Bites and Bolts

I’ve been toiling away for the past 3 months working on this very blog post. Ok, my laptop died(true). Then of course there’s the obvious–

“But Laura, you still have access to the internet! You joined Twitter. Couldn’t you come up with a better excuse?”

The answer, my 2 readers(and innumerable stalkers), is no. That’s the past however and I’ll really try not to let that much time go between my mediocre postings.  One *possible* wishy-washy excuse for me not posting as much is that I haven’t been eating out as much. Not to fear, I’m still rolling in( minimum wage) dough as always. It’s been more of a health thing, really. The good news is that instead of eating out at cheap noodle joints I’ve been cooking lots of meat at home. I feel like a wo-man.

Eggs are kind of meat–fetus meat, so that counts for something. On most occasions, I am a lazy, aherm…resourceful cook. I usually find some weird dish to make out of whatever I have in the kitchen. Enter today’s breakfast masterpiece, scrambled cheese and link eggs with more sausage links. Mm.

If for some unfathomable reason you like what you see, give it a whirl:

Ingredients:

-2 eggs

-2 TBSP half and half

-1 package sausage links(Farmer John’s): cut 1 link after cooking to add to scrambled eggs and eat the rest!!

-1 TBSP unsalted butter

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 green onion stalk, diced

-salt and pepper to taste

-diced salmon flakes

-1/4 cucumber, sliced

-a hunk of cheese, grated or cut into tiny cubes(approx. 1/8 cup)

 

First, for you multitaskers, get to slicing and dicing the ingredients either before or while cooking your sausages. If you want to wait to cook the sausages until your ducks are in a row, fine by me. I like garlic.

 I also like onions. And Kyocera ceramic knives. Ceramic knives cut vegetables like a dream. You can’t smash garlic with it though. Hence, the Henckel.

 Next, gently whisk your eggs together.

Add the half and half and gently incorporate it into the eggs.

Heat up your pan on a medium/low setting and toss in your butter and garlic.

Saute it just till you can smell the aroma come out and send your bowl of eggs into the fire! Let the egg mixture begin to cook and thicken a bit as seen below:

Add your little pile of cheese before the eggs cook too much, folding the cheese into the eggs gently rather than stirring it up vigorously.

 At this point, the eggs are pretty much done, so work fast to add the cut up sausage link and the green onion, folding them in. It’s best to cut the heat a bit before the eggs are well-cooked as the pan retains heat and the eggs will continue to cook after they are removed from the stovetop.

Next, garnish however you like. I have a jar of salmon flakes from Mitsuwa that I use to make onigiri. Since I’m not really eating rice so much(at all….errr..) and want to use it up, it added a nice salty contrast to the smooth eggs. I basically turned my back on potatoes(I know, what’s next, whisky?), so I added some cucumbers to cleanse my palate.

 

And if you really want to enjoy this, make a fresh cup of coffee in a French Press or other coffee love-intensive brewing device. More on that next time…

 

Looks like I’ll have yet another choice for food on AK now with the debut of NomNom, a mobile banh mi food truck. No need to go on a San Gabriel valley banh mi crawl. Let the food come to you.

Coming soon: my thoughts on Fishlips, the sushi truck.

Instant thought: I wonder if The Brig is getting more traffic considering how many of these fusion food trucks reference it as their parked location?

I’ve often thought that food and drink are an addiction for me. Of course I eat to survive, but the reality is that I can quite comfortably eat just about whatever and whenever I want(save daily omakase courses or medium rare prime rib dinners). You get my drift. Instead of hunting down my food, all I, or any number of people in the US have to do is simply walk into a grocery or enter their local restaurant of choosing to be presented with an array of nourishment options.

I don’t know about where all of you dear readers reside, but here in LA county there’s an amazing number of restaurants. And it seems to me, at least among my age group of 20-30somethings, that less people are cooking at home on a daily basis. Perhaps that’s because we’ve grown weary of making the same 10 recipes our mothers fed us on a yearly basis, or maybe it can be blamed on the high cost of living which in turn means cramming your life into a living situation with 5 other bachelors and a shared kitchen in which all your groceries(and beer) get eaten before you can so much as think about baking a chicken. And don’t even dream about busting out the Henckels set with those roomies around. I shiver to think of slicing tomatoes with the cutlery that currently rattles around in the community drawer of my house.

As a food addict…er, I mean enthusiast, I have often felt conflicted. When I grocery shop, I try to find fresh healthy foods. I read labels. I inspect, smell, and caress peaches. C’mon, they’re soft! I look at ingredients, fat, calories, and so on.

