8.27.2008

GO YANKEES




Sigh. Last night was designed around watching a VERY important Yankees game. A pivotal game that was really going to say a lot about the season. So we had food delivered and we camped out in front of the tube.

The Yankees did not deliver. Bummer.

But Zaytoons most certainly did and as usual, it was awesome. Meena had:
- shawarma sandwich with hummus

Alec had:
- shish kebab sandwich
- zaytoons mix

The ONLY bummer was that the mix didn't have any peppers in it. That was too bad. But the rest of food was on point and totally consistent with the standard 'toons quality.

So it was a bummer for the yanks, but at least we had some good foods. Better luck tonight, A-Rod.

8.26.2008

SALAD AND SANDWICH




Last night was Monday night and we didn't much feel like doing anything drastic. Nothing big. Just a sandwich and a salad. Not that there's anything wrong with a sandwich and a salad. But I'm just saying. Nothing special. Just some nice food on a mundane Monday night.

I started with the salad:
- red onion
- mixed greens
- homemade croûtons (french bread, olive oil, old bay seasoning)
- tomato
- gorgonzola
- dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and rice vinegar)
- avocado

And then we had a little sandwich:
- french bread
- maple turkey
- tomato
- avocado
- cheddar
- red onion
- chicken apple sausage

Served that sandwich up with a pickle and it was like being in some sandwich place where you happily fork over 10 bucks for a sandwich. Just like that. It was honestly a really solid sandwich. And the salad was jam packed with tons of good stuff. So although it was a mundane Monday, the food was actually anything but.

8.25.2008

SUNDAY SEAFOOD




Seafood Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

That’s right. We had a farmers market + Fairway seafood overload on Sunday night. We hit the market early in the a.m. to pick up some stuff for ourselves and poor old Steveo and we biked down to Fairway for some bits of salmon and scallops to complement our spread.

Once we’d finally worked up the energy after the insane biking, we got moving on a salad to start:
- pickled red onion (red onion, lime and salt)
- yellow tomato
- seared sea scallops (with sea salt and black pepper)
- herb oil (olive oil, black pepper and dried basil)
- spinach

Excellent salad. I think we probably could have added a little vinegar or something. It was really awesome and that nice tomato flavor was popping through with the creamy scallops, but yeah. Vinegar next time.

For the main course, we did a salad with a bit of salmon:
- salmon
- hearts of palm
- dressing (garlic, olive oil, anchovy, lemon and rice vinegar)
- red onion
- black pepper
- mixed greens

And with the leftover salmon, we did a little crostini:
- laughing cow french onion cheese
- salmon
- mixed greens
- pickled onion
- french bread

So I think everything came out well. The crostini was a little unwieldy. Could have been a bit smaller and I think it would have been fine. The salad was strong. The anchovy was lovely and the organic salmon from Fairway was fatty and rich. And I love hearts of palm so much. Impulse buy, but it made the salad sing.

We’ll make that starter of the scallops again. It was beautiful to look at on the plate. I just need to get that vinegar up and maybe fold in a garlic pop.

8.24.2008

MGUGGY & FRANKIE



Our good buddy Michael is on his way out of town after a wonderful summer in the city. He was interning up at my old stomping grounds and since the day he set foot on NY soil, we’ve been trying to get together for a bite to eat in Brooklyn. Well it finally worked out! MGuggy was out in BK on Saturday night and after some wine and cheese at our place, we wandered out into the beautiful night for some really amazing Italian food at Frankie’s 457.

The place was beyond packed. At 10:00 no less. So we waited for quite some time before we were finally able to grab a seat (at the bar!) for a little bit of what I’d call, hands down, the best Italian I’ve had in a long, long time.

After a lovely antipasto plate with lovely bits of cheese, meats and olives, we moved into the mains. Meena and Michael both had:
- pork braciola marinara

Alec had:
- meatballs

Pretty outstanding. The pork was rolled perfectly and stuffed just so with cheese. Not like, gushing cheese. Simple, subtle, but just enough to give you that lovely bit of flavor. Perfect. And the meat was literally falling apart tender. One tap with the fork gave you delectable bite after bite of porky goodness bathed in Frankies’ famous marinara.

