double-patty buffalo burger in a salute to his 28th. What a trooper. As usual, I stole his frings (that's fries and onion rings in one basket, for you newbies). All in all, a fantastic SF birthday!

PS. We did go to the Hidden Vine after Pearl's, but the new owners are a real buzz kill. They've turned one of my favorite places in San Francisco into one of the least enjoyable drinking experiences anywhere. Thanks, doofuses.

Crispy Ribs Salad

Someone complained to me this week that losing weight is too hard even with regular exercise because he/she loves red meat too too much. Sigh, don't I know it! I too love red meat more than many other foods. Still, there are many reasons to eat less meat: you'll save money, help the environment, and stave off the extra pounds. And when you do eat meat, make sure it's good!

Tonight we're having slow-cooked Prather Ranch ribs, but instead of each eating slab of meat with bread, rice, or potatoes we're balancing our meal with plenty of colorful vegetables. It's ideal for me because I get all the flavor of beef without that heavy feeling you get after eating too much greasy food. Like I keep telling people: if you take the effort to make sure you're actually eating 5 fruits and vegetables every day, you shouldn't have that much room left for the tasty but less healthy foods we all love.


First, I salt and peppered the ribs and stuck garlic slivers in several slits in the meat, then wrapped tightly in aluminum foil and baked for almost four hours in a 200 degree oven. When I was ready to eat I took off the foil and crisped the meat on the outside, then cut it into small pieces and set aside.


The salad is mixed greens tossed with a little garlic dressing, then topped with toasted flax seeds (or sesame seeds) and finely slivered carrots. Beets, corn, tomatoes, roasted asparagus, or roasted bell peppers would have made it even more delicious.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

So many books, so little time. I have a really hard time deciding what to read whenever I wander into a bookstore or library. So more often than not, I let my friends tell me what to read:

Thanks, C, for the most recent suggestion. I have only gotten past the introduction and first chapter, but Weatherford's writing is lively and fun to read. Those of useducated in the West do not automatically think that Genghis Khan was just as important an influence on civilization as Julius Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte, but this little book is shaping up to give an Asian his due. For those of you who can't read books longer than 100 pages long, watch the Oscar-nominated trilogy "Mongol." The kid who plays young Genghis Khan is adorable.

Mocca

Nothing says spring like a few pops of champagne under the sun after an afternoon of dress shopping with a bride.

Emporio Rulli Cafe

What a lovely day to sit on Union Square, drinking a cold latte while waiting for Sur La Table to finish sharpening my knives so I can go get free ice cream on Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's.

Scallop Noodles

We ate a lot of colors tonight! More colors = more nutrition, and today we topped out at over half a dozen. I know, cheesy, but it's an easy way to remember to eat healthy.

J found a huge packet of small scallops for a great price at the supermarket, so we decided to do a stir fry with scallops, onions, two kinds of mushrooms, green onions, sugar snap peas, carrots, and onions.

We added a little shaoshing wine and hondashi, and a bundle of fresh noodles to make kind of a soupy stir fried noodle.

Afterwards, we had longan and satsuma tangerines for dessert. The harvest season for both of these fruits is in full swing now, and we were both happily stuffed since they are some of our favorites.

Soft-Shell Turtle Soup

Well, it finally happened. J found a soft-shell turtle at a Chinese seafood market and we cooked it.


Heebie jeebies aside, soft-shell turtle really does have the texture of chicken, but with a lot more sharp little bones and a sweeter flavor. I'm not sure it's different enough to compell me to pay $11/lb for it on a regular basis, but it was a tasty soup.

J didn't remember exactly what his friend's grandfather put in his recipe, so we stopped by a Chinese herb shop and asked the saleswoman what people usually cook with soft-shell turtle. She made us a great herb packet for under $5, and it included two of my favorites: dried mountain yam and foxnuts. I don't know too much about the other herbs, their names, or their supposed healing qualities. But I do really like Chinese medicinal soups. I'm going to have to remember to cook them more regularly: with chicken or short ribs!

