Chef and the Farmer New Sign

I love "A Chef's Life" on PBS. I reported earlier of my first visit to Chef and the Farmer a few years ago. And in another post, I reported about having dinner there for a second time this past April, 2017. I'm slow, but I'll post pictures and a report of that second visit in another post.

During that second visit, we saw the new sign in front of the restaurant. In fact, the first thing I said when we arrive was "Oh, they replaced the sign!" The old sign was kinda iconic, because it was always shown in the show, and the theme of the sign matches their business cards, etc. So it was curious to see that they replaced the sign.

But in case this is not known, the 5th season of "A Chef's Life" is currently airing in the US on PBS. On Episode 4 titled "A Food Truck and a Pear Tree", we now know why they had to replace it. The old sign was crumbling, and there was a family of wasps living behind it. The guy who built their "designer" chicken coop was the one who made the new sign.

This episode, though, was quite touching. It showed Chef Howard opening the box that contained the first print of her cookbook. She was in tears as she opened the box, and it was a very emotional moment. As tears were running down her face, she uttered the best line in the entire episode:

I gave it everything that I had,..... and if people don't like it, then I can throw it at them, because it is freaking heavy.

Don't throw that book at me, Vivian, because I LOVE IT. Heck, I even stood in line when you were in Naperville to get it signed! :)

Zz.

Link Between Cancer And Sugar Getting Stronger

The "Warburg effect", which points to the effect whereby cancer cells needs sugar for growth, now has a stronger, newer evidence from the latest study.

"Our research reveals how the hyperactive sugar consumption of cancerous cells leads to a vicious cycle of continued stimulation of cancer development and growth," said researcher Johan Thevelein from KU Leuven in Belgium.

"Thus, it is able to explain the correlation between the strength of the Warburg effect and tumour aggressiveness. This link between sugar and cancer has sweeping consequences. Our results provide a foundation for future research in this domain, which can now be performed with a much more precise and relevant focus."

There has been a lot of effort in the US to regulate the sale and consumption of sugars. This latest result will probably add more fuel to the fire.

Zz.

Steak Dinner At Home

We don't often have steaks at home, but when we do, it's nice to do something really good.

I cooked this one on a pan after applying a kosher salt/black pepper/coriander rub on it. Then I made a pan sauce by frying onions until they are soft, adding some flour in the pan, and then adding milk to make the pan gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.

I also sauteed shallots, onions, and fresh green beans for the veggie side dish. As a bonus, I baked a couple of Trader Joe's hashbrowns.

It was a delicious Friday-night meal!

Zz.

My Most Favorite Korean Restaurant

We have many Korean restaurants in the vicinity (hooray!), but this one remains my favorite. It is the New Seoul BBQ Korean restaurant.

Don't expect slick decor, or anything fancy. This is a place where the food is the main attraction and nothing else. And as with any ethnic restaurant, my rule-of-thumb is, if the population and demographics can support it, the majority of the clientele must be of that ethnicity or else it is not a good restaurant. This rule certainly is alive and well at this restaurant, where you will see plenty of Koreans and other Asians on any given day.

If you order any of the items that is grilled at the table (such as the Bulgolgi), then they will bring out a charcoal pit/hibachi to your table. This is one of the few Korean BBQ joint that still uses charcoal pit instead of gas hibachi. I think it adds flavor to the food being grilled.

Here is a picture of what we had a couple of weeks ago.

It was scrumptious!

It is definitely one of my on-rotation restaurants.

Zz.

Trader Joe's Hashbrowns

I have a few guilty pleasures. One of them is the potato cakes from Arby's and the hashbrowns from McDonald's. They are so warm and crispy and yummy!

Making them at home is too much work, at least for me, even for someone who likes to make stuff from scratch. That is why I'm all excited when I found Trader Joe's Hashbrowns. I can bake them in the oven, and they come out as crispy as deep-frying them. And they go very well with steaks!

And the best part of it all? You get a packet of 10 hashbrowns for $1.99!

Yes, I have a stack of these already stocked up in my freezer.

Zz.

Malaysian Satay

Satay is a rather common menu items at Thai restaurants here in the US. And unfortunately, it has been thought of as being a "Thai food" when in reality, satay is a common and popular item throughout South East Asia. Each country and each region has its own version of this food, and the variation can be significant.

Having sampled many different types of satay throughout the region, I'd say that my most favorite satay is the Malaysian/Indonesian satay. While the satay you find in most Thai restaurant are flavored with nothing more than just turmeric, Malaysian satay has a lot more species, herbs, and flavors. This includes the peanut satay sauce that accompanies the satay. The flavor is significantly more complex and interesting.