My meatballs were pretty spectacular. I think they featured raisins? Is that common? Feel free to comment if this is something you know about and I should have as well a long time ago. But it was most certainly a wonderful surprise. And again, bathed in that lush marinara? Awesome.

PLEASE NOTE: STOLEN FLICKR PHOTOS HERE. I DID NOT TAKE THESE.

8.23.2008

OPERATION DINNER


Poor Steveo had some surgery this week and for the next four weeks, he’ll be chillin’ on the couch with his leg elevated. And the worst part is that he’ll need to have it done all over again later this winter. No fun, Steve. No fun.

But because he’s most certainly not going anywhere, we decided to go to him for an evening filled with board games and Columbian cuisine.

Yep. Columbian. It’s that nice little spot on 5th Ave. called Bogotá Latin Bistro and it’s pretty darn good.

I can’t remember all the orders, but Meena had:
- cuban sandwich

Alec had:
- half roast chicken
- tropical slaw
- garlic spinach

Pretty awesome for delivery, my friends. My chicken wasn’t dry or old. It was hot and juicy, just like I’m sure it is at the restaurant. The slaw was all fruity and colorful and the garlic spinach was just what it sounds like – garlicky spinach!

Meena’s was pretty good. Nice pork and ham and all that. Not really Columbian, obviously, but still pretty darn good.

We’ll try to get back and see Steve a few more times while he’s in this unfortunate situation. And maybe we’ll even have more Bogotá!

8.22.2008

TAKING A CHANCE


Our man Matt is moving on from his lengthy tenure at Wenner, so last night I hit Me Bar on the top of the La Quinta in Korea Town for a few going away drinks. It was a great time and I’m really happy he’s found a great next stop.

When I got home, Meena had been kind enough to dial up some Chance delivery to ease me on into my final summer Friday of the season. Here’s how it broke down:
- chance’s chicken
- crispy fried beef
- brown rice

Awesome. After a couple drinks on the town, seriously, nothing is better than having a bit of bad for you Chinese. And Chance does bad for you Chinese better than anyone else in the neighborhood.

8.21.2008

PROTEIN





I'm not sure if I fall into to this category (food blog thief) but I felt like I had to say something after reading THIS and THIS. I'll say this first. I don't steal photos from other people out there in the internets community and call them my own homemade meals. Everything that I claim I make here is made by me. That should be no surprise. It's not like it's that special or anything. I'm not trolling the internet for sorta bad photos of sorta OK food and passing it off as my own. I do however nab shots of stuff I eat when I'm out sometimes. If I go to a restaurant, sometimes I don't want to be that dude who is snapping away with flashbulbs. So I'll flickr cruise until I find something. Sometimes I mention where I found it. Sometimes I don't. I deal with intellectual property a lot and I don't know. In this forum, I just don't feel like it's a big deal. Whatever. I just felt like I should address it. If you have some beef, feel free to comment. Not that anyone who I think reads this with any regularity cares AT ALL. But just sayin.

Anyway, for foods last night, we had to move quickly. I had a fantasy football draft and had to move with the quickness. So I started with figs again:
- figs
- bleu cheese
- olive oil
- black pepper

Then I made a tiny chicken salad:
- chicken
- light mayo
- raisins
- tomato
- curry powder
- allspice
- salt
- lemon juice
- black pepper

And finally, I grilled off some sausage:
- chicken apple and gouda sausage
- pickle spears
- tomato
- ketchup
- mustard
- organic wheat bun

Everything was pretty good. Figs were melty. Salad was spicy. And the sausage was snappy and full of great stuff. Can't complain!

8.20.2008

WOON SEN






So I'm not saying I'm totally in love with Joya again but I am saying this Woon Sen dish is sorta putting it back on the map for me. It's lovely. Truly. And last night, Meena had a hankering for some Joya, so I was on board.

After a trip into the city looking for some wedding stuff, we ruled out cooking. Too spent. So Joya it was and this is what came for Meena:
- spring rolls
- pad thai with chicken

Alec had:
- tom yum koong (extra spicy)
- woon sen with chicken

Solid, Joya. Solid. My soup was like liquid fire. It was the hottest thing ever. And I loved it. The 'sen was rockin'. It has this smoky, almost burnt flavor that just takes the broccoli and glass noodles and combines to create this amazing almost BBQ noodle taste. How can I argue with that?