Shanghai House

Yum!! Four stars for a new favorite: Shanghai House on Clement near 37th. We've always been fans of Shanghai Dumpling King up the street, but I think we'll be hanging out at SH more often for quite awhile.

Armed with some Chowhound reviews, I knew the xiao long bao were one of the things I wanted to try. Ironically, it might have been the least exciting item there. Overall it was very well done, but the Shanghainese have a tendency to put a lot of sugar in their food and for us the xlb went a little overboard in that direction. Still, they're better than 99% of the xlb out there.
Now, getting on with why we were super impressed. The vegetarian goose, which is usually just tofu skin filled with mushrooms, was above and beyond good. The outside was fried to be light and crispy, and the filling was warm and well-seasoned with a light plum sauce. So tasty! We also got another bean curd appetizer which was also delicious but went unphotographed.

Knife cut noodles! I love these, but there aren't too many places in SF that serve it. Shanghai House's version had nice thick chewy noodles in a flavorful but not overly salty broth. So satisfying. I want another bowl right now.
Lamb soup with vermicelli noodles and pickled vegetables. Appropriately sour, peppery, and meaty. One of the best versions we've had anywhere.

And finally, the savory soy milk. This dish looks disgusting and most people can't quite stomach it, but it's one of my favorites. Shanghai House's attention to detail was once again apparent in this dish, which was served quickly enough that the deep fried crullers in it were still crunchy while we ate them.


We're really looking forward to going back and exploring the menu, but everything we had was so tasty it'll be hard to decide what to not order next time. Prices were pretty great for the quality: three of us got extremely full for about $15 each after tax and tip. My only quibble was that service is extremely slow. But it's a mom and pop operation, and the care they put in each dish really shows, so I assume they just really can't move any more quickly! And it really is worth it.

Braised Beef Shank

Mmmm, beef. Okay, we've had a lot of beef lately. I think even I need a break after today.

The presentation needed some work but I braised my first beef shank today. I simply seared it on both sides, added a handful of finely chopped onion, and let a splash of vodka and a dollop of beef demi glace sizzle in the pan before I poured in enough water to cover the shanks halfway. Then I covered the pot with a heavy lid and let everything simmer on low until the beef was tender. Carrots and large chunks of onions went in until soft, and peas and spinach were added in the last five minutes. Easy, tasty, and all it needs it a little salt and pepper at the end.

Minami Sushi

After about two weeks of saying he had sushi cravings, J finally succumbed and we broke our "no dinners out on weekdays" rule to check out Minami, a bargain sushi dive out on Clement and 20th. Besides a mediocre spider roll, we liked everything else a lot!

My $15.50 chirashi was definitely the winner in terms of beauty and volume. In addition to sashimi, there were a lot of cooked items like shitake mushrooms, stewed daikon, and pickled vegetables mixed into the rice. I think an extra bowl of rice would make this a good meal for two people.

J got the sashimi combo plate, which was a little less at $13.50. He got two or three kinds of sashimi that I didn't get, plus his rice came hot while mine was a little lukewarm.


We also got natto ($3.50) for the first time in a long time. The entire staff seemed very surprised that we wanted it, but it isn't at all as stinky and gross as people make it out to be. It has a dark, roasty, salty flavor. Who doesn't like that?


Maybe it's the texture that everyone finds so gross. The beans are fermented and develop a slimy outer covering. It doesn't taste like anything, and I think it's kind of fun to play with. I will definitely be eating more natto in the future.

Strawberry Shortcake Shortcut

Sometimes, I cheat and take shortcuts when people come over for dinner. After making a meal, sometimes it's just too much effort to also coordinate a dessert! Besides, J and I don't eat dessert regularly so I don't bake unless I'm pretty sure I'll be able to give at least half a batch away. So tonight, we had cheaters' strawberry shortcakes! Not the best presentation, but who's judging?

