Spaghetti and Meatballs

There's no food like comfort food:

Castello Blue Cheese

We've discovered an exceptionally good combination. Apple and blue cheese has been a classic for a long time, but Castello blue from Trader Joe's and a Golden Delicious go especially well with some clover honey!

Shrimp and Cucumber noodles

It was a very green dinner tonight. Look at all the green foods we ate:

Shrimp, cucumber chunks, and dried Chinese noodles cooked in a homemade vegetable broth (with the shrimps' shells boiled in). Every so often I make vegetable stock from bits and pieces of carrots, celery, and onion that I save in a bag in the fridge. I know, it's really 1930s, but I figure it's a free quart of good stock!

Fresh fave beans sauteed with onions and fennel. This was surprisingly tasty. I love the flavor of soft, barely caramelized fennel.

Sesame marinated celery, a common Chinese cold plate.

And kimchi, everyone's favorite Korean cold plate. I didn't make this myself; we bought it at a nice little market off Geary and Fillmore. For my money, they make the best kimchi in city limits.

Easiest Egg Sandwich

Some of the best breakfasts are the simplest. My go-to breakfasts take 5 minutes in the morning and tend towards the soft, warm, and carb/protein packed.

For an easy egg sandwich, throw a piece of toast into the toaster. Then turn the flame on high on a nonstick pot. The better the nonstick pot, the better your eggs. I am lucky enough to have a pot that's new enough it still doesn't need any butter or oil for egg frying. Scramble two eggs, pour them into the pan, turn the flame down to medium, and stir the eggs gently with a rubber spatula. Continue stirring as the egg cooks, scraping the cooked bits off the bottom and swirling the pan to let the raw parts fill in the spaces. Feel free to work slowly; good scrambled eggs don't need to be made at the lightening speeds of your neighborhood line chef (for one, your stove isn't as hot as his griddle). When the eggs are almost cooked through, salt and pepper them and pour onto your now warmed toast.

Ginger Scallion Catfish

It's Friday night, but we didn't eat a random assortment of leftovers! A rare feat of good planning indeed.

Okay, it's not that impressive, but this dish is. I promise, you'll like it. It's sort of like clay pot catfish, but not quite so sticky, sweet, or time consuming.

• 1 catfish, cleaned and cut into steaks (leave the head out, I'm still not sure what to do with a catfish head)
• 3 scallions, sliced thinly
• 1 small knob ginger, cut into tiny slivers. The total amount of ginger is probably four heaping tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup water
  

Heat a few tablespoons of oil over high heat in a wok or a small pot. Sear the catfish steaks on all sides, about 4 minutes a side or until the steak releases easily from the pot. Add about half the ginger and scallions to the pot, using the oil to stir fry them until fragrant. Pour in the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and water (you can combine these ahead of time if you wish), bring back to a boil, then turn the flame down to a simmer and cover the pot for 10 minutes. You can add more water if you need to, or remove the lid if it looks like there's too much water. Test the fish to make sure it's cooked through. Grab a plate, put the fish on it, top with the rest of the ginger and scallions, and the pour the sauce over everything to slightly wilt the scallions. The sauce will be a little gooey and thick from the catfish fat and cartilage, and is great over rice.

Once the catfish is done, return the wok to the stove over high heat and use it to stir from some bok choy. Chinese moms always say a good cook doesn't need to wash a wok during the cooking of a meal. I just like a little fish flavor in my vegetables!

Cumin "Numbing" Lamb

There were a lot of different things for dinner again tonight. Sometimes I cook a lot of things in one pot; sometimes I'm in the mood for everything being on its own plate.

Blanched bittermelon with soy paste. This is Taiwanese cold dish. The bittermelon is sliced in half the long way, its seeds are scooped out (so it resembles a canoe), and then it's poached until it's just tender. The it's run under cold water or submerged in iced water to stop the cooking, then sliced into diagonal pieces about half an inch thick. The bittermelon is plated, put until the fridge until it's time to be served, and then drizzled with soy paste.

