let them eat soup (and then some)

Here ye, hear yee. Let it be known that I love soup. But you can't be jabbering without the wock, so I decided to make some to feed me for the rest of the week. After perusing a few blogs, I decided to try making Portugese kale soup (caldo verde) after remembering an old episode on the food network where Emeril is a creeper and goes to some grandma's kitchen and watches her make soup. All the produce from Davis' farmer market.As well as some chorizo from Bledsoe, that sells humanely raises, natural, no antibiotics added pork at the farmer's market at well, and man this chorizo was good. I was tempted to just eat it instead of throwing it in the soup.I sauteed the sausage and onions first.I then added the beans, potatoes, kale, a bay leaf and filled up the pot w/ chicken broth. Cooked it for about an hour.

My finished product. What I knew was once again reinforced. To make a good soup, you can't do it half assed w/ premade chicken broth/I shoulda cooked it for longer. I can't really talk poop on it though...I just don't have the time right now to make my own broth. The soup wasn't that great, but the next few days it got better. I would definitely try this again, but add some more herbs/veggies to perk up the soop.

Sorry about the lack of posts. School is just rushing by as I desperately try to keep up w/ the pace. Sometimes in class, I feel like I'm in a dream, that I still can't believe that I'm going here. What's even more bananas is that I'll be a doctor in four years. The highlight of my day today was standing in the hall eating chips and salsa that people had left out from the lunch talk.

To end, I have a quick question. How much do you guys spend per week/month on food (groceries wise)? I felt like I dropped a lot this weekend (granted the farmer's market can be more expensive, but for some things I think well worth it), and I've already cleaned out a majority of it. Well, back to studying some bones, muscles, and the glycolytic pathway.

No soup for me tonight.

eat yo greens

I'm so glad it's the weekend...this first whole week of school was definitely though, and my body is still adjusting to the long hours. But, i love every second of it here. The past weekend at the farmer's market, I passed by a booth that was selling collard greens and decided to try making it. It's always so hard to just stick to my list of things because everything looks so good there!

I looked up a few recipes, and it seemed simple enough. I think usually it's made with ham hock, but I didn't have the time to get that going so I just used bacon instead.
Cook one diced onion with some bacon (I used 4 slices of thick cut) and garlic until the onion turns translucent.
Then add the greens. I used two bunches destemmed. It may seem like a lot, but they really reduce in size after a few minutes. I added a few tablespoons of vinegar, then when the size goes down, add 1 cup of water of chicken broth. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
The finished product. Overall not bad at all.
I've been eating pretty simply otherwise. For dinner today I just had a salad of corn, bell peppers, celery w/ garlic olive oil/vinegar dressing, a piece of gouda, and a cup of wine ( I have no wine glasses). I think my cooking strategy is to make a lot of something on Sunday, then have that for the rest of the week. I bought some kale today at that same stand I got the greens, so my next post will be about that.
The cat is doing well, and we're both slowly learning about one another. I've discovered he loves the laser pointer. I've thought of a few names, but I'm still not sure if they completely fit him: Poot (short for Pooter), Little Man, and Hubert. Happy Sunday!

new toys and some beef

Hello from Davis! Things have been busy with moving into my new place and orientation and such, so I'm glad to have this holiday weekend to writeup a quick post!

I went on a little splurge and, with a lot of help from CAB, I bought some new knives for my place, a Shun 4" paring knife and a Global 7" Santoku.

So far, I'm quite happy with my purchase although I am a little scared when I use them because they are quite sharp.

I've been trying to save money and eating at home, and my meals have been simple for the most part. Here is a bunch of stuff I got at the farmer's market (post to come in the future). The tortilla type thing is a potato Bolani, an afghan bread thingermabob. It's pretty darn good, a bit thin but the potatoes make it pretty filling.

What I've been missing in my diet though is meat, and after a few days, I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried making boeuf bourguignon (don't ask me to pronounce it), inspired by Paestry's lovely post. The recipe seemed simple enough and reminded me of the Stone Soup story, and I was excited to see how a few ingredients would mix together to make a tasty stew.

I know nothing about wine and just ended up getting the cheapest one. Until yesterday, I don't think I've ever had a Pinot Noir, but man it was good and so gentle on the tongue!

Down the bottle went into the pot.

After a few hours with some added mushrooms, tomato paste, and flour+butter.

I ate it with a big hunk of french bread. I made a bunch to eat for the next couple days. Overall, I was happy with the product, but next time I am going to add some herbs and see how it turns out.

