It's not very hard to figure out my family. If you ever want to get in good with them, tell them you love food. Not just love food, looooove it. Then eat lots of it in front of them.
I don't know how we became such food-lovers. Growing up, I don't remember food playing as obvious a role in our daily lives as it does now. Sure, we went out to eat, but never because we wanted to try something new or exciting. And we were *never* told to finish our plates - ours was the "if you can't finish just leave it!" household.
I've learned a lot about my family through food. My father subscribes to the if-there-are-lots-of-people-inside-it-must-be-good school of thought when it comes to choosing a place to eat. It doesn't matter if it's a dingy little place - as long as there are tons of people inside they must know something we don't. I suppose it's because he really wants to see the best of everything and everybody, and has a lot of faith and trust in others. A common phrase that will come out of my mother's mouth is "you are *exactly* like your father!" and if you see us in a restaurant, it's true. We're the ones who will try something new because it seems silly to order something you've already had, even though it's good. My mother, on the other hand, takes comfort in what she knows to be good. It takes a bit of a wrestle to get her to try something we've never ordered before. It makes sense - she needs order, organization, and cleanliness to function. She loves cookbooks and trying to cook new things - yet she'll rarely try new recipes unless she's seen a food network chef successfully execute it on TV first.
It was food that helped me appreciate my parents more. It first hit me in a restaurant in Paris. There was an amazing place tucked away on a little side street near our apartment - crowded, smoky, and a slight risk because everything was in french. But we loved it so much we went three nights. On the third night, I just shook my head in amazement - there sitting in front of me were two people who at the tender age of 25 hopped on a plane, each carrying two babies adopted by families in the US (crazy - four babies on a 12 hour flight!), so that their tickets would be $200 instead of $2000. They landed in Minnesota and went to school (all over again) so that they could have two kids and move them out to sunny California. All they knew growing up were the soups and stews and pickles of postwar Korean cuisine. They could have stopped right there, but they were not content to be immigrants who just got by in a new country while feverishly clinging to the only customs they knew. They really embraced what they thought to be the american spirit - trying new things not for trend's sake (which is typically Korean) but really because you had the opportunity to. And here they were in Paris, devouring moules, poisson gratin, aubergine caviar and fried anchovies. They had an organic garden waiting for them back at home. I never understood the significance of what my parents had went through to get here until I saw how they took that opportunity and ran with it. And while I'm normally proud of my parents, at that moment I wanted to burst with it. And that was just the beginning. There was curry eaten off of banana leaves in Singapore. Glasses of cider and plates of tapas while tottering around San Sebastian. Haggis in Edinburgh. Churrasco in Brazil. Guacamole in Mexico City.
My brother and I are so lucky - we could have been pulled in so many different directions, trying to assimilate to a culture foreign to my parents and living life the way my parents had when they were young. Instead, we were shown that whatever you decide to do you should just throw your whole self into it while keeping the best parts of your past experiences.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Wha?
Looking closely at the Chronicle's Top 100 list and their Bargain Bites list, I noticed that I've eaten at more Top 100s than Bargain Bites. Interesting. I swear, I'm still a struggling grad student. I guess my priorities are just not typically that of a starving student...
Yummy birthday eating...
My weekend of yummy birthday eating started at Luna Park. After months of harping "I wanna go there! I wanna go there" my roommate took matters into her own hands (I was a little resistant to the whole celebrate-my-birthday idea) and made reservations. I had been ogling the goat cheese fondue for some time and it didn't disappoint - in fact, I may have drunkenly told my friend Liv that I wanted to slather it all over my body and lick it off myself. That was the pomegranate cosmo talking. She also marveled at how little I ate, and again, I blame the cosmo. I also blame the cosmo for nearly reducing me to tears at the bar when I opened my birthday presents. (But what girl wouldn't cry when she unwraps a long-coveted food grinder attachment for her stand mixer?) In fact, I blame that one drink for anything crazy that may have happened later that night (although nothing did.) I stumbled into bed at around 2am and slept so soundly that night I didn't even notice when Liv rolled over me. But getting back to slathering food all over my body, I might have done the same with the chocolate part of the s'mores. And with the marshmallow, if it wasn't so sticky...
On Saturday I went to my parents' house and brought my birthday cake with me - Swedish Princess cake from the Schubert Bakery on Clement. We cut it open and it was so yummy-looking it enticed even my mother, who is seeing an acupuncture therapist and is under strict orders to not eat wheat, pork, chicken, coffee, dairy, and pretty much anything that tastes good.