Yet when I dine out most of this focus disappears. That’s not to say I’m not one picky forager. I have and will continue to pick apart the presentation, the preparation, and the overall taste. However, when I eat out very freaking rarely do I have the luxury(if ever) to read the ingredients in addition to some fancy schmancy menu item poetry description of the dish or know just how many more calories I’m inducting into the ranks of my already well-stocked fat cell reserves. Without that information, I can try my hardest to eat healthy, but it ain’t gonna happen. Invariably, I end up eating some totally unhealthy food because I don’t want to be the biatch who makes their waiter go back and ask the chef 15 million questions and subsequently get their food molested.

The sad part is, the above is a best case scenario for me eating out. Since getting softcore into this foodiast thing, I have knowingly and willingly eaten stuff that is completely bad for you(and it doesn’t even take a dummy to know that) just because it was/is/will be the newest food craze or restaurant in town. Case in point: any number of tacos, gelato, xiao long baos, frozen yogurt(ahem, Pinkberry), or cupcake I’ve ingested in the past couple years. Even noodles have become the newest member of my junk food repertoire, and it is with much regret that I must say that ramen is not good for me. *tear*

Perhaps there are those who can eat equally unhealthy at home and away without so much as an occasional cringe, and I salute you. I used to think it would be a swell gig to be a salaried and award-winning food critic. Then I realized the frequency with which they are required to eat mass quantities of scrumptious free food and saw the long-term effects of such on these people. Heck, elite Yelpers are a great case study into the effects of too much eating and drinking even after a short year.

So since the beginning of this year I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat healthier and be more active. Getting a full-time job helped that situation immensely(not as a salaried food critic). The bigger change came about 3 weeks ago when I got some stomach virus going around. On my day off too-Murphy’s Law! I didn’t eat much for the week following that. I started cutting out noodles and white rice, crackers, chips, candy, all that crap. I was eating primarily lean meat, vegetables, and fruit. The good news is, I still am.

Because I like to be behind in trends, I recently subscribed to Netflix. Since frugal is my (other) middle name, I signed up for 1 DVD at a time. So in between waiting for DVDs in the mail I began watching food related documentaries instantly on my laptop. The first one was “King Corn“, then “McLibel” and “The Future of Food“. Food, Inc isn’t out on DVD yet, but I’ve already got it saved in my queue.

These movies may blow your mind; they may make you quit eating anything as you succumb to horrifying paranoia about everything you send down the old esophagus. Truthfully, what I saw in the movies came at only mild shock as honestly, I know damn well I haven’t been paying attention to what I eat. They were like a gentle wind at my back supporting my recent decision to start caring about what goes into my body. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s to question everything and research as much as you can, which can be good advice for just about everything in life.

Just get to the point already, will ya? Okay, point being that if you don’t care what you eat in or out of the house, fine–but you should. And if you’re the sort like me who was buying “organic” foods and cooking well at home but eating like a paid food critic outside the house–think again. The food industry has to get paid. That’s understandable. However, the mainstream companies we buy food from are doing it to turn a profit and use clever marketing. Research ingredients in the food you have at home, shop local and at farmers markets, take another close look at those labels when you shop, and I’m sorry to say it, but eat out less.

Major Linkage:

• Local Harvest/Farmers Markets/Family Farms/CSA/Organic Food
• Eat Wild-Grass Fed Beef
• Eat Well Guide-Find good food
• Food Routes-Where does your food come from? Buy Local.
• Slow Food-not fast food

And now, some shots from the Vegas McDonald’s from January during the CES show. Very cool interior design–right across from the Riviera Casino.

A few weeks ago after my last visit to Marked5, I kept hearing how delicious the pork or chicken sandwiches were. Well, usually the conversation bordered on someone walking around with a Marked5 rice bun wrapped creation in their hand while simultaneously emitting groans of culinary pleasure coupled with, “Oh.mlarg(incomprehensible).Garrrd!”

I dove headfirst into deep-fried goodness with the Katsu Pork ricewich(or at least that’s what I’m calling them from now on). It’s basically tonkatsu, or breaded deep-fried pork cutlet with tonkatsu sauce. There’s a  sprinkling of shredded cabbage to give some fibrous flair and it’s packed between 2 grilled rice buns for mobile munching.

As you can see from the photo, the pork was a pretty long slender piece almost like a big chicken finger. The flavor was better than the torakku beef, but then again this puppy was fried(plus I added some sriracha). For me,  it was way too much panko porkiness to finish(damn you, healthy eating!!), but that’s what hungry friends are for. To eat your leftovers after you’ve posed it and sampled the prime cuts.