8.19.2008

FUEL




Now that we're bikers, we need some fuel to make sure we can keep up the pace, you know? Not really. We're not intense or anything. But we did ride down to Red Hook last night and hit the Fairway for a few groceries after work. And once we got home, I started whipping stuff together because we were pretty darn hungry.

We started off with a little starter inspired by Tartine:
- figs
- olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
- gorgonzola

Not bad. I should have baked the figs with the cheese, but I was thinking the heat from the fruit would be enough to get it melty. Not really. I'm going to try it again tonight and we'll do it better this time around.

For the sandwich, we went big. Maybe too big. But like I said, we were hungry. We had:
- wheat bread
- tomato
- avocado
- chicken breast
- special sauce (light mayo, garlic, anchovy, lemon juice and olive oil)


The sandwich was sorta too big for the bread. But it was really good. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I think Meena did as well. I just think we needed bigger bread. Or less stuff. But who wants to go that direction? Not us.

8.18.2008

YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS?



Yesterday was a very long day. Good long. All good stuff. Just long.

After being convinced Saturday by James and D that we needed bikes, Meena and I made the trek up to Williamsburg and picked out a pair from the dudes hangin' by the L stop on Bedford. After a couple minutes of testing out bikes on the block, we sped off with a couple beat up old junkers, two locks and a broken seat.

That's right. About halfway into Bed Sty or whatever, all I knew was loads of Hasidic dudes wearing way to heavy coats for August and a seat grinding into my butt.

Anyway. Long day. But we got home (with a new seat and a basket for Meena's bike) and after eating a few bites along the way, we just weren't that hungry. Finally, at the end of the night, we broke down and called in some Cube 63.

Meena had:
- 63 roll
- shrimp shumai

Alec had:
- miso soup
- california roll

And that was that. A day with about 13 or so miles logged on the streets of Brooklyn (we rode everywhere man), sore muscles, new baskets and a world of opportunity now that we have wheels, baby.

8.17.2008

TAPAS ROUND TWO



Saturday night was another shot at Tapas and our first trip to Vanderbilt Ave. James and D were cruising down to a happy medium spot in Park Slope for a little food and laughter on a really, really nice night.

We found a nice spot outside and we immediately got going with a ton of two important ingredients:
- wine
- little plates of food

Again, I can't really remember everything (see ingredient one on the important list), but here's the gist of what Meena and I had:
- scallops
- skirt steak
- brussels sprouts
- calamari salad
- seared tuna

I don't really remember what James and D had, but I do recall a skirt steak order and a burger.

I think we all had a blast. We even went over to Flatbush Farm later on for some more wine and chatter.

The food was pretty solid and we had tons of fun.

8.16.2008

TAPAS ROUND ONE




I want to just start out by saying thanks to Noelle for taking these photos. I don't know Noelle. I just found her flickr page. And she had great photos of the food we ate on Friday night. So I know it said all rights reserved, Noelle, but I just felt like you'd want the people to see what this stuff looked like. Properly. So thanks, Noelle!

Anyway, Friday night was with Dan and Steve in their hood at this lovely little spot called Tapeo on 5th Ave. I didn't know what to expect from this little tapas joint where the waiters take your orders of like 34 things and don't write any of it down. But everything we asked for came out and it was all VERY good.

I can't remember everything. But here is a bunch of it:
- tilapia with some sort of egg on top
- smoky chicken lettuce wraps
- scallops
- truffled chips
- meat beggars purse
- cheese pierogi
- crab dip
- crab fritters
- paella
- sangria

I don't even know. There was probably some other stuff. We had like ... a million plates. They were everywhere. And everything was awesome. And I sorta can't wait to go back. Honestly, it wasn't even that expensive. And we all ate like kings and queens.

Bravo, Cafe Tapeo. Bravo.