The cakes were from a Chinese bakery. I bought three slices of two-layer chiffon cake with lemon glaze filling for $1.55 (can't beat that price even if you bake it yourself!), and what you see above is actually only half of each slice. I split them so the desserts would be a more reasonable size after being topped with lightly sweetened vanilla flavored whipped cream and chopped strawberries macerated in a little sugar.

It was a very successful dessert: light yet decadent, not completely unhealthy, very cost efficient, and I don't have a pan of cake left staring at me at the end of the night.

Nettie's Crab Shack

Finally visited Nettie's Crab Shack, the restaurant now in the old Home on Union Street location. I have to say, I miss Home. The restaurant itself is bright and cheery, with a lot of sunshine and a casual vibe. I liked having dishes like chilaquiles or mac n' cheese to go along with that vibe. Nettie's, while good, certainly isn't worth a special visit. I wouldn't mind stopping in if I were in the area, but I don't have cravings to return like I do with Woodhouse Fish Company!

Prather Ranch Beef Ribs

Wandering through the Ferry Building after my workout today, I saw a sign in front of the Prather Ranch store that said "1/2 off beef ribs." Intrigued, I stopped to ask the details. Turns out I was at the store so close to closing that Carter was willing to give me an extra sweet deal!

Behold, FIVE pounds of grass fed beef for under $8! It's really the steal of the year for me in terms of beef. I can't often afford grass fed beef, but next to buffalo it is the best for flavor.

Look at how beautiful this is right out of the package. This was the smallest and thinnest of the three slabs I got, and I didn't bother trimming it at all. For me, the sign of good beef is this: the meat is bright red, it's not dripping with any funny liquid, and it already has a fragrant beefy smell before it's cooked.

Since we were pressed for time and dealing with a very small rib tonight, we just baked it in the toaster oven with a little salt and pepper for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees and chewed the meat straight off the bones. My inner carnivore rejoiced; I really do love beef more than any other kind of meat.

Strawberries!

Strawberry season has started in California. I know, it seems strange to me too but at $20 a flat and with my intense fruit cravings, I figure I had to buy them. Plus, I expect company both days of Easter weekend so I'll have plenty of help.

On my way home from the market I had at least half a dozen people comment on my crate of strawberries! Some wanted to know the price, others just oohed and awed. But the cutest was a little girl who took a deep whiff of the air and told her mom "it smells gooood!" She's right, they do smell good! I came home and engaged in my OCD strawberry ritual:

1. remove all the berries that are as ripe as they'll get before they go bad. Wash and eat those on the first day.
2. If you truly have a ton of berries, select the ripe but not borderline rotting berries. Clean them, remove the leaves, slice them in half, and spread them in one layer on a baking sheet to freeze. Place in an airtight container or plastic bag.
   
3. line a large airtight container (glass or plastic) with a dry paper towel. Starting with the least ripe berries, place the strawberries in a flat layer and alternate with layers of paper towels. I leave these at room temperature for a day or two to let the strawberries ripen naturally, then place them in the refrigerator. It's amazing; strawberries will keep a week easily this way, and I've even seen them fine after three weeks.
   

The anti-rot ritual and the fact that I know my fruit hasn't been sitting in a Safeway for two weeks are the only reasons I'm willing to buy this many strawberries in one go.

Breakfast Beans

Breakfast is rarely creative around here (eggs, oatmeal, cereal, porridge...) but today it was a little different.

Okay, not that different except for the beans. Last night was fridge-and-pantry clearing night, and I cooked up a mix of black-eyed peas, frozen spinach, caramelized onions, and fresh tomatoes with a little shrimp paste. The resulting mash was not at all appealing to the eye, but both our reactions when we took a bite was "Hey, not bad." So we each had a big bowl over rice last night, and the leftovers were folded into little breakfast tacos.

Paladar Cocina Cubana

Paladar Cocina Cubana is one of the few Cuban places I know of in the city. Because it's situated on a block of Kearny very close to the financial district, it's always struck me as more of an office lunch spot than destination dining. Still, whenever I walk by people seem to be really enjoying their food so when my friend was in town for work we decided to go.