Sunday night we went to Delfina. I'm always nervous about going to places that I've wanted to go to for a long time - I guess there's a fear that I'll have built it up so much in my mind and then it will disappoint me. But everything about our meal was amazing. First of all, if somebody had told me they had the most crispy, greaseless fries EVER I would have made it a point to go there much sooner. And if that somebody had also mentioned the fried sage and rosemary leaves mixed in...well, I would have kissed that somebody many times. Many many times. We ordered the green garlic sformantino with black trumpet mushrooms to start. "That sounds good!" my mom said, and I agreed. Basically, nobody had any idea what a sformantino was but "green garlic" sounded good. Then they bring a bright green flan to the table and much confusion ensues. "Did they make a mistake or are they giving this to us just because?" my mom whispered. So I asked "um, what was this again?" "Flan!" replies the server as she scurries away. We dig in, and it is the most creamy version of garlic I have ever tasted. The next 20 minutes were spent trying to figure out how we could make it at home. I'll let you know if I ever succeed.
After a weekend of drinking my one little glass of Dolcetto d'Alba left me tottering about, so I ordered an espresso with our buttermilk panna cotta. Still not sober enough to drive, I took my parents to Tartine and we ogled the breads. I caved and bought a half loaf of sesame (there's a parmesan panini with my name on it for dinner later, yum!) and a small serving of bread pudding for breakfast next day. And with that, my weekend of birthday debauchery comes to an end. Phew. Now to catch up on some sleep....
Sunday, April 02, 2006
When you gotta have it, you gotta have it...
This morning I woke up after a mere 4 hours of sleep with a desire to eat carbs. Lots of them. Taped to my fridge is a recipe from the last time I had this same desire - a recipe for Ina Garten's sour cream banana pancakes. Yum. Who wouldn't want to eat that? Nice and lemony and tangy. I even had an extra large lemon to zest.
For some reason I decided to add a spoonful of poppy seeds. I've been on a poppy seed kick lately - those suckers are so nutty and flavorful even though they are tiny. I stirred them into my dry batter and decided, heck! Why not through in another spoonful? Mix mix mix. Then I somehow wake up and realize....I've put in black mustard seeds!!
Do I throw the whole thing out and start all over again?? Oh no no no. First, I don't have another lemon. Second, I'm stubborn. So I park myself in front of the TV with bowl and strainer and start picking out those suckers one by one.
I kid you not. See for yourself:
Yup.
For some reason I decided to add a spoonful of poppy seeds. I've been on a poppy seed kick lately - those suckers are so nutty and flavorful even though they are tiny. I stirred them into my dry batter and decided, heck! Why not through in another spoonful? Mix mix mix. Then I somehow wake up and realize....I've put in black mustard seeds!!
Do I throw the whole thing out and start all over again?? Oh no no no. First, I don't have another lemon. Second, I'm stubborn. So I park myself in front of the TV with bowl and strainer and start picking out those suckers one by one.
I kid you not. See for yourself:
Yup.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Dine About Town....
I actually did Dine About Town three times this month! Here's some quick notes:
Aziza - my father and I intended to do DAT but after looking at the menu we decided we weren't actually saving that much money, plus we'd now be able to order whatever we wanted. Already we were off to a bad start because our water tasted "funny." I guess my dad doesn't think cucumber in your water glass is very refreshing. First up, "giant lima beans oven baked in a ras el hanout tomato purée, covered in shaved french feta, tuscan olive oil" - deemed too salty by my father. I think the feta was overkill, plus I don't like lima beans. Mine, "willey farm bloomsdale spinach & feta fingers alongside fleur de sel sprinkled greens, caper-pine nut swirl" was just okay. A little too ordinary. Now here's the part that is sad. I completely forgot what my father ate. Eek. Bad food blogger. But my dish definitely made up for the first half of the meal - "kumquat enriched niman ranch lamb shank - bergamot infused dried fruits, cranberry couscous, grilled green onion" - the lamb was amazingly melty and the bergamot was not too overpowering, which I was worried about because I don't like earl gray tea. Although I was full, I couldn't pass up the "bowl of bliss - the most heavenly cayenned dark chocolate custard & a cup of hot cocoa with black pepper marshmallow." I'm not a marshmallow that girl but that black pepper marshmallow was so yummy I'm inspired to crack black peppercorns into my s'mores from now on. The dark chocolate custard could have been more cayenned. But that marshmallow...
Frisson - this place left a bad taste in my mouth. The food was okay, I suppose, but they ran out of one of the two DAT offerings and didn't offer a substitute at all. This was okay for me because I like salmon, but my dining companion who doesn't was a little screwed. Plus, we're grad students so it's not like we could afford a three-course (or gah, even a two-course) meal here just for kicks. But we had already waited about 25 minutes for our reserved table and as it was nearly 9pm we weren't about to get up and leave to find a pizza. I won't even really talk about the food since I think it was way too pretentiously priced and not at all memorable, plus our waitress kinda sucked.