8.15.2008

KOREAN PORK



There isn't much Korean about this pork. Just that I served a couple pork chops over some kimchee. But that's a pretty serious flavor and I'll just go ahead and say that's enough to make this sufficiently Korean in my mind.

Meena was out again last night so I was on my own to do whatever I wanted. I had a couple chops in the fridge and after taking stock of the other stuff in there, I determined this was pretty much the ONLY thing that could have been made.

So here's what went in:
- pork chops (pan seared with sea salt and black pepper)
- kimchee
- pineapple
- nori flakes
- crushed red pepper
- olive oil

That's it. The kimchee was really powerful but the pineapple cooled it down a little. The nori was a little salty and threw in a little green color and flavor. And the pork was pretty subtle. Just a little salt and pepper let the flavor of the meat shine through.

8.14.2008

AN ALL TIME FAVORITE




Last night we were on our way home and just decided ... you know what? It's a good damn night for some Cube 63. It was pretty, it was breezy ... it was Wednesday. So why not?

I just love this place so much. I don't even know why I love it so much. It's not all that crowded when we're there, but man, there's just something about the decor, the people, the food. I love it. And as long as we live here and as long as it's open, we'll be hitting this place on a near weekly basis.

Anyway, we kept it standard. Meena had:
- mexican roll
- lobster tempura roll
- shrimp shumai

Alec had:
- miso soup
- roll combo II

My roll combo had some eel, some tuna and avocado, some spicy salmon or something. I can't remember. And it was definitely more than I should have eaten. I try to do two rolls and some soup when I can. But man, I just felt like I should. I was hungry. So I went with it.

Turns out, I was rewarded. I know they're standard style rolls, but they were fantastic. That's the other thing about Cube 63. I feel like a lot of places will give you really nice "special" rolls and really hose you on the standard stuff. Not these dudes. It's quality start to finish and everywhere in between.

Meena's was delicious and I think she enjoyed every last bite. We negotiated a couple trades between the two plates and I have to agree ... Meena's was pretty awesome.

So yep. Another great night at Cube 63. No surprise there.

8.13.2008

ALL BY MYSELF



Meena was out with some work friends last night so I was left alone to make a little dinner and watch copious amounts of Olympics coverage. I'm sorta obsessed.

To go with the athletics, I decided the quickest, easiest and most delicious option would be a quesadilla. Lame. I know. But it's delicious and I don't care. Here's what I threw in:
- mexican cheese mix
- flour tortilla
- avocado
- spinach
- olive oil
- salsa
- fat free sour cream

I guess I would have enjoyed a little more protein in there, but whatever. There were meats in the freezer, but I wasn't going to break it out. We don't have a microwave in the new place and like I said ... speed was key.

So it wasn't bad. The avocado could have been a big more ripe, but in the end, it was fine. Lots of good flavors there. Can't complain.

8.12.2008

DELICIOUSLY MUNDANE



I can't imagine anything more mundane than a grilled chicken salad, but for some reason, we just decided it would be our best bet for a Monday night dinner. And honestly, I didn't even do anything to make this special. Nothing out of the ordinary. But it was good and satisfying and I can't argue with that.

Here's what I threw in there:
- chicken (marinated in oj, soy sauce and chili sauce)
- spinach
- carrots
- pineapple
- heirloom tomato
- corn
- dressing (garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, white wine vinegar, anchovy, black pepper)

And in addition to all that, we topped it all off with our final ear of farmers market sweet corn.

So it was pretty simple, but man, it was really singing with all sorts of yummy flavors. The dressing was tart and garlicky. The salad itself had lots of nice sweetness from the pineapple, crunchy carrots and corn and that lovely heirloom tomato. And the chicken, with its oj marinade had a bit of citrus that lingered ... in a good way.

Mundane indeed, but on this Monday, I wouldn't have it any other way.

8.11.2008

FARMERS' MARKET FISH FEAST




Yesterday Meena made a quick trip to the farmer’s market while I was chillin’ out, maxin’ and relaxin’ on the couch during the USA Redeem Team game. She left with a desire to pick up a few fishes and some veg that would make up dinner for last night. And she came back with a bounty, friends.