This cold "dish," on the other hand, is not at all Taiwanese. These are roasted banana peppers sprinkled with pico de gallo. It's often found at the salsa bar of Mexican restaurants, but I saw some nice looking ones at the farmers market this week and decided to get them.

And the star of the night, something I've been wanting to make for a long time: Szechuan cumin lamb! The making of this dish is long, involved, and not quite perfected, so I'll dedicate a post to it later. For now, let's just say it involves stir frying lamb slices in Szechuan peppercorn-infused oil, adding cumin, topping with toasted garlic and cilantro, and then topping off with more Szechuan peppercorns and cumin.

And just to get some more vegetables in our diets, I used the leftover oil from the lamb to cook some broccoli and carrots. Plus we had cherry tomatoes and grapes for dessert.

PB&B Sandwich

Flash back to childhood:

Everyone had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a kid, but as I got older I switched to liking peanut butter and banana sandwiches instead. And with all the long runs I've been taking, it's become a daily snack. Whole wheat toast, lightly sweetened peanut butter (sorry, Skippy), and sliced bananas really kills hunger pangs and contains a nice combination of protein and carbohydrates for long lasting satiation and enough sugar to provide an instant pick-me-up. I eat one of these for breakfast, and if I'm feeling especially ragged I have one right before bed.

Easy Dinner 101

Someone mentioned to me recently that he wished he knew how to make easy, healthy dinners at home. It really doesn't have to be difficult, and it doesn't have to always be salads or pasta dishes either. Here's what we ate tonight:

Clockwise from the top left: spinach stir fried in garlic, sliced cantaloupe, flame-grilled sweet peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Obviously the cherry cantaloupe and cherry tomatoes are no brainers: just buy the best you can find and serve it washed and/or sliced. I got these at the farmers market so they are excellent. I almost always serve one raw item because it's easy and doesn't really get any healthier. I stir fried the spinach with garlic, and toasted the peppers by holding them over an open flame with a pair of tongs until they were charred all over.

Beltfish: heat up a thin layer of oil in a pan, then dry the fish well and coat with salt on both sides. Put it directly in the hot oil and cook for five minutes a side.

Rice: add some frozen peas, spinach, chopped bok choy, or other vegetable to add some more green to your diet. This entire dinner took me 30 minutes from start to finish, with no preparation done ahead of time. Easy and healthy: you can do it too!

Satin Eggs Over Rice

Satin eggs are a popular dish at Cantonese cafes. It's in the category of foods that's warm, soft, and comforting poured over rice. The dish can be made with any type of meat and/or seafood, but my favorite involves beef.

For enough to eat for several meals:

• 1/2 pound sliced sirloin, or other sliced steak, cut into bite-sized pieces
  
• 1/2 pound frozen peas
• 1 can straw hat mushrooms, halved
• 1 container silken tofu, cut into large cubes
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 4 heaping tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with enough water to dissolve it
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 can chicken stock
• 4 eggs, beaten
  

Sprinkle beef with baking soda and let sit while you prep the other ingredients. Heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in a wok until it's screaming hot. Stir fry the beef, adding the mushrooms and then the peas when the meat is half cooked. Stir fry everything until warmed through, then pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn the flame down to a simmer, add white pepper and rice wine, and cook for three minutes.


With the mixture gently simmering, pour in the cornstarch mixture slowly, stirring continuously. Work slowly or you'll end up with gloppy lumps. You might need to adjust the amount of cornstarch up or down depending how you like it. Stir until the cornstarch is cooked through. It will turn from white to almost completely clear. When the starch is cooked, pour in the beaten eggs in a circle. Let it cook for about thirty seconds, then stir gently to scramble the eggs throughout the mix. Thin with water if necessary, then stir in tofu and warm through. The smooth texture of the cornstarch and eggs is what gives this dish its name, and what makes it a popular comfort food.

NOPA

Another checkmark taken care of on the ever-growing list of "To hit" San Francisco restaurants: NOPA. We had a wonderful birthday meal tonight with S & E, at a very reasonable price to boot. NOPA has been described to me as the younger, hipper alternative to Zuni. I wouldn't say it's quite up to Zuni's standards, but it is more reasonably priced and quite delicious!