In other news, I got a new roommate/my first cat! His previous owners couldn't keep him because he didn't get along with their other cat, and when they got him from the shelter, he was named "Tizer." I've been wanting to rename him, but can't think of anything good at the moment although I'm sure it'll come. Hope everyone's enjoyin their holiday!

food for thought

when i first started cooking and things didn't turn out how I imagined it to be, I chalked it up to the fact that there must be some special or exotic ingredient that I was missing. Of course now I realize it's just because I was/am a shitty cook.

I've realized something though (south park ending moment). Simple is good. Take for instance, some locally grown strawberries with fresh honey whipped cream. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea. Same to you mr or mrs. apple w/ brie cheese, and the many other simple yet delicious combos that work.

Then again, I'm sure you could also say that I'm just saying this simply cuz beyond the baby steps I'm hopeless xD

I've been making it rain on this biatch (and by biatch, I mean my blog) lately. it was a mad attempt to catch up and clean up shop because I'm going to korea this weekend. I've only been there once a long time ago, so I'm looking forward to it, so much in fact that I've been doing the master cleanse to prepare for some good eats and drinkin. cyall laters kids!

Another Pie Post

Apple pie this time, and again, it was a recipe given to us by our dad's manager.

I liked this double crust recipe because I'm not a fan the dry and flaky crusts. But we made the bottom part thin and the top part thick, so I'll have to remember to adjust for next time.

The apples used were Jonagold. I never had one until that day, and I found them soft like a Gala. There's so many different apples out there, so it should be fun, trying them all out and seeing which tastes best to me. The apples weren't as firm as I'd like them to be, but that may be fixed by slicing the apples thicker or using a different type of apple. What are your favorite apples to use?

We opted to use a pyrex baking pan because it'd be easier, and the pie pan we had might have been too small.

Dotting it with butta (sorry blurry picture)

My sad attempt at trying to make a flower/Mitsubishi sign on the crust.

Baked.

Done.

Once again, the presentation was ugly, but it tasted pretty damn good. I'm going to give it another shot next week with different apples.

Happy new year to everyone! I'm off to do some running. First work out of the year. Lost all control over the break...too many baked goods!

Pie o my

My sister and I attempted to make a lemon meringue pie a few days ago. This was definitely trickier than the other pies I've made and required a lot more work and time. The crust was made first, then the filling, then the meringue.

I rolled out the the dough for the crust for the first time. It's gonna take a while before I can get it down, but man, it was not easy (nor pretty).

The finished product.

After letting it cool and fridging it, it was time to taste test it.

Failed. What pie? It was a friggin soup. While everything tasted good, I had baked the meringue too long, which is why you can see some droplets. The bigger problem was the filling. It was thick before I had topped it with the meringue, but somewhere and somehow along the line, it became watery. Upon some research, I'm guessing I either did not completely cover the meringue over the pie or I didn't let it cool enough, which resulted in the pie becoming "weepy." I am going to have to ask the baker what I did wrong and try again.

With some leftover crust pieces. I quickly (as you can probably tell) squished them, dipped them in some cinnamon and sugar, and baked it with my pie. I called them "crusties." =p

still messing w/ the blog as you can see. Not really sure what I want for the picture for my header nor do I really know what to do with the size.

Almost January. It never ceases to amaze me every year how fast time goes. Days are mere minutes...

My first pie(s)

gawdddddddddddddddddddddamnnnnnnnnnn

I SAID, ahhhgawddddddddamnnnnnnnnnnn

Sorry everyone. I know that I've been neglecting the blog lately, but I'm still alive. Life has been quite busy, and this week is no exception w/ finals coming up. So here's a quickie on my past Thanksgiving.

I decided to step it up this year and attempt to make two pies, crust and all. Sprinkles and that cupcake craze? Nah kid. Pass me the pie son cuz I got five on it. Gimme a fatty slice, and you better make sure to put on some of that freshly made whipped cream too FOOL.


The first pie I chose to make was Uncle Richard's sweet potato pie, recipe courtesy of Homesick Texan's beautiful blog. I had actually made it the week before as a trial run and because I had never had a spp before. It turned out well, so for Thanksgiving, I decided to tweak the ratios of the ingredients. Baking that pie made me feel confident, but I got too big for my britches because I should have just left it as it was. The first pie wasn't too sweet, had a good sweet potato taste, and went well w/ whipped cream. But this pie oh deed on the spices and ended up tasting very close to pumpkin pie although you could tell that the texture and taste were slightly different. Lesson learned. Also, I don't know what I did wrong, but on both pies, there was a paper thin layer of some white froth after it was done baking (you can see it in this picture too). Any suggestions/ideas? Oh, and a holla to my sister who made the crust. It was a little bit too thick, but certainly better than the frozen stuff you can buy.


