Lunch at Tensuke

Not a bad lunch today. It is their Oishi box. I added kimchi cucumber, yum!

Detection of Adulterated with Turkey Meat

Just ran across this paper. They are using a set of techniques called ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy to detect ground beef that has been adulterated with turkey meat. The three techniques here apply the same principle, except that each one of them detects different range of the electromagnetic spectrum (based on their names). It caught my eye because I'm familiar with this technique, but done on thin films of material that I was studying.

In a few of the thin films, the technique can be used to study both the reflectance and transmittance spectroscopy. I believe in this study, they obviously can only use the reflectance mode because they're sticking the probe right against the ground meat, so there isn't any transmitted spectrum to look at.

I must admit that in looking at the raw spectra that are shown in Fig. 1, I was expecting a distinct set of peaks for pure beef and another set for pure turkey. Yet, all the spectra appear to show the same peaks, only with different intensities. So obviously, detecting turkey in a sample can only be done upon subsequent analysis of the data.

Hey, it's something you can read to put you to sleep at night! :)

Zz.

2018 Best Restaurant In The World

Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy has just been named as 2018 Best Restaurant in the world.

This is the second time that the restaurant, led by Chef Massimo Bottura, has made the top of the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, chosen by the international organization of the same name.

El Celler de Can Roca, serving traditional Catalonian food by chefs and brothers Joan, Josep, and Jordi Roca in Girona, Spain, was the runner up for best restaurant in the world. In third place was Mirazur, which serves French-Riviera-inspired food under Chef Mauro Colagreco, in Menton, France.

I was wondering where Noma was, considering that they've won this top honors several times. I turned out that Noma was closed for a large part of last year when they moved to a new location. So maybe that is why they did not make the list at all for this year.

In the Chicago area, Alenia remains as the top restaurant, and it made the list at #34.

Still, as I expected, this list is controversial with it's heavy leaning on European-friendly food and how expensive they are. The lack of diversity and recognition for restaurants helmed by female chefs is also quite glaring.

Zz.

RIP Anthony Bourdain

We woke up this morning to the sad news that Anthony Bourdain is dead.

Whatever the reason and whatever the cause, he has left a mark in many lives. I liked his shows ("No Reservation") in general (except when on occasions when he because overly preachy). What makes his show great is when he goes beyond just the food, and clearly highlights the culture and the people surrounding the food. That is what makes his show, and Andrew Zimmern's show, and Vivian Howard's show, more than just a show about food or about cooking. It showed how food fit in to the civilization of that place, both present and past.

Zz.

Lou Malnati's Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

I haven't had Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in quite a while. Even though I'm a Chicagoan, I prefer the thin crust pizza more. But every now and then, there is a craving for the thick, deep-dish pizza here. And there are many places that serve such a pizza in the area.

But I think for a lot of people, Lou Malnati's is one of the top choices for Chicago's iconic deep-dish pizza, and that was where we went last night. And I must say, I forgot how good it really is. It isn't something I want to have regularly, but if I want a good deep-dish pizza, I can't go wrong with getting it at Lou's.

We ordered two medium deep-dish pizza, the classic and the "Lou".

All I can say is that, they were very satisfying. Great flavor, and those butter crust is bad for my waistline!

Of course we had leftovers to bring home. We will be nibbling on them for the next couple of day.

Zz.

Soba Noodles For Lunch

This is one of my favorite meals for lunch, and I prepare it entirely at home.

I cooked two bundles of soba noodles and then set it aside.

Then I make the broth. I added to simmering water a packet of instant dashi mix. Then I added a tablespoon of miso paste. That's the broth, and by itself, it makes a good accompaniment to the noodles. But of course I didn't stop there.

I added cut daikon radish, shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, tofu, and wakame (sea weed). The whole broth mixture was then ladled onto the bowls of soba noodles. I garnished it with roasted seaweed on the side.

It may not look much, but it was a very satisfying, cheap, and nutritious meal to have for lunch.

Zz.

Miss Daisy's Beef and Cabbage Casserole

It is no secret that "A Chef's Life" is one of my most favorite TV shows. It is the reason why we have made a trek to Kinston, NC twice to dine at Chef and the Farmer restaurant.

Still, I have not attempted any dishes shown on the show...... until last night. I finally made the beef and cabbage casserole that was shown by Miss Daisy on the episode titled "A Casserole Says Plenty" (Season 3, Episode 7). This episode also happens to be one of my favorite episodes of "A Chef's Life".

Anyway, I've always wanted to try out this dish, because it looks relatively simple, and it was also a casserole dish that Chef Vivian Howard really liked. I'm not going to post the recipe since you can find it at the link above. However, since I can never leave things well-enough alone (just like Chef Howard), I did some modification to the recipe to suit my taste. In addition to all the ingredients listed in the recipe, I added 1/2 teaspoon of pepper flakes and 4 to 5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce. I added these after mixing the beef with the rest of the ingredients.

So how did it turned out. FABULOUS!

I garnished it with green onions before serving. It added some nice, green color to the casserole (I used red peppers instead of green peppers in the dish itself).

And here we were, going at it. There were only 3 of us for dinner, but we still managed to consume almost half of it. We definitely have enough for lunch and dinner for the next day or two.

Is there anything that I would do differently next time? Sure. I think I'll slice the potatoes thinner, since the potatoes in the middle didn't cook through enough. They probably required maybe another 10 minutes in the oven. Slicing them thinner might just do it.

I also think that I might add grated Pecorino-Romano cheese on top of the beef before putting it into the oven.  This might just push it over the top! 😄

This was a very good casserole, and will feed a lot of people. I will be making this again.

Thanks, Miss Daisy!

Zz.