At first, I was concerned with her choice of flounder given our previous misadventures with the flaky white fish, but I think we came up with a solution that worked for us in the end. A little ingenuity and our fishes were, in the end, quite delicious.

Meena also picked up a few lovely sea scallops and I seared them off and included the following:
- white peach
- nori
- apple cider vinegar
- sesame oil
- garlic
- sambal oelek
- sea salt
- black pepper

It was a pretty solid starter. The scallops got a great sear and the dry and wet nori concoctions I whipped up were solid. The wet version used the oil, vinegar, garlic and sambal oelek to make a little base that mixed with the peaches. I put too much vinegar in and that was in the end, a touch overpowering, but the idea was right. The dry nori was just that … dry nori broken up and sprinkled over the top. And it was good!

The main course was the flounder and it was done two ways in the same breading mixture. One was pan fried in a little olive oil. The other was baked under a broiler. Both were good … one was a little more crisp, one was a bit more dry. I’m sure you can figure out which was which. At any rate, the breading included:
- chili sauce
- panko
- flour
- salt
- old bay seasoning

I just ran each fillet through the chili sauce to make sure stuff would stick then threw them in a plastic bag with the rest. Then I fried off some and baked the rest (I have a small kitchen, so it was more out of necessity than simply choosing to diversify). Pretty simple and in the end, quite delicious. There was a bit of sweet from that chili sauce (your standard variety sweet chili sauce found in every Asian section in every grocery everywhere), salt from the breading and that lovely, flaky, non-fishy flavor from the flounder.

Meena also made a lovely corn and tomato salad that brought the whole thing together. She included:
- sweet corn
- heirloom tomato
- gorgonzola
- sea salt
- black pepper
- olive oil

Awesome. So awesome I’m taking the rest for lunch today!

8.10.2008

CUBANA IN BROOKLYN




Saturday night was sorta perfect. The weather was lovely. No humidity. Healthy shining sun. Occasional fluffy clouds in a crystal blue sky. Perfect.

And the afternoon was much the same. I watched a bunch of Olympics, ran some errands, had a Scotch around 5:00. I mean, if that’s not a great Saturday, I don’t know what is.

So when it came time for dinner, we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary, and in my mind, something befitting of this amazing atmosphere. Cuban!

We’d been to Cubana Café once for brunch, but I hadn’t been inspired to go back since. I’m not sure why. They have great food. Stuff I like. And it’s cheap. So I should probably make a point to go more often. Anyway.

After a wonderful cheviche of shrimp and squid that was just a bit heavy on the creamy garlic sauce, we moved into the main courses. Meena had:
- piccadillo with turkey, rice and beans

Alec had:
- pulled pork with yucca and onion relish

I mean, I’m never going to be sad about some pulled pork. It was rich and juicy and despite the garlic cream sauce that somehow found its way onto this dish as well, really nice. Delicious even. I enjoyed every bite. I even ate all the yucca.

Meena’s was OK. She ordered it with beef and ended up with the turkey. She didn’t balk at it though and kept it without sending it back. IT was good. I think she enjoyed it. She’ll probably get something else next time. But she did like it enough to ensure we’ll be back. Most certainly.

RIGHT START


Saturday morning I got rolling really early with bits and pieces of the leftovers from the fridge. I had a bunch of stuff that was probably on the verge of trash-able within the next day or so. I just figured I’d throw a bunch of it together and see what happened.

I started with some vegetables and stuff:
- mache
- carrots
- crimini mushrooms
- anchovy
- olive oil
- crushed red pepper
- white onion

And then I did a pretty standard egg sandwich:
- egg
- french bread
- cheddar
- hot sauce
- mache
- salami

Pretty good. The only thing that was seriously problematic was the bread. It was leftover from the previous day and quite hard by the time we go around to eating it. OK, but not great.

The veg was a serious standout. The addition of the red pepper and anchovy gave it an amazing depth and subtle, creamy, salty notes that took normal vegetables from the dregs of the fridge to new heights. I have seen it used frequently on cooking shows and it’s a new staple of my overall vegetable cooking strategy. It just melts away and leaves your greens with the most lovely taste imaginable.