Rubicon - this place made up for our bad experience the week before. Wow wow wow. First, it was remarkable how efficient this place is. Everything was well-timed and perfectly orchestrated. And then there's the food. Oy. I couldn't stop making little "mmm" noises as I ate my soup. And I ordered the pork belly. This after I've totally been getting on my boyfriend's case about his love for all things fatty and how he should get his cholesterol checked. And I've been blaming him for the extra jiggle around my belly. But the pork belly....oooh. I've never been so happy eating a slab of fat, and that's saying a lot because as you know, fat and I have issues.
Wow, a lot of detail goes missing when you decide to write about something a month after you do it. At least my life is getting in the way of my blogging, and not the other way around. :)
Aziza - my father and I intended to do DAT but after looking at the menu we decided we weren't actually saving that much money, plus we'd now be able to order whatever we wanted. Already we were off to a bad start because our water tasted "funny." I guess my dad doesn't think cucumber in your water glass is very refreshing. First up, "giant lima beans oven baked in a ras el hanout tomato purée, covered in shaved french feta, tuscan olive oil" - deemed too salty by my father. I think the feta was overkill, plus I don't like lima beans. Mine, "willey farm bloomsdale spinach & feta fingers alongside fleur de sel sprinkled greens, caper-pine nut swirl" was just okay. A little too ordinary. Now here's the part that is sad. I completely forgot what my father ate. Eek. Bad food blogger. But my dish definitely made up for the first half of the meal - "kumquat enriched niman ranch lamb shank - bergamot infused dried fruits, cranberry couscous, grilled green onion" - the lamb was amazingly melty and the bergamot was not too overpowering, which I was worried about because I don't like earl gray tea. Although I was full, I couldn't pass up the "bowl of bliss - the most heavenly cayenned dark chocolate custard & a cup of hot cocoa with black pepper marshmallow." I'm not a marshmallow that girl but that black pepper marshmallow was so yummy I'm inspired to crack black peppercorns into my s'mores from now on. The dark chocolate custard could have been more cayenned. But that marshmallow...
Frisson - this place left a bad taste in my mouth. The food was okay, I suppose, but they ran out of one of the two DAT offerings and didn't offer a substitute at all. This was okay for me because I like salmon, but my dining companion who doesn't was a little screwed. Plus, we're grad students so it's not like we could afford a three-course (or gah, even a two-course) meal here just for kicks. But we had already waited about 25 minutes for our reserved table and as it was nearly 9pm we weren't about to get up and leave to find a pizza. I won't even really talk about the food since I think it was way too pretentiously priced and not at all memorable, plus our waitress kinda sucked.
Rubicon - this place made up for our bad experience the week before. Wow wow wow. First, it was remarkable how efficient this place is. Everything was well-timed and perfectly orchestrated. And then there's the food. Oy. I couldn't stop making little "mmm" noises as I ate my soup. And I ordered the pork belly. This after I've totally been getting on my boyfriend's case about his love for all things fatty and how he should get his cholesterol checked. And I've been blaming him for the extra jiggle around my belly. But the pork belly....oooh. I've never been so happy eating a slab of fat, and that's saying a lot because as you know, fat and I have issues.
Wow, a lot of detail goes missing when you decide to write about something a month after you do it. At least my life is getting in the way of my blogging, and not the other way around. :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
zucchini pancakes...
I got home last night at 2:30am and a busy day at lab meant I didn't have time to buy groceries. As everything I ate yesterday was deep-fried, I felt I needed some vegetables today. But what do you do when you just got home and it's already 8:30, you're very hungry, and you only have two shrively-looking zucchini in your drawer?
Make zucchini pancakes! It took five minutes to prepare and they're pretty healthy too! Look how easy:
1. Wash a medium zucchini or two small ones and cut into 2-in chunks. Put in food processor. Throw in half a small onion and pulse pulse pulse. Add some salt and pepper, crack in three eggs, and add in a couple tablespoons of a binder. I used Bisquick and flaxseed meal (gotta get those omegas!) but you could use flour or breadcrumbs.
2. Pulse pulse pulse. Drop like pancake batter onto a nonstick skillet greased with Pam or olive oil cooking spray. They won't bubble like pancakes but you can check the undersides after a few minutes to see how brown they are. Flip. Eat.
This was inspired by a korean egg pancake-like thing that's made with veggies, fish, and eggs. You could make these coin-sized and eat it that way - with rice and kimchee. Or you could make them pancake-sized and top them with shredded cheese and salsa, which is what I chose to do tonight. Yum!