Overall, I think I would really dig a tonkatsu curry sandwich–like a street version of this:

Marked5 does have a chicken curry ricewich. Anyone want to go 90/10 on it with me? Of course I retain all rights to pose said food beforehand.

My neighborhood taco trucks and I have an understanding. They park within approximately the same quarter mile on the same street at the same times on the same days. I would expect them to tell me they’re now driving all over LA County and I’ll have to track them via a Twitter account as much as I would expect them to diversify their menu by offering sushi. They serve tacos–it’s what they do and what they’re good at. If I want another country’s cuisine, I’ll gladly trek to a restaurant specializing in said cuisine.

So it’s safe to say that while I’m not a fan of Twitter-stalking my food, I’m also not easily won over by fusion culinary creations either. There are some who are a fan of the above activities, and for you, I present, Marked5.

My mid-afternoon meal at Marked5 occurred during a particularly empty period in my stomach’s history, when I just so happened to be in the proximity of their mobile eatery. Marked5’s menu is short and sweet, with a literal handful of Japanese fusion sandwiches including Chicken Curry or Katsu Pork.

I opted for the only non-deep-fried option, the Torakku Beef–a 100% Angus beef patty marinated in Marked’s house “torakku” sauce, served up inside a rice bun.

With some instructions on how to hold it, I approached the burger cautiously. It reminded me of some kind of massive onigiri especially with a piece of nori wrapping the outer rice buns. Although grilled, the buns were very sticky and no amount of pinky raising and careful unwrapping prevented pieces from breaking off and scattering around me. The main culprit? Massive quantities of syrupy sweet housemade sauce seeping into the rice.

The core of the burger lay nestled past the layers of rice bun, sauce, lettuce, cheese and tomato. The patty was well-done by default; being someone who prefers a nice pink midsection, the burger didn’t have much flavor cooked as it was. Although I wasn’t prompted for a preference, this might be something to keep in mind to ask when ordering.

After my onigiri burger encounter, I’d probably opt for the Katsu Pork or Chicken Curry next time–because everything tastes better fried. Marked5 also has a good offering of Japanese snacks and beverages in place of the usual coconut juice and Mexi-cokes. Ask your server for pairing suggestions–they’re a friendly bunch.

As an American, one of the most boring groceries I can shop in is Ralphs. Why? I can read *almost* everything. When I’m craving something other than chicken, hamburger, or Chef Boyardee, I prefer to relocate my food purchasing adventures to a store where I’m surrounded by foreign products.  One of the great things about shopping illiterately is that new discoveries are imminent.

“Oh, I thought these shrimp chips were ready to eat! How the heck to I cook these?”

-or-

“Hm…this doesn’t taste like string cheese…I think it’s a fish stick…”

Indeed–the laughs my food misshaps would get on episodes of “Stupid white people try to cook your food” (the pilot episode will be out this fall on Channel 18).

It’s no surprise that I fell for the colorful packaging on this cupcake container. Besides, it says it’s “kantan”! How could I fail? For the record, this was the vanilla cupcake, although there was a chocolate option.

Thank God for the clever Japanese instructions that provided easy to follow pictures for illiterate fools like me:

The container is basically just a waxed carton like a miniature popcorn bucket. Inside is a singular shiny pink cupcake mix packet.

I dumped this into the original packaging and added 1 egg.

Whipped it up with a pair of chopsticks, which btw, work pretty darn well compared with my normal fork egg whippage.

From what I could make out on the packaging, it’s ideal to mix it until the egg is incorporated, but not overmixed. Here is my impression of  the ideal chopstick to cupcake batter manipulation:

If I recall correctly, the container had a lid that needed to be applied before cooking.  That done, I popped it in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes. What emerged was a scorching hot eggy sponge cake that paired wonderfully with brut champagne.

Here’s a clip I found on Youtube of a similar cupcake in action!

What better way to break into blogging productivity than with a food photo meme? After all, I have to give credit where it’s due–without photos my posts would be (even more) meaningless. It’s not every year that I complete a meme, but Dennis at Radiused Corner is a chill lad and I obliged. Besides, it couldn’t have come at a better time since I am in the totally mind-blowingly awesome process of re-catologing my digital photos.

Here are the rules:

1. Post 10 of your own favorite food shots.
2. Pass the opportunity on to others by leaving a message on their comments page just so they’re aware of it.