We started off with drinks. From the left: "The last drop" was a lot like a Revolver (bourbon with a hint of coffee), there was a sherry and huckleberry cocktail, and I had a glass of Nebbiolo Barolo that was actually quite disappointing. I should have stuck to the cocktails and let our server suggest something: all her suggestions were great. In addition to being incredibly helpful, she was also exceptionally nice. One of our drinks took awhile to come, and when we mentioned it she brought it and comped it. In this economy? That is service with a smile!

Amuse bouch: very thin, crackly toasted bread topped with tomato and zucchini. It was a tiny bite, but tasty.

Grilled sardines with fresh English peas and deep fried garbanzo beans ($10). The garbanzo beans were dusted in cumin and some other spices. Nice dish, but not exceptional. We only had one appetizer at the table, but from what I saw at other tables NOPA might be one restaurant where entree quality far outpaces appetizer quality. At a lot of SF restaurants, the opposite is true.

J had the chicken. He rarely orders chicken, but he saw it at the next table as well as spinning on the rotisserie in the open kitchen and the size of the birds sealed the deal. This is half of what is at least a four pound bird ($18). Herbs are stuffed under the skin, which is crispy and salted. The sides included pickled red onions and lightly dressed green beans. J gave half a chicken breast to our friends and a drumstick to me and was still left with enough to fill him. Lovers of roast chicken, listen up: this is a moist, flavorful, nicely seasoned chicken that would be a good meal for two. This was the least exciting dish, but by far the best bargain.

Our friends both had the duck ($24). WOW! I love duck, but not many restaurants prepare it perfectly. I have to say, NOPA came close. The breast piece I tried was juicy and still a little rare in the very center, and the leg bone was somehow cooked so it had a completely different texture and flavor. The polenta with corn and peas, on the other hand, wasn't great. It was oddly sweet to me, though maybe it would have tasted good with the duck.

I had the grilled pork with grilled peaches ($23), which was the biggest surprise of the evening. I'm not sure if they glazed the pork with honey, sugar, or something else, but it took on the sweet charred flavor of Taiwanese pork jerky. This enormous, two inch thick pork chop with a bone at least seven inches long took all my willpower to finish. But finish it I did, right to the tender medium rare bits clinging to the bone. The summer peaches were grilled just long enough so they had grill marks but not be mushy. There's something about pork and fresh fruit that just works.

I was told not to miss desserts at NOPA, but I didn't pick well tonight. The chevre ice cream was good but not great, and the stone fruit galette fell flat for me ($9). The crust, even the part not touching the sauce or ice cream, was soggy and bland, and apologies to pie lovers but I just cannot get behind warm cooked fruit. Fruit, especially peaches right now, are so delicious. Baking it just destroys fresh flavors and turns the texture mushy.

Our friends, on the other hand, scored with their ice cream sandwich ($9). The two chocolate-dipped chocolate cookies had a light airy texture that prevented them from freezing solid, and the cherry almond ice cream went beautifully with both the chocolate and almond milk. Stellar idea and execution on NOPA's part.

Old Port Lobster Shack...and a Party!

We finally had an excuse to get down to Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City today. It was a beautiful afternoon and we needed to be in Newark by evening, so we stopped by for lunch.

Old Port is in an unimposing strip mall, just like everything else in the suburbs.
Lobster bisque ($7.75 for a mug): we decided on this after the suggestion of KK. Great idea! Out of everything we ate, this has the most intense seafood flavor. We also had a lobster mac n' cheese ($10.75 for a half order), which sounded amazing in concept but was really just average. The pasta was a little overcooked and the sauce was good but not extaordinary.

We also shared the Double Play (35), which is two lobster rolls with one order of fries and coleslaw. It's the perfect meal for two because most people want their own sandwich but can't finish all the fries. We got one dressed roll (lightly tossed in mayo and spices) and a naked roll (served straight up, with a side of butter). Both were great, though the naked really shone after a sprinling of salt.

I wouldn't let this post go by without a close up!