Make zucchini pancakes! It took five minutes to prepare and they're pretty healthy too! Look how easy:
1. Wash a medium zucchini or two small ones and cut into 2-in chunks. Put in food processor. Throw in half a small onion and pulse pulse pulse. Add some salt and pepper, crack in three eggs, and add in a couple tablespoons of a binder. I used Bisquick and flaxseed meal (gotta get those omegas!) but you could use flour or breadcrumbs.
2. Pulse pulse pulse. Drop like pancake batter onto a nonstick skillet greased with Pam or olive oil cooking spray. They won't bubble like pancakes but you can check the undersides after a few minutes to see how brown they are. Flip. Eat.
This was inspired by a korean egg pancake-like thing that's made with veggies, fish, and eggs. You could make these coin-sized and eat it that way - with rice and kimchee. Or you could make them pancake-sized and top them with shredded cheese and salsa, which is what I chose to do tonight. Yum!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Thankful...
One Diestel turkey: $25
Three pounds of cranberries: $5.50
Two bunches of celery: $1.20
Three large onions: $0.75
Two pounds of swiss chard: $6
Two pounds of butter: $5
Impressing your mother with your first solo Thanksgiving dinner effort and having your family all together in your first "grown-up" apartment:
Priceless!!
I know, several holidays have gone by since Thanksgiving, but what can I say, I'm waaay behind. The above concoction is a fennel and beet salad I put together as an appetizer for my Thanksgiving dinner. I tossed some fennel with a citrus vinaigrette a la Thomas Keller, and had my brother place overlapping slices of roasted beet on top. I gave him a cave-aged gorgonzola to crumble on top. Unwittingly, it turned out looking like the MasterCard logo.
As I am too lazy to post other pictures right now (and I have a lab presenation tomorrow, but have yet to start!) I will link you to my brother's blog where he has chronicled our dinner...
Three pounds of cranberries: $5.50
Two bunches of celery: $1.20
Three large onions: $0.75
Two pounds of swiss chard: $6
Two pounds of butter: $5
Impressing your mother with your first solo Thanksgiving dinner effort and having your family all together in your first "grown-up" apartment:
Priceless!!
I know, several holidays have gone by since Thanksgiving, but what can I say, I'm waaay behind. The above concoction is a fennel and beet salad I put together as an appetizer for my Thanksgiving dinner. I tossed some fennel with a citrus vinaigrette a la Thomas Keller, and had my brother place overlapping slices of roasted beet on top. I gave him a cave-aged gorgonzola to crumble on top. Unwittingly, it turned out looking like the MasterCard logo.
As I am too lazy to post other pictures right now (and I have a lab presenation tomorrow, but have yet to start!) I will link you to my brother's blog where he has chronicled our dinner...
Monday, November 28, 2005
Cranberry Sauce Recipe
I know, there are millions of cranberry sauce recipes out there. This is my family's - we've tweaked it from the recipe on an old Martha Stewart video we checked out at the public library ages ago. This video is definitely old school - one of the recipes is for a turkey wrapped in puff pastry, and another recipe calls for a gallon of clarified butter (I exaggerate only slightly.) The original recipe called for whole fruit diced into 1/4" cubes - but this made the sauce a little bitter.
Kim Family Cranberry Sauce
serves 10 to 12
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cups water
Zest and juice of one orange and one lime
1 cup raisins (I like golden. This is optional.)
2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out. (This is definitely not optional. Throw the whole thing in.)
3 12-ounce bags of fresh cranberries
Put the sugar and water in a pan and caramelize until golden brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Let cool, and refrigerate until ready to use.
My favorite way to eat this....
Kim Family Cranberry Sauce
serves 10 to 12
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cups water
Zest and juice of one orange and one lime
1 cup raisins (I like golden. This is optional.)
2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out. (This is definitely not optional. Throw the whole thing in.)
3 12-ounce bags of fresh cranberries
Put the sugar and water in a pan and caramelize until golden brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Let cool, and refrigerate until ready to use.
My favorite way to eat this....
Monday, November 21, 2005
Today in the mail...
...I got the most awesome package! From Jenn of I Got Two Shoes. This was part of Blogging by Mail 3 hosted over at my little kitchen. Check it out - there are lots of interesting packages flying around all over the world.
As for mine...I was very excited when I saw the mailing label. My parcel came all the way from South Korea! And look at all the fun stuff inside:
Mmm...I'll never be tired of instant noodles. This cup is very considerate in letting me know in very large letters that I am only consuming 130 kcal.
