seeconrun: comfort food

Monday, October 18, 2010

breakfast bites

Making breakfast with B is one of my favorite things to look forward to on weekend mornings. We usually go for a morning run along the Embarcadero and then cook up a storm.

This time we skipped out on the running and made a trip to the local grocer for some last minute ingredients. French toast a la mangos (after a sample taste, we had to get some in spite of the high price..3 for $9.99 is ridiculous, just sayin'). This is a bite of breakfast made to perfection. Thick slices of few-days-old La Boulange's rustic walnut baguette soaked in a batter of eggs, soymilk, vanilla extract, cinnamon and fresh orange zest ready to sizzle on the hot stove. Slice up a banana and drizzle some homemade pecan caramel on top, and you'll feel pretty good about having gotten out of bed on a rainy Sunday morning.

*B took this photo of me plating a new dish for the blog. I've been inspired by the gourmet look after exhausting "The Next Iron Chef" and "Pasta," which I have only two episodes left to watch!

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

pad thai pandamonium

Does anyone have suggestions for where I can find tamarind paste in the city? B and I spent a good days worth of searching in Chinatown, bustling through the crowds, investigating the aisles of sauces, spices and pastes, talking to shop owners and clerks (or at least trying to given the many language barriers), and even getting ripped off! They charged me $1.15 for my tofu when the sign read 95 cents. When I tried to explain to the lady that she mischarged me, all I got was an astounding, "NO." Errr..ok. And it happened again at another market. Granted the produce is cheap, but still I'd much rather pay the advertised 45 cents/lb for my peaches than the 55 cents that was rung up!

Exhausted and annoyed, B and I scooted home, picked up some peanuts and a lime at Whole Foods and settled with a jar of "pad thai sauce." It was too sweet for my liking (surely not the authentic pad thai taste I was hoping to recreate myself), but with a little mix of fish sauce, hoison and siracha, it was pretty yummy.

Monday, August 23, 2010

pasta!

I've been recently hooked to the Korean dramedy, Pasta. It's made me crave spaghetti more than ever because in one of the episodes, the young chef tries time and again to perfect a simple spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. I loved the way the chefs tasted the noodles and how it left their lips glossy. So of course, I had to make some of my own and boy, was it yummy. I also made a small batch of spaghetti with cream sauce from Phoenix and B seared wild salmon that my roomie, Seb got from the Farmers' market. Atop that a bed of kale and call it buono!

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Friday, August 13, 2010

a soup and salad kinda day

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

it's a noodle soupy day

This an Asian fusion of sorts. Japanese rice noodles, Korean fishcakes, Chinese-Vietnamese mother's cooking advice and broth recipe with lots of garlic, cilantro, green onions and bean sprouts. And there you have it, a savory noodle soup to comfort you in what seems like winter weather in the Bay.

Friday, July 09, 2010

pizza for two, please

Having grown up on Pizza Hut, Papa John's and fortunately, Petrillo's in my hometown, I had a liking for thick oily cheesy pizza. I mean pizza is pizza, and for the most part it's really good. I thought I knew pizza and what I liked and didn't, which included Little Cesars and Domio's..

But as I've been making my way around pizza in the Bay-- North Beach's Golden Boy, Pizziaola in Oakland, Baretta in the Mission, Gialina in Glenn Park, Zuppa in SOMA, and Pizza Delfina in both the Mission and Fillmore, I've become a different kind of pizza lover, connoisseur and maybe even snob of sorts.

I've discovered that I love high quality, thin-crust Neapolitan style pizza. Pizziaola (although hella expensive) and Gialina are a couple favs that make just the right crust, thin and crispy with still a bit of chew. Zuppa serves neoplitan style pizza and has a cool industrial decor, but their pizza is a bit too soggy, oily and bland for my liking. Quite disappointing given its convenient downtown location. Golden Boy's quick takeout or eat in on a barstool--although not neapolitan with their crisp and fluffy insides is still addictive at any time of the day, as a lunchtime snack or a late drunken night eat.

Alas, it was time to make my own restaurant quality pizza--well, partially. With that dinner time urge, B picked up some freshly made dough to go at Goat Hill in Potrero and as fast or slow as we could, we topped the rolled out dough with marinara sauce, fresh slices of mozarella and heirloom tomatoes, sprinkle of basil and red pepper flakes and ta-da..party dance! Beautiful fancy shmancy pizza.

Ready to go in the oven set at 450degrees for ten minutes.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

the comfort in cheesy goodness

This past weekend was full of glutenous indulgence (think mac 'n cheese followed by full-on super nachos and later pizza)... It all started when J, from La Boulange Bakery handed me an orange cinnamon morning bun on the house. I kept it in my bag for a little bit because for breakfast I had consumed a whole cup of coffee and monster blueberry muffin. Then I went home and baked this cheesy gooey deliciousness that is mac n cheese. I thought I'd make myself feel better by purchasing the multi-grain macaroni and adding some oven-baked broccoli. A blend of melted garlic cheese curd and pepperjack, and topped with leftover rye bread-turned breadcrumbs mixed with fresh sage and butter and it's heaven in your mouth.