Having moaned to my friends about the satay that we often got at Thai restaurants, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and actually made Malaysian satay at home and invited many of my friends to sample it. I basically started with a basic recipe, and then I adjusted it until the flavor that I get matched what I remember how it should be. Making satay at home isn't easy, and it is tedious. Satay is often eaten at food stalls or restaurants because of this. This is very seldom done at home. So I certainly was aware of what I was undertaking.

First, let me give you the basic recipe that I used to make satay. The meat used in the recipe is chicken (boneless dark meat) or beef (flank steak). But in Malaysia/Indonesia, you may find tripe, chicken liver, beef liver, etc. skewered as the satay meat.

Satay Recipe

2 boneless chicken thighs and 2 boneless chicken legs, cut into half-inch pieces. If using flank steaks, cut into thin strips (no more than 1/4 inch) about 3/4 inch long

5 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric power

Satay Spice Paste

6 shallots
3 stalks lemongrass
1 inch galangal root
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons oil

Toast coriander and cumin seeds in a pan until fragrant. Combine all the ingredients for the Spice Paste into a blender or food processor and process until you get a fine paste. Add more oil if necessary to get a smooth paste.

Combine the Spice Paste with the chicken pieces, sugar, salt, and turmeric. Mix thoroughly. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Satay Sauce

2 cups dry roasted peanuts, skinned (may substitute with 2 cups of chunky peanut butter)
1/3 cup oil
1 heaping tablespoon tamarind paste, soaked in 1 cup warm water.
1 cup water
4 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Satay Sauce Spice Paste

1 dried ancho pepper, soaked in warm water until soft
6 cloves of garlic
3 shalots
4 stalks lemongrass
1 inch galangal root
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds

Toast coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant. If using dry roasted peanuts, chopped in food processor coarsely and set aside.

Blend Satay Sauce Spice Paste ingredients in a food process until smooth. Add cooking oil if necessary to obtain a smooth paste.

Heat oil and fry spice paste. Once fragrant, add tamarind water, water, sugar, salt, and peanut/peanut butter. Slowly simmer for about 15 minutes. Set aside and serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Back to the satay. The next day, thread 4-5 pieces of meat per skewer.

In preparation for grilling, pour a cup of cooking oil into a bowel. Use another stalk of lemongrass, and lightly bruise the stalk end. Dip this end into the oil and let it steep for 1/2 hour. This will be the basting brush.

Grill the satay skewers over coal or on a grill at high heat. Brush the meat with the oil-infused lemongrass. Flank steaks should take no more than one minute on each side, while chicken may take 1-2 minutes per side, depending on how thick the pieces are. There should be slight charring of the meat for flavor.

Serve with satay sauce, sliced cucumbers, and red onions.

So, want to see what I did and how my satay party turned out?

These are the coriander and cumin seeds being dry toasted in a pan.

Preparing the satay spice paste. I couldn't find galangal root, so I substitute ginger root instead.

Frying the spice paste for the peanut sauce. I was making a large amount.

The lemongrass basting brush soaking in oil.

Grilling the satay. I made both chicken and beef.

Malaysian satay is served. I also made "pressed rice" to serve with the satay and peanut sauce, along with the sliced cucumber and red onions. Traditionally, the rice is "ketupat", which is rice cooked in a weaved basket made of coconut leaves. But hey, I can only do so much!

It was yummy, if I may say so myself, and it was definitely a success. I managed to give an idea to my friends what "satay" is supposed to taste like, at least from what I remember.

I may have to do this again next summer if I can find people to help me skewer the meat.

Zz.

Random Tastes of 4 Fast-Food Fried Chicken

This is some random, unscientific survey of fried chicken from 4 popular chain restaurants: KFC, Chick-fil-A, Church's, and Popeyes. Here's what they found:

All in all, if you want excellent fried chicken, your best bet is Popeyes or Church's. If you're willing to sacrifice a true, on-the-bone experience, Chick-fil-A's strips are your best bet. But don't bother with KFC.

This is why Popeyes chicken, with the spicy version accompanied by their Cajun rice, is my most favorite guilty pleasure. However, I do think that they used to be "spicier" a while back, and the spicy version seems to have been toned down a bit now.

Still, it's my #1 most favorite chicken from a chain restaurant.

Zz.

Breakfast

Having the Moroccan eggs are leaf kitchen in Iowa city. Yum!

Jack Fruit

So last weekend, I had a small backyard party, and I decided to buy a whole Jack fruit and open it to serve as a dessert. Well, it didn't go as well as I planned.

I am quite familiar with the fruit. I grew up eating it, and it even grew in a parents' garden. But I've never bought a whole fruit before while living in the States, since one doesn't come across it that often. So it was a bit of a surprise when I saw it in one of our local grocery stores. I bought the whole fruit and brought it home, saved it for a few days, and then opened it in the middle of the party.