8.09.2008

POPCORN



Friday night was ... well, depending on who you are, it might have been a great food night. I had it more in the bummer category. But you know, I'm open to other opinions.

We went to go see Pineapple Express and because everything around here closed, etc. by the time we got out, we sorta missed dinner. So dinner was popcorn at the movie. Which is fine. Not great. But fine. The movie was super fun though!

8.08.2008

HOME




I can't even make an excuse about a long week or a really stressful day at the office. I have nothing here but a simple desire to just hit the comfort food spot of the century.

I don't know. I guess because our honeymoon flight was CANCELED we just needed something. I guess I just made an excuse. Sorry. But yeah, we were just walking home from the train and we just say, you know what? Let's just throw caution to the wind and house some Lobo, fool.

So we did. And this is what we had. Meena got down with:
- edwin's enchiladas with chicken and ranchero sauce

Alec had:
- pork quesadilla

Pretty delicious! My quesadilla was actually better than usual. The pork was better. Not sure why, but it just seemed like a really fresh and juicy batch. And well, it was roasted pork. It's sorta my favorite thing ever.

Meena's was good. As always. After the Pacifico enchilada fiasco of '08, she was happy to be back in the saddle with something she loved.

8.07.2008

SNASAUGES




We were at the farmer's market this last weekend and in addition to the little steaks we picked up, we grabbed some sausage and threw it in the freezer. Well, it came out on Wednesday night and we decided to revisit the favorite of this kitchen - the pizzetta.

We did essentially one version here ... we just subbed out some anchovy when the sausage ran out. So the base was this:
- flour tortilla
- marinara
- crimini mushroom
- mache
- white onion
- sea salt
- black pepper
- mozzarella

The sausage was a beef Italian sausage and it was made with the same grass fed beef from that spot's farm upstate. It was really good. We weren't expecting a lot. Why? I don't know. But we just weren't. And we were proven pleasantly wrong. It was nice and spicy. Really rich. But not super greasy. Solid sausage. We were impressed.

The anchovy joint was good too. I got a strange brand from the organic store and they were really awesome. It's funny how much anchovies vary by brand. But this little jarred variety of the furry fish were super good.

8.06.2008

NEW/OLD THAI





I've been pretty tired of Joya lately. I don't know why. But I sorta roll my eyes every time Meena suggests it. I just think I've burned out a little.

But last night once the food arrived, something changed. I think I found new life with Joya. I found a new dish. I'll get to that in a sec. Meena had:
- spring rolls
- chicken pad thai (sorta spicy)

Alec had:
- woon sun with chicken (really spicy)

This little glass noodle dish was awesome. Not light ... but not heavy. Really spicy and as the fairly tale goes ... juuuuuusst right. I don't know if it was the plump broccoli and massive spice that mixed so well with the light noodles and the plump chicken, but it's giving me new found interest in Joya and that's enough for me.

8.05.2008

PACIFIC MEETS ATLANTIC




Meena was thinking the stuff we'd thrown in the fridge to defrost yesterday probably wasn't going to be ready for us to cook last night, so we decided to just head out for some foods last night. We'd cooked a few days in a row, so I didn't put up much a fight.

On the way home, we decided we'd try a spot that we oddly hadn't ever tried before - Pacifico. It's the little ramshackle spot next to Trout that for whatever reason, hadn't ever lured us in. Which is weird.

So we tried it. And the results were OK. We're sorta Lobo people, but this is a different kind of experience and we liked it for what it was.

We started with some chips and salsa. We tried both the hot and the "wimpy red" varieties and I'm here to tell you, they were both pretty wimpy. Incredibly, actually. The green should NOT be called hot.

Then Meena had:
- pulled beef enchiladas

Alec had:
- carnitas tacos

My tacos were pretty awesome. The meat was rich and delicious. The veggies were crunchy. I mean, that's the way a taco should be.

Meena's enchiladas were OK. Not great. They were a bit mushy. I think she liked the beef, but I'm not sure it was her favorite. Again, she's more of a Lobo Tex-Mex enchilada girl. So we'll probably be back. I think she'll just be having tacos with me.