After our very big meal, we toddled around the Peninsula. We ran some errands, stumbled upon an arts fair, and found K&L Wines in Redwood city. This wine store is pretty cool. I've been to their branches in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but the Redwood City branch has an impressive number of large format bottles. Look at how big they are compared to J's hand!

After an afternoon of wandering around, we went to a friend's house for her nephew's first birthday party. Happy Birthday, Baby! (that's what the whole family calls him). The proud grandparents went all out on the occassion, hiring an Indian caterer that actually set up in their back yard. There was a tandoor (Indian oven) as well as this deep frying contraption. They're making deep fried potatl balls stuffed with garlic and herbs. There was also deep fried fish, vegetable fritters, cheese pakoras, desserts, chai tea, and a dozen other things (not to mention three tables of alcohol). AND a bouncy castle in the back yard! Sadly, I was wearing a dress and could not partake (well, that and I'm not under the age of 12). It was a fun time for all.

Wo's Restaurant

The stars did not align very well tonight, but we ended up having a very satisfactory meal at Wo's Restaurant way out on Judah and 48th (almost to the ocean!). The first restaurant we went to was cash only, and we only had $20. The second one had a wait, and I was starving. So Wo's to the rescue!

I had the slippery beef over rice. Very nicely done, and this enormous portion was only $5.50. I know there's a lot of cheap Chinese food to be had, but Wo's really stood out to me because their food is not greasy. That is incredibly rare for a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant with rock bottom prices. Usually after eating this kind of meal I expect to feel a little queasy, but it's four hours later and I feel fine--still full, but not stuffed. J had a chicken pho in a nice clear broth, and we shared a plate of piping hot deep fried spring rolls. All for $16! Amazing.

Chaat Cafe Express at Crocker Galleria

I've been feeling sluggish all week, but it's Thursday so I made myself go to the Crocker Galleria farmers market so I could buy peaches from my favorite vendor. Luckily, the weather's been beautiful all week.

I decided to take my lunch up to the CG rooftop garden. San Francisco has a lot of tucked away public spaces like this. The CG one isn't much of a secret, but there are a lot of other ones that are harder to find.

I happened upon a group of Japanese students/tourists getting a downtown San Francisco architecture tour.

You can see the glass dome of the Crocker Galleria on the left there. I sat on a bench under a tree just like the one in the photo.

Tada, my lunch. Chaat Cafe is one of my preferred SOMA lunch spots, and the Express Cafe turned out to be pretty good as well--nice spice flavors, a little heat, served up piping hot. Plus I had a coupon, so my lunch was about $5. It was a big plate of rice, half a naan, and a big cup of curry with two big meat balls in it. What you see on the plate is one meatball and half the curry poured over the rice.

And a pretty photo of a snack at home. I've been eating a lot of yogurt topped with both fresh strawberries and strawberry puree.

And a little glimpse of what's to come. I taped all this together last night for a future project. It's very exciting (for me).

Stuffed Pita

Vegetable heavy, but with plenty of meaty flavor: that's usually my goal when I make our weekday dinners.

A pita wrap is a good way to achiece both goals. I stuffed each pita half with a handful of shredded red lettuce and a handful of diced tomatoes and cucumber tossed with red wine vinegar and crushed garlic. Then I topped it off with some sliced steak and hummus, and it was perfect for a hot day.

As a side we had lentil dip. We had something like this at Tajine, and J liked it a lot so I tried to replicate the flavors at home. It's basically lentils, garlic, cumin, paprika, and turmeric topped off with olive oil and parsley. This is a nice vegan dish. For me, the key to not eating more meat than I should is to have a nice healthy filler as a side.

Hummus from Cafe Elena. J had some leftover from lunch, and coincidentally it was exactly what we needed to round out the meal. Their hummus is the thinner style, with a generous dose of sesame paste. The strong flavors meant a little cup went a long way.

AT&T Park

Only in San Francisco: the ball park sells picked Dungeness crab meat piled on grilled bread, crab cocktails, clam chowder, gourmet tamales, fresh margaritas, Ghirardelli ice cream sundaes, garlic fries, and microbrews in addition to all the usuall ballpark fare. Plus there are areas to hang out, with tables and chairs overlooking the bay for people who need a break from the action on the field. There's even the famous Coke bottle slide and other kiddie activities for those of us with short attention spans.