It turned out that the fruit is not that fresh. The inside was a dried out, causing the actual fruit itself, the yellow flesh, to be dry and hard to pry out. The individual fruit was also rather small, smaller than I was familiar with.

It was quite a chore to pull out the individual fruit because everything was dry and stuck together.

I've bought Jack fruit before, but only the actual edible flesh. Maybe next time, I'll buy that again, rather than the whole fruit. But then again, it is just a wow thing to buy the whole fruit and cut it open. Maybe if I can find one fresher than this one, probably at an Asian or Indian grocery store, I might try it again.

Zz.

Food - Delicious Science

The Public Broadcasting Station has started a serious on the physics, chemistry, and biology of the food we eat. Titled Food - Delicious Science, it premiered on May 17, 2017. You are able to view previous episodes of the series.

So far, it has been quite informative.

Zz.

Are People Getting "Avocado Hands?"

OK, I didn't realize that this is such an issue. It appears that people have been getting injured during the process of  preparing an avocado, especially with slicing their hands, so much so that the medical profession is calling this "avocado hands"!

"Avocado hand," as doctors call it, has prompted the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons to warn people about the practice. Improper slicing could lead to nerve and tendon damage. Not even three-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep is immune to "avocado hand." 

"People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them," Simon Eccles, a former Royal Society of Medicine president of plastic surgery told The Times of London. Eccles added that his hospital endures a Saturday "post-brunch surge" of such injuries, and he sees four patients each week due to the practice. 

Now, let's be clear, folks. Slicing ANYTHING while holding it in your hand is never a good idea! And with an avocado where you can have quite a variation in the texture of the flesh from fruit to fruit, this makes it even more dangerous.

So how should you prepare an avocado? I always have it on a cutting board. Then I slice it along the pole around the pit, i.e. I slice the knife down from the top of the fruit until I get to the pit. Then I turn the fruit, letting the knife goes around the pit, until I have gone all the way around.

After that, all I need to do is twist the two halves and they will separate. The pit will be stuck on one half, and you can use a spoon to scoop it out. Or do what I do. Place the half with the pit on the cutting board with the pit sticking up, and give a slight whack with the knife onto the pit just enough that the knife blade is slightly embedded into the pit. Then twist the knife, and the pit should become loosen from the avocado half.

To remove the avocado from the skin, use a large dinner spoon and scoop around the fruit in between the soft flesh and the skin, and the avocado should separate from the skin. And voila, you have an avocado half ready to be used!

Zz.

Birthplace Of Pepsi Cola

While we were on vacation in North Carolina, we passed by the store that is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola. This is a store in New Bern, North Carolina.

We didn't stop or go on, since we were on our place to somewhere else. But I must admit, before this, I didn't know that this was where Pepsi originated. I knew that Coca Cola was in Atlanta, but never knew anything about Pepsi.

Zz.

Had A Whole Fish For Dinner

Went to our favorite Mexican restaurant last night. Los Compadres was as good as ever. I ordered the Huachinango Frito (fried whole red snapper). Haven't had this in a while, and it didn't disappoint.

I ate through everything that was edible, even around the head. Yum!

I think this picture might be a candidate for my new "Fish Are Food, Not Friends" t-shirt.

Zz.

Chef and the Farmer

Having dinner at chef and the farmer.

Dinner at Chef Ping

This is what I call a feast!

We had a lovely dinner at one of our most favorite restaurant in the area: Chef Ping. It is a Chinese restaurant, but this is far from your typical Chinese restaurant in the US.

First of all, on any given night, Asian customers outnumber others. And you know my rule about ethnic restaurants: if the majority of the clientele isn't of that ethnic origin (assuming that the demographics can support number of clientele), then there's a very good chance that the food isn't that good or authentic. For Chef Ping, the majority of the clientele is Asian.

The menu includes the standard American Chinese items, but it goes way beyond that. It also has menu items that you don't normally find in such a restaurant. Browse the menu. You'll see sea cucumber, tripe, beef belly, etc.

Our favorite items are the fish with wood ear, beef stew hotpot, and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. But we have never had a bad items here yet, and their noodle soups are especially good since they are fresh noodles made in-house.

The only drawback is that this place is often very, very busy. Heaven saves you if you show up at 6:00 pm on a typical Friday or Saturday.

Zz.

Baking Soda Versus Baking Powder

This is a rather good article on the science behind baking soda and baking powder, especially in how each of these ingredients reacts with other ingredients and with heat.

Both baking soda and baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate. In fact, sodium bicarbonate is another name for baking soda, since that is the only ingredient in baking soda. On the other hand, baking powder contains other ingredients that provides the acid to react with sodium bicarbonate. The differences in content and how they react are the reasons why they are used for different recipes and purposes. In fact, in some recipes, both might be used together.