The second pie I made is a favorite of mine: banana cream pie. I got the recipe from my dad's manager, an excellent cook and baker from the east coast(she makes an apple pie for us every year, and i'd put my bollocks on the table to say that it is the best apple pie I've ever had).

The graham cracker crust was easy to make: crumbs, sugar, and butter. And yes, I am well aware that I could take a few classes on presentation, but I tried damnit! When I read the recipe, I was surprised that bananas didn't actually go into making the cream/pudding. I layered the bottom with bananas before I put on the pudding and found that the flavor had infused overnight. It was pretty fun making it, especially whisking the liquid and feeling sweet satisfaction as I felt it getting thicker. I had to skip the end part, which called for putting the pudding through a mesh sieve. I didn't have a clean one, so I didn't want to do it. Overall, I thought it tasted good, and next time, I will make a thicker crust because it came out a little too thin for my liking. I will also get some nilla wafers and put them on top too.

I'm out folks. Going up to SF once I finish my tests, so see ya in a few.

Exhausted

As of today, I have successfully baked my first banana cream pie! Woohoo! Pics to come later.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!

Hump Day Randoms

I love Wednesdays. Well, Wednesday nights to be more exact as I drive home from work. I have one easy class on Thursdays, and even though I have to work part of the weekend, I don't mind because the worst of the week is over.

Last Sunday, I finally got to try one of the many recipes I've had bookmarked for a good while now and made some Rosemary Apricot Bars that I saw on Gastronomy's blog.


Here's a piece. Mine was nowhere as pretty as hers, but I was happy with the taste. The only thing I think I messed up on was the consistency of the topping. I didn't mix it well enough and I could have added a little more butter to avoid some parts that had a gritty feel from just being unmixed sugar. Still it was a lot of fun to make and even better to eat!

I also met up with some of my cousins last weekend, and one of them surprised me with a few beers he had picked up for me. So without further ado, the beers of the month:


I've only tried the Franziskaner before, so I look forward to drinking them all...in one sitting. Kidding!

Hope your week is going well, and huzzah huzzah, tomorrow is Thursday!

Sunday BBQ

Summer means time to bring out the grill. So we had a family gathering at our house this past weekend to celebrate early my mom and cousin's birthdays. Top Sirloin was on sale at Stater Bros, so we bought a couple pounds. Some of the meat was cut up into steaks...


which I marinated in some red wine, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and garlic powder. I should have marinated it a bit earlier. It didn't come out that great, but at least I learned what didn't work. Anyone have a good marinade they'd like to share?


The remaining meat was cut into long strips and laid to rest in a sort of bulgogi marinade. These would be put onto skewers, which was the magic word of the day.


Bell peppers and onions on one side, and you got your jjo ggoo mi (sp?), a sort of baby octopus.


Squash and eggplant.


Potatoes and sweet potatoes.


Meat grillin on the charcoal.


We also grilled some shrimp, garlic and ginko nuts.


And what's a bbq without ice cold drinks?

Didn't get a chance to take a picture of my cousin's salad and potato salad. Sorry.


My aunt bought a cake from 85C/85 Degrees in Irvine. She said it's quite a popular Taiwanese joint. I'll have to check it out sometime when I'm in the area.


An inside look: A light fluffy vanilla cake with two types of cream: strawberry and not sure what the yellow stuff was. It tasted a bit frozen/custardy. A pretty good cake.

85C
2700 Alton Pkwy Ste 123
Irvine, CA 92606

I hope to make more use of the grill these next two weeks before school starts. An early Happy Birthday to my cousin and mom!

Aguas Frescas FAIL

Inspired by the cantaloupe aguas frescas in the last post, a friend decided to make his own and encouraged me to try it out. So I did.

What you'll need:

A blender/food processor, sugar, water and a ripe cantaloupe.


Slice up your cantaloupe into cubes.


Put them into your food processor/blender.


Push the button.

The only tricky part was getting the ratio right. For one whole cantaloupe, I used 2.5 cups of water and 5 tablespoons of sugar. I picked a bad cantaloupe that wasn't too ripe, so I didn't get as much juice from it as I would have liked. You can then blend the water and sugar in or stir with a wooden spoon. Lawlers. It doesn't have to be a wooden spoon obviously. I just like to hear that word in my head!


The finished product.

It wasn't too bad, but it didn't taste as good as Paisa. Definitely pulpier. I will have to choose a better cantaloupe next time to have a stronger taste/more juice. I'm such a melonhead!