If you like coffee, don't skip their cordadito, an espresso with sugar and a splash of milk. It's quite sweet, but the coffee is strong enough to stand up to all the sugar. There's also cafe con leche for those we need a bigger drink.

I had the steak sandwich special. The grilled onions and garlicky sauce really made the sandwich fantastic.

The arroz con pollo may have been the star of the day, however. It was a huge mountain of food including fried plantains, a salad, and what must have been two and a half cups of rice. The chicken was very tender and flavorful, and between the two of us voracious eaters the two plates of food were just enough to share and get a taste for a lovely little restaurant. Service was quick and friendly; we were cheerfully mocked for never having been there before and told to come back again soon--no problem!

Checkerboard Lace Scarf

The Purl Bee is one of the cutest and most user friendly textile craft blogs around, and today I thought I'd send them a shout out in honor of the first project I've started from their extensive collection of free patterns. This is the checkerboard lace scarf. If you click the link, you'll see that mine is still a misshapen lump compared to their finished project. It's okay, that's how knitting is. The projects never truly come together until they are washed and stretched properly. Here's hoping it comes out right!

Besides the cool pattern, what makes this scarf special is the yarn I'm using. I've always been pretty stingy about yarn because I'm an amateur knitter. But when Artfibers closed their store in San Francisco, I splurged vowed to make myself a high quality project I'd be proud to wear for a long time. The name of this yarn is Casanova, and it's a lightweight yarn with a slightly rustic look. Its twiggy texture comes from being 50% comprised of Tussah silk, a silk that has coarse brown fibers and comes from semi-tropical regions like southern China or Bengal. The soft, luxurious texture comes from it's 38% mulberry silk, which is the softest and most expensive silk around. Throw in 12% mohair and it's a very unique yet practical yarn: the silk will make it extremely warm in a city where the wind picks up without notice, but the lightweight natural fibers should be a breeze (har) to stash in a purse, breathable, and durable.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the beauty of knitting with a luxury yarn. As with cooking and sewing, a simple project can be more exceptional than a complicated one if you start out with stellar materials!

Rogue Brewery

A couple of years ago I went to Portland with friends and realized the Rogue Valley is a hotbed of good food, especially cheese and beer. So when they opened up shop in North Beach, I made a mental note to eventually stop by.

We powered through a house rootbeer and white frog Belgian white beer before we remembered to take a photo, but I really enjoyed sitting in the sun in the beer garden behind the bar. They have a nice menu of the usual bar offerings, steamed seafood pots, a lot of kobe beef items for whatever reason, and happy hour in the afternoon and after 10pm. I also saw several cheeses displayed in a refrigerator by the door. Note to self: come hungry next time.

Kor-exican Snacks

The latest rage on the streets of LA is a Korean taco truck by the name of Kogi BBQ. Click the link and tell me if it doesn't make you salivate and want to stalk the truck all over LA County.

Alas, I no longer live in LA and don't know when I'll be there again, so Saturday night I whipped up some Korean-influenced tacos of my own. Because we had a vegetarian amongst us, the choices included tofu as well as bulgogi and tripe along with kimchi, tomato salsa, and red chili dressing. My efforts were not successful enough to quench a Kogi craving; instead, now I want to try the real deal even more!

One of the sides we had was a kimchi pancake. I sort of winged it based on what I remembered from what people have told me and what I've seen on the web, but it was a little doughy in the center and not crisp around the edges. I think the batter needed more flour and oil. Anyone want to help me out here? It was nice with ponzu and sesame seeds though.

Wing Lee

Everyone loves an All-American corn dog, but I'm not sure I'd eat this new variation on it. I mean, first of all, what kind of dong IS it?

Spaghetti and Clams

I haven't made linguini and clams in years, but I can't for the life of me remember why because it is one of my favorite pastas. But because I didn't have linguini in the pantry, today we ate spaghetti and clams instead.