Of course, I use these two quite often at different times in making scones, biscuits, banana bread, etc. The whole family of quick breads depends on baking soda and baking powder.

Zz.

Sinigang

"Sinigang" is a popular Filipino dish but it also shares similarities with dishes found in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.  It is a tamarind-based soup broth and one can almost put anything into it. Common ingredients in it can be green beans, daikon radish, okra, bitter melon, etc... The protein can be chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, etc.

The one that I often make is with those veggies and either with chicken or beef. I admit that I often take shortcuts. Instead of making the broth from scratch, I often make this on a weeknight using a pre-made package for the broth.

Of course, I just don't pour it in. I doctor it a bit. What I normally do is I have 4 or 5 thick pieces of ginger, and smash 3 cloves of garlic. I fry the smashed garlic (you don't even have to chop 'em) in a couple of tablespoon of oil in a large pot until you get the garlic aroma. Then I add the appropriate amount of water. Add the ginger and the sinigang package, stir, and let it come to a boil.

Once it is boiling, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes so that the flavor develops, especially with the ginger.

Then add your protein (chicken or beef). Let it come to a boil and then simmer slowly until done.

Adjust seasoning. It should have a slightly sour taste from the tamarind. Optionally, you can add 3 tablespoons of fish sauce.

Then add the veggies. I always have bitter melon, daikon radish, and green beans. Cook until veggies are done. I often serve this alongside rice and kimchee.

If you like it hot, you can add whole Serrano peppers at the same time that you add the veggies. Then whoever wants it with a kick can serve it him/herself and break the pepper in the broth. It will add quite a kick to the soup.

Zz.

The Food Timeline

Hey, I just found this neat webpage that lists in chronological order on when various food enters our human history. The website is called The Food Timeline.

I of course cannot vouch for the accuracy and validity of the various pieces of information, but even if they're off by a couple of hundred of years, what they heck. The links to the various food items themselves are quite informative.

I wish they'd create a poster for this.

Zz.

Supermarket Ice-Cream With No Preservatives And No Artificial Flavors? Are You Crazy?

I'm one of those folks you might see at a supermarket who is standing there and reading the ingredients list on the back of a box or package. I care about what I put in my mouth, and try as far as I can (not with equal success) to not consume any trans-fat, preservatives, artificial anything, etc. Unfortunately, this is not that easy especially when I shop at a regular supermarket here in our area. Oh sure, one can go to one of those organic specialty stores, but who wants to pay that much all the time?

One of the most difficult item to shop for is, believe it or not, ice cream. Pick a typical box of ice cream at a supermarket, and you're buying a chemistry kit. Something as simple as a vanilla ice cream can have an ingredients list consisting of a dozen or more ingredients, often with chemical names that you've never heard of. And more often than not, you'll encounter preservatives and artificial flavors added to the poor ice cream.

It is why when I stumbled upon this particular brand of ice cream, I almost jumped with joy. I had written about the new Mariano's supermarket that opened recently in our neighborhood. On one of our browsing of the supermarket, we discovered this brand of ice cream called "Turkey Hill". Now, there are, unfortunately, two types of Turkey Hill ice cream. One has a lid with red-colored rim, while the other has a lid with a black rim, with the words "Naturally Simple" written all over the rim.

The red-rimmed box appears to be your typical supermarket ice cream, having the same laundry list of chemicals. It is also cheaper, and seems to be on sale pretty often. The ice cream with the black-rimmed box is the one you want, for sure!

We have bought the plain vanilla, the blueberry, and the mango. They were all winners and tasted terrific. That was the first and most important test, because it doesn't matter if the food is clean and healthy if no one wants to eat it. But what impressed me as much was the ingredient list.

This is the vanilla ice cream.

Now look at the ingredient list.

Crazy, right?

Here's the blueberry ice cream.

And the blueberry ice cream ingredient list.

I challenge you to look at these lists, and compare it with some randomly-selected ice cream sold in a typical supermarket. You'll understand why I was astounded that I can get something like this, and this good, in a supermarket.

The last time I saw an ice cream ingredients list that is this simple was on a Blue Bunny Premium ice cream, but either they had change their recipe, or I can't find it anymore. But as of now, other than going to our favorite local ice cream parlor, this Turkey Hill All Natural ice cream is our exclusive brand here at home.

Zz.

Chef & The Farmer

I mentioned a while back that "A Chef's Life" on PBS is one of my most favorite food shows on TV. I've bought every season of the show on iTunes and have it on my iPad at all times, so I watch it regularly.

We were lucky enough to had the chance to actually dine at Chef & The Farmer back in early Dec. of 2015. We made the trip to Kinston, N. Carolina just to dine at the restaurant.

We arrived early before our reservation. So decided to walk across the street and visit their other restaurant, The Boiler Room.