Oooh...now I can make rice balls. There's even a packet of "health rice" to make them with - and a packet of rice flavoring. Which flavor? Cheese!
Yum...chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, chocolate-dipped cracker sticks, and several flavors of chocolate. I love when korean food packages have english writing on them. Here's what the packages say:
"Jeju Orange Chocolate is made with world-level prodution technollogy and the most up-to-date German and Italian machines using 100% natrual jeju tangerine grown in the blessed island, jeju. jeju chocolate contains all the ingredients of natural tangential, including Vitamin-C & Fiber, which gives it a taste unique from others chocolate and is also healthy." Nice. Healthy chocolate.
"Green tea chocolate has the freshness of the first flush leaf with sweet. It is a neo-concept chocolate that spreads the freshness with not too sweet in your mouth."
"Jeju Cactus Chocolate is made with cactus powder through vacuum lyophilization of Jeju Cactus. It adds nutritive substance to deep and tender chocolate taste."
Even though this chocolate is healthy, Jenn has included a box of "smart herb tea" (I hope it helps me through my qualifying exams) and some T-smile gum so that I don't get cavities. :)
Thank you so much Jenn for your very generous package! My parents will be in Korea this year for Christmas, and my brother and I won't be able to go with them. We'll definitely make some rice balls and eat some health chocolate so we can feel like we're with them this year...
As for mine...I was very excited when I saw the mailing label. My parcel came all the way from South Korea! And look at all the fun stuff inside:
Mmm...I'll never be tired of instant noodles. This cup is very considerate in letting me know in very large letters that I am only consuming 130 kcal.
Oooh...now I can make rice balls. There's even a packet of "health rice" to make them with - and a packet of rice flavoring. Which flavor? Cheese!
Yum...chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, chocolate-dipped cracker sticks, and several flavors of chocolate. I love when korean food packages have english writing on them. Here's what the packages say:
"Jeju Orange Chocolate is made with world-level prodution technollogy and the most up-to-date German and Italian machines using 100% natrual jeju tangerine grown in the blessed island, jeju. jeju chocolate contains all the ingredients of natural tangential, including Vitamin-C & Fiber, which gives it a taste unique from others chocolate and is also healthy." Nice. Healthy chocolate.
"Green tea chocolate has the freshness of the first flush leaf with sweet. It is a neo-concept chocolate that spreads the freshness with not too sweet in your mouth."
"Jeju Cactus Chocolate is made with cactus powder through vacuum lyophilization of Jeju Cactus. It adds nutritive substance to deep and tender chocolate taste."
Even though this chocolate is healthy, Jenn has included a box of "smart herb tea" (I hope it helps me through my qualifying exams) and some T-smile gum so that I don't get cavities. :)
Thank you so much Jenn for your very generous package! My parents will be in Korea this year for Christmas, and my brother and I won't be able to go with them. We'll definitely make some rice balls and eat some health chocolate so we can feel like we're with them this year...
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
My kitchen...
As part of this round of Blogging by Mail, we've been asked to include a photograph of our kitchen. I don't have any prints, so I thought I'd post them up here...
Do you see that dead basil plant on the corner of the table? Shame on me. I'm a bad plant mommy. See our spice cabinet? When I first opened it I knew that I would love living here...
And just for kicks, here's a peek inside our fridge...
Well, only the top shelf, which is my shelf. As you can see, I heart Trader Joe's.
We may need a bigger freezer...
Do you see that dead basil plant on the corner of the table? Shame on me. I'm a bad plant mommy. See our spice cabinet? When I first opened it I knew that I would love living here...
And just for kicks, here's a peek inside our fridge...
Well, only the top shelf, which is my shelf. As you can see, I heart Trader Joe's.
We may need a bigger freezer...
Friday, November 11, 2005
Not even a chocolate thing from Arizmendi...
...can lift me out of this gray cloud today. You know you're in trouble when a chocolate-filled brioche can't cheer you up. Yowza.
In other non-food news, how in the world has this existed for a whole week without me knowing???
Nickel Creek covering Britney Spears' "Toxic"
In other non-food news, how in the world has this existed for a whole week without me knowing???
Nickel Creek covering Britney Spears' "Toxic"
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Another food rut...
Well, I guess not so much of a rut as a black hole? School/work has been crazy and will continue to be crazy until the middle of November, so that means late late nights. And weekends. Which means I have no energy whatsoever to get home and cook something. Hell, last night it took all the energy I had to stick a bag of popcorn in the microwave. Yes, kettle corn was my dinner last night.