Note: When making mac n cheese, it's really important to add your shredded cheese at the end of the period you've been simmering your butter and (soy)milk (right before you add in the macaroni) because if you stir it for as long as I did, the fats will separate and you'll have a big blob of cheese. Not that it's not a bad thing or anything. ;) Just a different consistency than you might imagine.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

quiche pour moi et vous

While in Europe, I incorporated eggs into my diet. At first, it was the sure vegetarian alternative, and sometimes, the only alternative. And while I'm not too interested in meat (although my curiosity and courtesy at different points led me to having some chorizo in Andalucía and lamb and paté in Basque country), I was introduced and came to liking hearty egg dishes like tortilla española all over Spain and quiches and crepes in France. Eggs were easy to ween out in the states, but being back, it's home-made quiches like these that make them worth savoring.

The crust recipe is from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Cooking and I filled the insides with lots of farmers' market veggies and the secret ingredients, créme fraiche and fresh sage.

We had a Frenchie named Liza who stayed with us for a couple weeks, and I made this quiche thinking about her as well because she filled our apartment with lots of love and passion for good food and company.

Monday, June 07, 2010

wa-wa wontons

Being away from my family in LA makes me crave Chinese and Vietnamese food more than ever. I get nostalgic and have serious cravings. Just yesterday I had a bowl of phó. I usually go for the noodles and broth with lots of lime, chile, mint and bean sprouts. Mm..my mouth waters just thinking about all that goodness and fat.

In honor of my mom's wontons, B and I made some veg friendly ones-- with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, carrots, vermicelli noodles and lots of ginger and garlic (mushed in a food processor and spooned into little pockets of wontons.) All ingredients courtesy of SF's Chinatown.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

girona, medieval and delicious

Last week I discovered that a fellow Cal Bear moved to Girona (a little more than an hour away from Barca) to teach English. Escatic, I penciled a couple days into my calendar, took a train and had a lovely, relaxing time cooking Spanish foods I learned while in Soria, wandering through the old Jewish quarters and drinking endless vino into the wee hours.

Lauren and I looking out from the Passeig de la Muralla.

When in Spain, eat like the Spanish do. And so in Girona, I made pan amb tomatae (Catalán for bread with tomato), a popular spread for breakfast, simply shredded insides of a tomatoe, olive oil and lots of garlic. A pinch of salt and sprinkle of pepper, more EVOO if you like, and you'll never go back to jam.

And oh, one of my newfound heavenly favorites, Torrijas. Spanish french toast, a bit cripsy on the outside and more creamy, breadpudding-like on the inside sweetly concocted with miel (honey) and milk. I used the already made soy chai I found at the market near Lauren's. Yay for soy and more cinammon spice!

Lauren's colleague Sydney invited a few of us over for homemade fettuccini with salmon and broccoli, and of course, more wine. Although I prefer not to eat meat or fish, I rarely turn down delicious homecooked food.

To the right in this photo is Lilía smoking a cigarette, beautiful and typical Catalán. In Europe, you're in the minority if you don't smoke it seems. ¡Buenas noches!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

the labor of love for almonds

At La Casa del Viento, my appreciation for food deepens with each and every meal. Last night's warm, subtly sweet and savory almond soup attributes to that as Orfhlaith and I hand picked the almonds, cracked, dehusked and devoured them all!

le almond tree

almonds are ready to be picked when their outer green shell opens

step one: collect bucket full of almonds

step two: grab two sturdy rocks, one for almond bed, the other to smash

step three: smash!

step four: practice hope that most of your almonds remain whole

step five: perfecto! look, two almonds in one.

step six admire the almond, a beauty of a nut rich in flavor and full of antioxidants

step six: continue until you have enough to boil and dehusk for your soup

final step: enjoy!

it's not every day you get to delight in an almond soup

where the almonds are homegrown and handpicked and oh, so delightful.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

so ecstatic!

i have a new baby cousin! his name is keon.

so adorable!

and in celebration--food and wine and my best friends!

creole stuffed peppers (black eyed peas, kale, carrots, onions and tomatoes) and spicy glazed tofu..oh, with vagmons over, it's so nice to cook and relax.

check out these exotic carrots i got from the farmer's market..purple! they looked really cool when i chopped them up.

'tis all for now. enjoy!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

mac and cheese

i have the most bizarre cravings. they inspire me to cook and bake. this time it was breaded mac and cheese. back in the fifth grade or so my mom sent me to this after school program, it was more of a thing to keep my brother and me busy, also in hopes of making us smarter (thanks, mom). really, i think it was a big waste of money. however, one of the few fond memories i have is of the baked and breaded mac and cheese my writing instructor made, i think it was a last day of class celebration. it was so cheesy and gooey and warm and oh, so comforting, so much the opposite of those prep programs. in celebration of my GRE exam coming up on tuesday, i wanted to bring back some of that warm gooey deliciousness.

i burnt a little of the top, but it was all the more homier. i cut this epicurious recipe in half, substituted milk for soy mlik and added my own touch with a hint of thyme, tarragon and oregeno in the macaroni (i used shells :), and a pinch of chile to spice it up a bit. i also used my magic bullet to grind 3 slices of earth-balance butered toast and a small piece of leftover garlic bread to make the bread crumbs. the breading is what ultimately makes this mouthworthiness.

seeconrun

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

let it rain, let it rain