We didn't stay long because we just wanted to take a look. But soon our reservation time arrived and we were seated. I must say that the restaurant was smaller than I was expecting. But the vibe was very good and it was pretty buzzy. I think by then, it has certainly hit its fame because the 2nd season of Chef and the Farmer would have aired by then.

The menu consisted of only one page. The items were divided into 3 sections: Share Plates, Small Plates, and Large Plates. We ordered 2 items from shared plates: warm lima bean spread and the beef carpaccio.

OK, first of all, even if you don't like lima bean, ORDER THE LIMA BEAN SPREAD if it is on the menu. Trust me on this. This was surprisingly very, very good. It is a humus-like spread served with toast points. If we weren't at such a fine restaurant, I would have licked the bowl.

The carpaccio was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but it was severely overshadowed by the lima bean spread.

So then comes the entree (or what they called large plates). There were 4 of us, and we decided that we each got something different, so that we can have a taste on the other dishes. I ordered the Dayboat Flounder. Very good and satisfying.

We also had another fish entree that was ordered, which was the Wood-Roasted catfish, served with sprouted Hoppin' John, pomegranate, and fannel aioli. This was also good and the Hoppin' John was certainly different than the usual.

There was green curry rabbit. Love the rabbit meat, and nothing wrong with the flavor. But of course, the heat of the green curry was toned down considerably.

However, the winner entree of the evening was, in my opinion, the Cavatelli Pasta served with beef sausage. It was outstanding! The beef sausage alone could have been the main star by itself. This was easily the most tasty dish on our table.

And then, of course, we ordered desserts. I'll start with the best one, and unfortunately, I can't remember what it was exactly since this was their "Ice Cream of the Day". I think it was some sort of a sorbet, but it was easily the best dessert on the table. I wish I had ordered it.

This is the chocolate peppermint cake. I didn't have a taste of it, but the plate was cleaned at the end of our meal.

This is the Chocolate Bread Pudding. You can't go wrong with this.

Finally, we come to the dessert that I ordered, and unfortunately, this was where they had a slight hiccup. I ordered the buttermilk grapefruit Panna Cotta. While the flavor was excellent, the texture fell short. The Panna Cotta didn't actually set completely, because it was still a bit runny. I still ate it all, but this was where it was a minor letdown after such a fine meal.

Interestingly enough, in Season 3, Episode 8 titled "Honey, I'm Home!" of A Chef's Life, her sous chef at that time, John May, also had issue with the Panna Cotta they were serving not setting properly at Ben Knight's art show. So it appears that they are not getting good luck with this dessert.

We had a terrific time there. Food and service were top-notch. The sad thing was that we didn't get to meet with Chef Vivian Howard. I did ask, and our server was gracious enough to take down my name and address, while letting us keep the menu that we were served with that evening.

2 weeks later, in the mail came a signed menu from Chef Howard and a very nice note.

I mean, really, not many people make time to do this. So I was pleasantly surprised. You can see the items on the menu that we had for that evening. I was already a big fan of her and the show, and this just reinforced why.

Dial forward about a year later, Chef Vivian Howard has released her first cookbook titled "Deep Run Roots". And not only that, she was coming for a book signing at a bookstore out in one of the Chicagoland suburbs. We signed up for it and got a copy of the book and a meet and greet with her.

She was as genuine and pleasant in person as she was on her show. And oh, I wore a "Chef & The Farmer" t-shirt that I bought at the restaurant to the book-signing. It was a great evening. It was almost like a "A Chef's Life" fan convention while we were standing in line waiting for our turn to meet her.

The good news is that we will be dining at "Chef & The Farmer" once more in a couple of weeks. We are scheduled for a trip to that part of the country, and have already made our reservation. This will be good because their menu changes often and is quite seasonal. We were there at late fall the first time, and now we will be there in mid Spring this time. I will be curious to see different items on the menu (I'm seriously hoping for turnip run-ups!), and also how the new Chef de Cuisine that has been running the kitchen since the end of Season 4 of the show is working out.

And if we have time, while we are in that part of the country, we might try Piedmont restaurant in Durham, NC. This is where "Chef & the Farmer" former sous chef John May is now the executive chef. It sounds like this restaurant is a tailor-made fit for him.

Yup, this upcoming trip will be all about the food!

Zz.

Leaf Kitchen In Iowa City

Over the weekend, we visited family in Iowa City and had breakfast at what I claim as THE best breakfast place in all of Iowa City. It is a small, hidden gem of a place that is producing some of the best breakfast food, and I only wish that we have something like this in this part of the Chicago suburb.

The place is called Leaf Kitchen. It has a very rustic, homey, retro feel to it. When you walk in, the decor, color, and mismatched chairs, tables, etc. reminds you of being in your grandmother's kitchen. Heck, it feels almost comfortable enough to walk in in your pajamas and fuzzy slippers!