Scallops Pasta

This was kind of an odd dish. I made a simple sauce of onions, garlic, parsley, ground pepper, and vermouth. It's basically what you'd use for linguini and clams, but I used scallops instead of clams. It turned out all right, but the pasta I used was bizarre. It was basically a long straw, like uncut macaroni. It was hard to pick up and didn't soak up enough sauce. It was interesting, but I wouldn't buy it again. The sauce, on the other hand, was yum.

Getting My Jog On

I finally got around to a project that I've been mulling over for quite some time. I usually jog with my cell phone, keys, and a few dollars in my jacket pocket, but when I get warm and take off my jacket there's no comfortable way to keep running. If I tie my jacket around my waist, everything in the pocket flaps around. If I hold my jacket, I can't run. It gets worse on long runs when I need to bring water.

My solution: a very thin, very light backpack that lies flat against my back under my jacket, and that's just big enough to hold a rolled up jacket and a bottle of water, with a cross-chest strap. I love the fun fabric. I might need to shorten the main bag section, adjust the strap length (hence the end I've left dangling at the bottom), or add a button closure. But I'm going to take it for a few runs and see what works best before making final adjustments.

A close up of the fab pattern. Crafting is usually pretty expensive, and cute fabric really comes at a premium. But thanks to Peapod Fabric's "no cheesy fabric" approach to sales, this entire project cost me about $5; pretty great, huh?

Perfect Pairings

When I cook dinner, I usually go with something Asian or something non-Asian. But beyond that, there's really not much thought as to pairing dishes that match each other unless we're having company. Sometimes, though, things just fall into place on their own. Today was one of those days, and the result was unexpectedly luxurious.

Grass-fed ribeye steak and a bottle of wine. The wine is this week's dark horse prize winner. I went to K&L Wines last week and told one of their staff that I'm tired of drinking California cabs with intense ripe fruit flavor. He pointed me towards a 1999 Renaissance Cabernet Sauvignon from, of all places, Yuba CA (near Sacramento). $30 for a 10 year old wine intrigued me, so I took the bait. WOW! J and I both love this wine. It's showing its age well and has a tight dry structure with soft fruit and light tannins. Best of all, because of its age, it doesn't have that intense alcohol shock that younger California wines have. I called K&L back to order a case of it, and the guy on the phone told me it's one of the best values in California right now and a great wine to cellar for the next 5 years.

Steak: the easiest thing int he world if you start out with a good piece of meat and a heavy pan (preferably a cast iron pan). Take the steak out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking so that it's not icy cold. Rub it all over with coarse salt and pepper, and heat the pan until it's rip roaringly hot. Sear on each side for three to four minutes, then let it rest for five minutes before slicing. I could eat this almost every day.

Salad dressing: it's one of those things that mystifies people, but I promise it's better when it's not from a jar. Get a jar with a lid and throw in the following:

• 1/8 cup of oil
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
• 1 clove VERY fresh garlic, grated
• 2 teaspoons total fresh herbs (oregano, thympe, and parsley are good choices)
• a few cracks of ground pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon mayo (optional, but it helps bind the ingredients)

Put the lid back on the jar and shake hard. You'll end up with this:

Creamy, fragrant, zesty salad dressing. Better than anything out of a jar, and the recipe above makes enough for about a head of lettuce.

Then you pour it over a salad. But you knew that already, right?

We also finished up our blue cheese and fig wheel, which both went surprisingly well with the wine. I have to talk about the wine again. It's a 100% cabernet sauvignon, which is rare. Its flavors kept changing and mellowing out after it aerated, and it stood up to the beef, blue cheese, and even garlic salad dressing. We've always shied away from older wines because they're so expensive, but old wines are valuable for a reason. We've been wanting to cut back on drinking so much wine in favor of drinking better wine, but lucky for us we found the best of both worlds in Renaissance. I'm not sure why K&L was selling if for $30; it's $50 everywhere else!