Yesterday I saw canned clams on sale for 99 cents and was reminded of this low budget meal that J and I used to make all the time when he was in law school. It's a great $4 meal for two: 99 cents for a pack of pasta, 99 cents for a can of clams, and $2 for an onion, some parsley, a shot of clear alcohol (pisco, rum, vodka, or dry vermouth all work if you don't want to open a bottle of white wine), and some salt and pepper.

It's really more of a process than a recipe. Begin cooking the pasta in lightly salted water. Meanwhile, sautee the onions in some oil and/or butter over medium heat until soft. Turn the heat up to high for a few moments before adding the shot of alcohol to a hot pan. Stir, then add the clam juice slowly while maintaining a simmer. Add most of the parsley, and turn the flame down to a simmer until the pasta is ready. Stir the pasta into the sauce, coating well for a few minutes to let the sauce soak in. Add pasta water as necessary to maintain a saucy consistency. Garnish with the remaining parsley, pepper, and a little cheese if that's your thing.
I promise, the fragrance will charm you if you are a lover of seafood!

Miso Rice

I'm on a roll with the weird food combos this week. Introducing: miso rice!

I noticed last night that my Marukome brand miso tasted surprisingly like Taiwanese fermented tofu, which we always eat with rice porridge. Then, for some reason, I remember my friend telling me she really likes fermented soy bean (natto) mixed with rice and an egg yolk. Looking around my kitchen at lunch today, I decided a scoop of miso on hot rice topped with toasted sesame seaweed and furikake would be perfect. I left out the egg yolk because my rice wasn't piping hot, but I think the whole concoction is easy to make and satisfyingly savory. Just make sure you choose a low sodium, smooth miso of the freshest variety available to you.

Sweet Tea Vodka

It's been a long time since I've developed a new cocktail recipe, and for that I apologize.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I caught wind of the latest trend in flavored vodkas: sweet tea. Naturally, I had to try a homemade version. The recipe for one cup of vodka is as follows:

• 1 cup vodka (I used Imperia because I bought a bottle on sale, but I'd definitely use something cheaper like stoli or Tito's)
• 2 bags good, strong black tea. I particularly enjoy the flavor of Luzianne, a Southern brand that reminds me of chicory-laced black tea from Taiwan.
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Steep the tea in the vodka for two hours. Remove the bags and stir in the sugar until it's dissolved. The vodka might need to rest for a few minutes before all the sugar will dissolve. This vodka is great in a 1:1 ratio with club soda and a generous squeeze of lemon. It's like a shortcut to a Long Island iced tea! Alternatively, I poured some over ice and added chunks of apples and oranges to simulate the flavor of Chinese fruit tea, which is usually hot black tea with a medley of fresh fruit cooked into it. This vodka is so tasty, I'm already contemplating future infusions of green or oolong tea.

Fruit Bowls: Literally!

Now I've seen it all. Wandering through the ferry building one afternoon, I saw these very unique bowls made from paper thin dried, lacquered produce. From left to right, these are made with lemon, zucchini, and rhubarb. They're probably too flimsy to hold anything, but they're whimsical and quite pretty to when they catch the light. I think produce lampshades or votive holders would be especially pretty.

QQ Noodles and Suju

Finally made it to Fremont with N today for a bowl of hearty noodles.

I had the beef noodles, which were very satisfying. The meat was cooked very well, though the broth wasn't as intensely dark as I enjoy. That's kind of a personal/regional preference though, so no complaints. Next time I'd probably just get the darker spicier version.

N had the pork noodles, which were super delicious. I am really not the world's biggest pork fan, but I thought they did a fabulous job with the meat. Small quibble: they could cut the vegetables a little shorter.

We stopped across the street for Suju on-site roasted coffee. Check out the sacks of coffee in the corner! N says the place is always crawling with students day and night, so I guess they have to have this much just in case! The coffee was very dark and not at all bitter, a really great change from the lighter roasts I usually prefer because dark roasts are burnt by 99% of the vendors out there (Starbucks, I'm looking at you).

And a hilarious sign to round out a lovely day.