But then, there's a food. The menu changes, but there's always a few things that remains the same. Top of the list is what I think is their own invention, the Moroccan eggs. Good lord, order this already! It is eggs, smothered with a slightly spicy tomato sauce that has onions and Moroccan spices, served with hummus and pita bread. This is easily THE best breakfast egg dish I've had anywhere.

The plate was wiped cleaned at the end.

The second item is a more pedestrian, but extremely well-cooked stack of blueberry pancakes. There are blueberries inside the pancakes, which were very light and fluffy, served with whipped cream and real maple syrup. It shows that they can do the regular item, and do it exceedingly well.

They also have very rich but smooth coffee. They serve it in a cup with one free refill. And unlike other places, they place quite a significant importance to teas, and will serve it in a small Asian teapot. And no, not a Lipton in sight. The hot teas are done with loose-leaf teas.

They have afternoon tea service, which is by reservations only. We have not had the opportunity to do this yet, but intend to soon.

This place is a real winner. Clearly, it shows someone who has not only the imagination, but also the passion, to run this place and serve the kind of food that is just outstanding. I always feel happy and comfortable in this place.

Can't wait to go back.

Zz.

Buttermilk Biscuits

The name "biscuit" can bring a lot of confusion and means different things to different people from various parts of the world. Outside of the US, and especially in the United Kingdom, "biscuits" are what most Americans referred to as cookies and/or crackers. However, in the US, it is normally referred to as a quick bread, made with flour, butter/shortening, and leavened with baking power and/or baking soda. Since I am in the US, I will use the latter meaning of the word "biscuits".

Most people do not make biscuits at home for some reason or another, which is strange because this is one of the simplest quick breads. The problem comes in with making sure that (i) the butter or shortening is incorporated properly, and (ii) to not over mix it. In fact, the less it is mixed, the lumpier the dough is, the softer, more tender it becomes.

This is my recipe for a very simple buttermilk biscuit. The amount of flour and buttermilk listed is approximate, because it depends on the weather, humidity, etc. The dough in the end should still be soft and slightly wet. After you make this a few times, you'll get a feel for how the dough should feel like for the type of biscuit that you prefer, so feel free to adjust those amounts.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled in the freezer
• 1 cup cold buttermilk

Optional: 4 tablespoons melted butter to brush over baked biscuits after you pull them out of the oven.

Heat oven to 425 F.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. If you are using a food-processor, pulse it a 4-5 times to mix the dry ingredients.

Cut the cold butter into chunks and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingers. Do this quickly to make sure the butter doesn't melt. You may also use a dough cutter to cut the butter into the flour. Do this until you either have flakes of flour-coated butter, or small, course meal. If you are doing this in a food-processor, pulse it until you see small pebbles of butter.

Pour into a mixing bowl, and add buttermilk. Stir gently until everything is just combined into a dough, no more than 20 seconds of stirring. It will look lumpy and under-mix. Dough should feel soft and slightly wet/sticky. Use additional flour if it is too wet.

Liberally sprinkle flour onto a flat surface and turn the dough onto it. Flatten it gently with your hands until it is about 1/2 an inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds of biscuits. Use scraps to form into a dough ball and flatten it again to make more biscuits.

Alternatively, you can shape the biscuits by hand. Pinch a ball of dough, about 1 1/2" in diameter, and flatten it gently until it becomes a disk about 1/2 inch thick.

Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

As soon as the biscuits is baked and out of the oven, brush the top with the melted butter. Serve immediately.

I made these by shaping them with my hands, since I don't have a biscuit cutter. But I like my biscuits this way. It looks more rustic and definitely the unevenness makes it more home-made.

This is as quick of a quick bread as it gets. Depending on your oven, if you start heating it and start making the dough at the same time, you may be done with it even before your oven reaches its set temperature. Yet, it is so delicious, you'll never buy those frozen stuff in the supermarket refrigerator again.

Zz.

Poke Bowls at Mariano's

I mentioned earlier that a new Mariano's opened in our neighborhood. We went there last night for a quick and light supper, since I also needed a gallon of milk. The supermarket was still packed and busy.

I decided to have one of make-your-own Poke bowls (Poke as in the Hawaiian fish/seafood bowls). I had mine with tuna, shrimp, and marinated tofu, filled with brown rice, seaweed salad, masago, and sprinkled with sesame seed.

It was delicious. Just the right amount for what I want, and cost only $13 before tax.

I think this might become my go-to place for a quick, light meal.

Zz.

Mushrooms: To Wash Or Not To Wash?