If I don't get a PhD, I fully blame Netflix. Why can't I attack my research with the same focus that somehow appears when a new DVD appears in the mail? TV shows on DVD will be the death of me. First I tackled all of Sex and the City. Then it was West Wing. I just finished Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, and Sports Night. Now it's the entire first season of Scrubs. Gah. Usually I grumble when companies are mean and only put three or four episodes on one disc. But the first disc I got for Scrubs had eight episodes on it. Eight! It's a wonder I was able to restrain myself from watching all eight in one sitting. Because I would.
Ooh, I did have a yummy meal last Friday - a high school friend was in town so a whole bunch of us ate dinner at Home. I may have to attempt to recreate their banana bread pudding and pumpkin cheesecake at home.
Whew. Back to the microtome. Gotta slice up some slides before I take my rats to their MRI.
If I don't get a PhD, I fully blame Netflix. Why can't I attack my research with the same focus that somehow appears when a new DVD appears in the mail? TV shows on DVD will be the death of me. First I tackled all of Sex and the City. Then it was West Wing. I just finished Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, and Sports Night. Now it's the entire first season of Scrubs. Gah. Usually I grumble when companies are mean and only put three or four episodes on one disc. But the first disc I got for Scrubs had eight episodes on it. Eight! It's a wonder I was able to restrain myself from watching all eight in one sitting. Because I would.
Ooh, I did have a yummy meal last Friday - a high school friend was in town so a whole bunch of us ate dinner at Home. I may have to attempt to recreate their banana bread pudding and pumpkin cheesecake at home.
Whew. Back to the microtome. Gotta slice up some slides before I take my rats to their MRI.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Thanksgiving help!
In my first attempt to be more grown-up, I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year. I'm not just driving over to Lafayette the night before to help out, I'm planning the menu and cooking everything and serving it in my apartment in San Francisco. Yowza. I'm only slightly nervous. My mom sounded bewildered when I first brought up the idea.
Me: Mom, are you doing anything for Thanksgiving this year?
Mom: I don't know...why?
Me: I'm thinking of cooking this year at my house.
Mom: Why would you do that?? No! Just come home! Don't be crazy!!
Me: Mom! You wouldn't have to do anything! I thought it would be nice if you all came over and had a relaxing Thanksgiving this year!
So I just gave up at that point, since my mom is pretty stubborn, and is convinced that by cooking Thanksgiving dinner I won't have time to "study." I think her idea of grad school is slightly different from mine.
The next day, I get a call.
Mom: You know Jungjoo, I was thinking about it some more, and I think it's a very nice idea to have Thanksgiving dinner at your house.
Me: See? It wasn't a crazy idea!
Mom: And don't try to do everything yourself. I can make something and bring it. Like pumpkin soup. Or the turkey! I'll bring the turkey!
Me: Mom!!
So now I'm cooking dinner. And I don't know what to do! I had all these ideas swirling in my head, like warm frisee salad with poached eggs and pancetta, or swiss chard gratin, or gorgonzola potato tart. And maybe I'll brine the turkey. The ideas started getting out of hand, and in about two minutes I had planned a 10-dish offering, where most everything involved bacon fat, cheese, heavy cream, or copious amounts of butter. Heart attack central. So I'm asking for ideas - what Thanksgiving dishes do y'all make that don't involve a truckload of saturated fat? Specifcally, vegetable offerings. And where would you buy a good turkey in San Francisco? Keep in mind, my budget doesn't allow me to get one of those fresh $130 heritage turkeys, but I'm willing to splurge on something that wasn't frozen a year ago. And how do you brine with little fridge space? I heard somewhere about brining in a cooler, but I'm afraid I'll wake up thanksgiving morning with rotten turkey and fodder for a year's worth of brotherly insults.
Me: Mom, are you doing anything for Thanksgiving this year?
Mom: I don't know...why?
Me: I'm thinking of cooking this year at my house.
Mom: Why would you do that?? No! Just come home! Don't be crazy!!
Me:
So I just gave up at that point, since my mom is pretty stubborn, and is convinced that by cooking Thanksgiving dinner I won't have time to "study." I think her idea of grad school is slightly different from mine.
The next day, I get a call.
Mom: You know Jungjoo, I was thinking about it some more, and I think it's a very nice idea to have Thanksgiving dinner at your house.
Me: See? It wasn't a crazy idea!
Mom: And don't try to do everything yourself. I can make something and bring it. Like pumpkin soup. Or the turkey! I'll bring the turkey!
Me: Mom!!