8.03.2008

STEAKS AND TOMATO



We stopped by the farmer's market this morning and we were talked into some "sandwich steaks" from the grass fed beef stand. Sorta weird. We'd never heard of such a thing before. But we were told they're just thinly sliced versions of the normal steaks. Ideal for sandwiches. So we went ahead and picked a few up and added a few other things to our bounty to make sure we had stuff for sandwiches.

I got the meat marinating while we were out and about this afternoon. The marinade included:
- worcestershire sauce
- orange juice
- chili sauce
- soy sauce

When we got home, I seared off each "steak" and then threw it on some caputo's rolls with:
- heirloom tomato
- sauteed onion
- herb mayo (light mayo, lemon juice, salt, pepper, basil and olive oil)


Not bad. It was a little tough. But not too tough. I think I should have just sliced it up a bit more. I left it in big strips and you sorta ended up eating the whole thing (not just a bite) whenever you dug in. But the flavor was nice. The tomato was AMAZING.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also had some sweet corn. And it was probably the best corn we've had this year. Maybe in two years. It was incredible. Like candy.

Anyway, nice weekend. Lots of great food and this wasn't such a bad way to finish it all off.

BBQ OF THE WORLD




We were fortunate enough to get our hands on a nice bit of wild salmon the other day, so I got this idea to try and make a couple different versions with the 3/4 of a pound we had in the fridge. Maybe it's the Olympics coming up (probably not), but I thought I'd see how a little Korean BBQ vs. American BBQ would unfold. Turns out, it was kinda cool.

I started with the Korean version. The salmon got a pan searing and the following:
- korean bbq (brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and sambal oelek)

I also made a bit of veg:
- bok choy
- korean bbq
- water

And I also threw a little kimchee from a jar in there. Just a bit more of the Korean flair.

Then I threw together the American stuff. I started with a coleslaw:
- white vinegar
- lemon juice
- salt
- cabbage
- carrot
- light mayo

And then I did the salmon under the broiler with a bit of smoky maple bbq sauce from a jar. Not bad.

I think in the end, Meena was a bigger fan of the Korean version. I like them both. I like cole slaw, so I thought it was pretty solid. But both were good. And the salmon was great. Wild salmon. Sheesh. I know people are always singing its praises and it's annoying and stuff, but it is good. Not ALWAYS better, but it sure is different. Strange.

GET IT STARTED RIGHT



I'm kind of tired of bacon. I know that's like ... the most awful thing I've ever said. But I feel like we've used it a lot lately and I'm sorta over it for a minute. It was good and all. Great even. But we need to take a break from the pork fat for a minute. It's going to my thighs.

But on Saturday morning, I felt like we need a good start, so I got moving on a little sandwich as soon as we were up and at 'em:
- bacon
- whole wheat english muffin
- egg
- cheese
- frisee
- hot sauce

I also threw a little cabbage together:
- cabbage (sauteed in a bit of the bacon drippings)
- cherry tomato
- black pepper

Although I'm tired of bacon, this was pretty awesome. Great start to Saturday.

8.02.2008

DIM SUM FRIDAY



Sorta strange title. I guess I did have dim sum. But saying "Dim Sum Friday" makes it feel a little like it's something we do often. And it is not. So anyway, now that I've disclosed that bit I can move on and tell you the rest.

We were going to cook, but we got lazy and just decided to go out. It was Friday. Why not?

So oddly, we went back to Chance. It's this Chinese place we've tried a few times and just keep heading back to with some regularity. It's just good Chinese. Not great, but certainly the best we've had in this hood.

Meena had:
- shrimp in lettuce cups
- crispy beef

Alec had:
- hot and sour soup
- ocean box dim sum

Everything was awesome. Meena's crispy beef was sorta hard to eat. Big strips of steak. It took several bites to get through it. But it was good. Really good, actually.

My dim sum was nice. Not great. But good. I really liked the sea bass and carrot bite. It was perfect. The lobster wasn't all that great. The shrimp was solid. There was also this deep fried crab claw thing. Not a ton of flavor, but it was a crab claw and it was packed with meat. I liked that.

All in all, not a bad night. Dim sum, soup, crispy beef and some lettuce wraps? I'll take that for a lazy Friday in the neighborhood.