I'm sure you've heard this before, especially when you watch cooking shows on TV. Inna Garten, the "Barefood Contessa", and even Julia Child, both have stated that one shouldn't wash mushrooms. To clean it, one should just use a soft, dry brush to get ride of the dirt. Washing it, they claim, will only cause the mushrooms to absorb the water and will cause your dish to be soggy (if that's something you don't want).

The thing is, this type of claim can be easily tested and verified. And that is what has been done by many. I remember seeing an episode of "Good Eats" on the Food Network (when Food Network was actually worth watching) where Elton Brown actually made a test on how much water was absorbed by whole mushrooms when they were left to soak in water, and when they were rinsed under running water.

Verdict: Not that much, or at least, not enough to ruin a dish.

Similar conclusion was drawn from this website, where they tackled this culinary myth. Would a 0.5 ounce of additional moisture in your mushroom out of a total of 8 ounces of mushrooms make or break the dish that you make at home? Not with me it doesn't. That's less than 6% of the entire weight. Is your cooking THAT precise in the first place?

The issue here isn't washing or brushing mushrooms. The issue here is if the effort is justified for the result that we want. Here, brushing each mushroom is time consuming and tedious. Giving these mushrooms a quick rinse under running water is so much quicker and more convenient. The tiny amount of water being absorbed here is insignificant for the average home cook. The additional effort is not worth the small difference at the end.

For the record, I rinse my mushrooms under running water, and then I slice them for use in my dishes.

Zz.

Chimichurri

I Love Chimichurri.

Chimichurri is an Argentinian parsley "sauce", and usually eaten as an accompaniment to meats. And it is ridiculously easy to prepare and very versatile.

Here is my version of this recipe:

• 10-20 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
• half of a small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic (use less if you're not as into garlic)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• 2-4 tablespoons of red or white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the parsley, you may substitute with curly parsley, but make sure for either type, use mainly the leaves. A bit of stem is OK but try not to use the main stalk of the parsley.

Put parsley, onion, garlic, red paper flakes, oregano, salt, black pepper, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil into a food processor or blender. Then pulse it 10-15 times. You do not want a puree. You still want to see small chunks. This is not a smooth sauce.

When done, pour content into a large ceramic bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly. Give it a taste. It should taste like fresh parsley, with a bit of acidity from the vinegar. Add additional tablespoons of vinegar if needed. Adjust seasoning to your liking. The sauce should not be too thick or too runny. If it is too thick, add a bit more olive oil.

This is the version that I made yesterday:

I served it with a roast leg of lamb, and it was delicious. Chimichurri should be served at room temperature, although you may store it in a tightly-closed containing in the fridge. Make it at least an hour before serving so that the flavor has time to "bloom".

It goes very well with lamb, steaks, grilled chicken, prime rib, and grilled fish. I've also seen people used this to dress cold pasta salad. Like I said, this is a very versatile sauce.

Zz.

Let The Supermarket War Begins!

Where I live, a new supermarket just opened today. Mariano's is a well-known brand of supermarket that appears to have a very loyal following, and it just opened about half a mile away today. I did go there in mid morning, and it was a ZOO! I spend about an hour just browsing around and bought a few things.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Within a 2 mile radius of where we live, there are now 5 major supermarkets: Jewel, Mariano's, Fiesta Market, Wally's Market, and Valli Fresh Market.

I do most of produce shopping at Valli Fresh Market. In fact, I'd say that this is my most favorite place to shop. The produce selection is outstanding and covers a wide ethnic ingredients. There is also a large turnover of produce, so they are usually quite fresh.

I also regularly shop at Fiesta Market. It has a more Hispanic-centric items, which is great because I buy a lot of them. It is also where I regularly find my stewing hens when I want to make great chicken stock or my Malaysia chicken soup base.

I got to our local Jewel supermarket here, but it is often frustrating. Half of the time, the produce that I want to buy is either bad, wilted, or not available. I've limited my shopping there only for dairy products and maybe household cleaning items. They have recently upgraded the appearance of the store. However, I think it is merely putting a lipstick on a pig. The problems with the store that I often see are still there.

The addition of Mariano's just adds another option. I think their cafe and baked goods might be the ones I will go for, even though many of their baked items still have lots of preservatives listed in the ingredients. The cafe is certainly a viable option for a quick lunch or dinner.

Should be interesting to see how this works out in the next year or so.

Zz.

From Physics To Baking Bread

I read this story and had to chuckle a bit.

This article describes the journey of a man who studied physics and obtained a Masters degree in it, but then decided to go into baking bread and turn that into a vocation and a career.

And so after the younger Li received his Master’s degree in Physics, he decided to pursue a career as a baker instead of a scientist.

He said he had to conceal the fact that he holds a postgraduate degree in science so a local bakery would accept him as an apprentice.

During the years of his apprenticeship, Li only earned as little as HK$5,000 a month and went home dog-tired after all the hard work in the bakery, but that did not stop him from making more bread at home in the evening.