So now I'm cooking dinner. And I don't know what to do! I had all these ideas swirling in my head, like warm frisee salad with poached eggs and pancetta, or swiss chard gratin, or gorgonzola potato tart. And maybe I'll brine the turkey. The ideas started getting out of hand, and in about two minutes I had planned a 10-dish offering, where most everything involved bacon fat, cheese, heavy cream, or copious amounts of butter. Heart attack central. So I'm asking for ideas - what Thanksgiving dishes do y'all make that don't involve a truckload of saturated fat? Specifcally, vegetable offerings. And where would you buy a good turkey in San Francisco? Keep in mind, my budget doesn't allow me to get one of those fresh $130 heritage turkeys, but I'm willing to splurge on something that wasn't frozen a year ago. And how do you brine with little fridge space? I heard somewhere about brining in a cooler, but I'm afraid I'll wake up thanksgiving morning with rotten turkey and fodder for a year's worth of brotherly insults.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
My brother...
...never ceases to amaze me. While I may have been the straight-A overachiever during high school, he has grown up to be the creative genius. I am in awe of his self-taught cooking and guitar-playing skills. And tonight he has made me burst with pride. He just called with his MCAT score - 36. Thirty-six!! I know, I know, it's totally obnoxious of me to brag about my baby brother, but dammit, I'm proud! I'm so excited for him. I know he'll be an amazing doctor. Or whatever he decides he wants to do. For all the insults he may throw my way, he is one of the sweetest and most caring little brothers anybody could ask for.
Congratulations Hyunjoon! I'll be sure to drink a Guinness in your honor when I'm done with this crazy 200-mile relay this weekend!
Congratulations Hyunjoon! I'll be sure to drink a Guinness in your honor when I'm done with this crazy 200-mile relay this weekend!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Pearl, part two...
On Sunday I trekked out to Berkeley to hear the amazing Takacs Quartet, and there was no way I was driving back to the city without eating some spicy smoky fries. Yes, I went back to Pearl. Yes, I loved it as much as I did the first time.
We started with the fall salad, which was a tangy jumble of frisee topped with raspberries, figs, and pistachio pecorino. Then we dug into the crispy squid with thai slaw, which if you go to Pearl and you don't order, you have wasted a trip. On my last trip I loved the bruschetta and this time they offered a version with figs. Although I love figs, I passed on this so we could try the moroccan fish cakes - and we were not at all disappointed. They looked like falafel balls - and they had the same crunchy outsides, but full of moist fish and zucchini inside, served on top of a yummy yogurt sauce with housemade harissa. And then there were the fries. Mmmmm...
We washed it all down with a huge bottle of belgian farmhouse ale. I was pretty full. But then we looked at the dessert menu, and had to order the hot fudge sundae. Yergh. Chocolate-hazelnut, triple espresso, and vanilla bean gelato. Valrhona and El Rey chocolate sauces. Banana. Whipped cream. Did we have to restrain ourselves from licking the inside of the martini glass it was served in? Yes.
We started with the fall salad, which was a tangy jumble of frisee topped with raspberries, figs, and pistachio pecorino. Then we dug into the crispy squid with thai slaw, which if you go to Pearl and you don't order, you have wasted a trip. On my last trip I loved the bruschetta and this time they offered a version with figs. Although I love figs, I passed on this so we could try the moroccan fish cakes - and we were not at all disappointed. They looked like falafel balls - and they had the same crunchy outsides, but full of moist fish and zucchini inside, served on top of a yummy yogurt sauce with housemade harissa. And then there were the fries. Mmmmm...
We washed it all down with a huge bottle of belgian farmhouse ale. I was pretty full. But then we looked at the dessert menu, and had to order the hot fudge sundae. Yergh. Chocolate-hazelnut, triple espresso, and vanilla bean gelato. Valrhona and El Rey chocolate sauces. Banana. Whipped cream. Did we have to restrain ourselves from licking the inside of the martini glass it was served in? Yes.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Goood Frikin' Chicken
I kid you not, that's the name of the restaurant. Just look at this picture:
Mmmm...a whole chicken, salad, crispy pita, and a side (we chose the basmati pilaf, you can also get hummus, baked beans, potatoes, or mac and cheese) fed one 6' 3" boy who is a bottomless pit and one ravenous girl for only $16. It doesn't get much better than that.
Goood Frikin' Chicken
29th St @ Mission
San Francisco
Mmmm...a whole chicken, salad, crispy pita, and a side (we chose the basmati pilaf, you can also get hummus, baked beans, potatoes, or mac and cheese) fed one 6' 3" boy who is a bottomless pit and one ravenous girl for only $16. It doesn't get much better than that.
Goood Frikin' Chicken
29th St @ Mission
San Francisco
Monday, September 19, 2005
Happy belated birthday...
...to my dear friend Roger, who on Saturday turned very old. ;) He is the man who first took me to the restaurant that started my love affair with ethiopean food, introduced me to the joys of eating a chicken cutlet grinder (plain for me, with blue cheese dressing for him) at 11pm, and eventually (although he doesn't know it) led me to appreciate stinky cheese. I hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend!
Oh, and his blog has mysteriously morphed into a food blog. :)
Oh, and his blog has mysteriously morphed into a food blog. :)
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Snack foods that will be the death of me #1
Gah. I think I just ate 20 of these without thinking. Then I made the mistake of peeking at the nutrition label. I've just consumed enough saturated fat to take ten years off my life. :(
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Ugh, food mistakes...
Whenever I'm at the Metreon and I'm eating at the food court, I usually end up at the Long Life Noodle place. I have no idea why I keep doing that to myself. Every single time I've been very unhappy. Buddha's Bliss? Blech. Yin-Yang Delight? Yuck. Enchanted Heat? Ew. And last night, Curry Imperial. Ha. Curry sauce my a$$. It was a bowl of yellow noodles in a yellow sauce that I had to douse with soy sauce to get it to taste like anything. God, I'm never going to that place again.
I can say this because I've been there more than twice. I know you really should give a place a couple of tries before you write it off, but sometimes you have to follow your gut (literally and figuratively.) I should have written off Red Lobster after the very first time I went. That's right, I'll be the first to admit it - I've been to Red Lobster. Twice. In my defense, my boyfriend at the time claimed it was very good, and that it was the "nice" restaurant to go to in his hometown.* It sucked. Yet, somehow, we forgot this and went again. Yup. Shame on us.
*He's no longer my boyfriend. Coincidence? Hmmm.
I can say this because I've been there more than twice. I know you really should give a place a couple of tries before you write it off, but sometimes you have to follow your gut (literally and figuratively.) I should have written off Red Lobster after the very first time I went. That's right, I'll be the first to admit it - I've been to Red Lobster. Twice. In my defense, my boyfriend at the time claimed it was very good, and that it was the "nice" restaurant to go to in his hometown.* It sucked. Yet, somehow, we forgot this and went again. Yup. Shame on us.
*He's no longer my boyfriend. Coincidence? Hmmm.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Pizza My Heart
When I've had a little more to drink than I can handle (which means two beers instead of one, yeesh) I get a hankering for a nice slice of pizza. Post-drinking pizza is not to be confused with meal pizza. The two do have some overlap but most pizzas definitely belong in one category and not both.
Pizza Orgasmica is my post-drinking pizza of choice. But the price is a little steep, and sometimes you have to wait in line a long time. I don't know about you, but after my two beers, I get a little impatient. Especially if there's pizza involved. So the other night Rich and I decided to try out Pizza My Heart.
You may have noticed people walking around with t-shirts that say "Pizza My Heart" on them. Apparently you get them for free if you order a whole pizza. Don't. Don't even be seduced by the $5 deal where you get a slice and a t-shirt. The pizza is horrible. Look at this picture:
Yes, there's a lot of stuff on there and it looks like it has the potential to taste good, but somehow they managed to concoct the most tasteless slice of cardboard imaginable. Look at the crust. Anemic! Plus it needs a tan. And it didn't taste like anything. See that onion? Didn't taste like anything. The cheese? I'm not even sure they put cheese on there - there wasn't even a hint of saltiness. Sheesh. Blech blech blech.
Here is Rich making a sad face because his pizza is floppy. Yup, nothing worse than flaccid pizza - in taste and texture. So I'm warning you - don't even think about going here. Even if you're drunk and desperate. Better to go home and eat a frozen pizza. Seriously!
Pizza Orgasmica is my post-drinking pizza of choice. But the price is a little steep, and sometimes you have to wait in line a long time. I don't know about you, but after my two beers, I get a little impatient. Especially if there's pizza involved. So the other night Rich and I decided to try out Pizza My Heart.
You may have noticed people walking around with t-shirts that say "Pizza My Heart" on them. Apparently you get them for free if you order a whole pizza. Don't. Don't even be seduced by the $5 deal where you get a slice and a t-shirt. The pizza is horrible. Look at this picture:
Yes, there's a lot of stuff on there and it looks like it has the potential to taste good, but somehow they managed to concoct the most tasteless slice of cardboard imaginable. Look at the crust. Anemic! Plus it needs a tan. And it didn't taste like anything. See that onion? Didn't taste like anything. The cheese? I'm not even sure they put cheese on there - there wasn't even a hint of saltiness. Sheesh. Blech blech blech.
Here is Rich making a sad face because his pizza is floppy. Yup, nothing worse than flaccid pizza - in taste and texture. So I'm warning you - don't even think about going here. Even if you're drunk and desperate. Better to go home and eat a frozen pizza. Seriously!
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