I had to chuckle because I posted a link to a story earlier of my own immersion into baking bread because of my journey in becoming a physicist. I only used the act of baking bread to tame my nervous energy at that time, so I didn't go as far as this person. But I can certainly understand and appreciate the passion. I still bake bread at home when I have the chance, and I also bake other stuff. Does that fact that I understand a bit of the physics involved in what I do makes difference? Sure! I often wondered and tried to figure out what was happening, or what would happen if I do such-and-such. So inevitably, I tend to modify a recipe or the way I've done things.

Zz.

My Most Favorite Mexican Restaurant In The Area

Here in the US, there is an abundant (over abundant?) number of Mexican restaurant. And because of this, there is also a wide spectrum of quality of Mexican restaurant, from the very good and very high end (the Frontera Grill's) to the nasty fast food (I won't name names). Add to that, the majority of the food that are termed as "Mexican" tends to be Tex-Mex, originating from the Texas, Arizona, New Mexico region of the US, rather than authentic cuisine from the various regions of Mexico.

In other words, finding a "good Mexican restaurant" can have a wide meaning and can be a daunting task.

My take on ANY ethnic restaurant is this: Is the clientele of that ethnic restaurant predominantly of that ethnicity? If it is, there is a very good chance that the food is either authentic, or very good, or both. I mentioned earlier of why we love Izakaya Sankyu near where we live, and on any given night, you'll see predominantly Asian, and more specifically, Japanese clientele in the restaurant. So apply this to Mexican restaurants. If you walk in, and the clientele in predominantly Hispanic, there's a good chance that the food is good. If you walk in and you don't see even a single Hispanic customer (and trust me, I've been in many such restaurant before), then there's a good chance that either the restaurant is over-priced, or it is not any good.

After searching around for a good Mexican restaurant near here, I can safely say that Los Compadres in Mount Prospect is my most favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, hands down. On any given day or night, you will see a predominantly Hispanic customers, and the food is consistently good. The menu is huge, and it doesn't have just your typical Gringo-style Mexican fare. In fact, there will probably be many menu items that you haven't seen before in your typical Mexican restaurant. And to me, that is a huge plus.

The restaurant is in an old Pizza Hut joint. Decor is minimal (almost verging on a hole-in-the-wall type). But this is perfectly fine with me, because most people who go there are more interested in the food.

So let's talk about the food. I haven't had any bad items at all. My favorites so far are the fried whole red snapper or whole tilapia. YUM! I love this not just because it is always delicious and can be shared with another person, but it is relatively cheap when compared to other places that serve whole fish. And BTW, you people need to get over this aversion to seeing fish heads on your plate. The fish is dead, and the head meat, especially around the cheeks, is the most succulent piece on the fish!

Another favorite is Arrachera Campesina, which is a skirt steak served with grilled cactus. I tend to eat this by slicing the steak and the cactus, and then wrapped them in corn tortilla with a squeeze of the house salsa. This is simple but delicious.

Finally, I love their tacos, mainly because the selection of meat for it is larger than usual. My most favorite meat for my tacos are the lengua (tongue) and barbakoa (braised goat). Served with cilantro and onions, these are delicious!

I've also had their "cocktail" and the 7 Sea Soup. All were quite good. Like I said, I haven't had anything bad here. And often, when I'm there, I try to look at what other tables were ordering, just so I can see if I want to try them next time.

Service can be a bit interesting. You do sometime have to flag a wait staff if you want something, especially the check. If they are busy, this can take awhile, but there's nothing to stop you from simply walking to the cashier counter and paying your bill there if you don't want to wait. But even then, all the staff are usually very nice and friendly.

This is my most favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. If it is good enough for the local Hispanic/Mexican population here, it is good enough for me.

Zz.

Leftover Corned Beef

While St. Patrick's Day is this coming Friday, we already had our corned beef and cabbage dinner this past weekend/week. So now I have leftover corned beef.

If I have the time, I often will use leftovers and turn it into something else. This time, I decided to make my version of corned beef hash, but with homefries. I already had some red potatoes that I roasted with rosemary, and I diced an onion and half of a red pepper. I took the leftover corned beef and diced them into smaller pieces.

I then fried all of them in a pan. And just like the traditional corned beef hash, I want some crusty surfaces on this, so I pressed the down onto the pan and let is sit for a couple of minutes under medium-high heat to develop that crust. Then I roughly flip various parts of it and try to get more of this crusty surface. If you have made the English's "Bubble and Squeak", then this is a similar thing.

Once done, I serve this with perfectly-fried eggs. By perfectly, I mean sunnyside up but with crispy edges. That's how I like my eggs.

Sprinkle with parsley and a touch of Tabasco, and this was a very nice lunch of leftovers.

Zz.