Like those who have gone before me, I also had a tight time of trying to pick only 10 photos. So I just started from the beginning of when I began taking food photos and picked 10 that evoked strong memories for me…err…11. Tee-hee.

Also of note, I have way too many photos of dim sum and tacos and really once I’ve seen 1 har gaw, I’ve seen ‘em all. I think the most interesting(and ironically worst tasting) dim sum picture I have is a “rabbit dumpling” from Mission 261. But I digress…

And the winners are:

1. This is a picture at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from July, 2006. Although I lived in Phoenix for a good *almost* 4 years, I will always remember this as THE hottest day of my life. I had driven out from LA to support friends drag racing at the combined NHRA Sport Compact Drag/D1 Grand Prix event. The air temp was about 115 that day with track temps supposedly at about 150 degrees. 115, 150, eh, it was just effing hot. So hot that bottled water and snow cones were the best selling items of the day. I remember this picture fondly as one of the first where I tried to learn about aperature with my semi-new 350D on that scorching hot evening.

 

2. This is a shot of the rock crab special at Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. I can’t remember if this was the 1st time I had it, but it definitely wasn’t the last time. Fresh crab and panko fried onion rings–delicious!

 

3. I can say with confidence that this was the 2nd time I’d had xiao long baos. Something about the solitary dumpling nestled in a spoon caught my eye. I still love these meaty morsels, and look back fondly at the time when I first discovered them.

 

4. A bowl of garlic ramen from Chabuya on Sawtelle. Sure, the ramen was good, albeit a perfectly small bowl. Topped with all those crispy fried garlic pieces and chock full of delicate handmade noodles, this bowl was satisfactory. However, I recall waiting far too long for dinner that night smashed up against the wall with a handful of other strangers and then again subsequently squeezed into a tiny 2-person table against the same wall. I remember comically busting out my camera and shooting a few food shots before nervously bagging it and self-consciously sucking down my noodles.

 

5. It took a good year or so to finally get the courage to order one of these, simply because I didn’t really know how to eat it. That and you become your own little freak show when you order one. Small children point and adults stare at you like, “Oh.my.God. They’re eating that spikey thing and it’s still moving. Gross.”

Now, I bask in the seeming weirdness because the golden goo that’s within these poor little sea urchins is the freshest most flavorful uni I can find. The only thing that really sucks is that once you have live uni, everything else is just kind of…meh.

 

6. Reasons Why I Gained Weight #24: Donut Man. I don’t eat donuts. No really, it’s like one of those foods I happily swore off forever. I’m not really into the dense cakey sometimes overly dry dough, nor the heartburn and subsequent sugar crash afterwards. If donuts are one of the foods I don’t care about, strawberries are on the opposite end of the spectrum. So when I saw pictures of Donut Man’s whole strawberry glazed exloding donuts I saw it as an opportunity to give donuts another chance. The result? A long drive and about $15 too much spent in miscellany donuts. And some really good glazed strawberries. A once in a year trip to discover what I already knew: strawberries make everything taste better.

 

7. A trip into the Buena Vista Cafe in San Fran out of the windy biting cold brought inner harmony and warmth by way of their famous Irish coffee. Luxurious velvety cold heavy cream floats whipped atop a concoction of singular sugar-cube infused hot coffee with a proper dousing of Tullamore Dew whiskey. God bless the Irish. 

 

8. Exhibit #8. The steak that ruined (most other) steaks for me. This is the delicious oak-grilled top sirloin at Hitching Post 1 in Casmalia. Also totally useful for providing a solid meal at the end of a day of wine tasting.

 

9. It’s not often that I take pictures of food I prepare at home. This was one of the 1st times I was inspired to make paprika garlic aioli dip and artichoke at home instead of paying $10+ for it at a restaurant and then being pissed at the tiny size of the ‘choke. I swear I ate this every week for a month straight when ‘chokes were on sale at the grocery.

 

10. Half-drunk cocktails from the Tiki Ti on Sunset. Ah, those were carefree times when I was unemployed and could enjoy refreshing cash-only beverages at 4pm on a weekday afternoon.

 

11. A fresh pallet of Santa Barbara uni–mission accomplished! For years I’ve been hearing about how badass Santa B uni is. Apparently, it’s so badass that we ship most of the good stuff to Japan and then smush the rest into a gooey mess to be sold in jars at Mitsuwa. So when the Santa Barbara Harbor and Seafood Festival came around last year, I said, “Self, they just HAVE to have uni there. If there’s one time to find uni in Santa B, this’ll be it”.

Turns out I was right. Kinda. The main stars of the show were lobster and crab(divas..psff), but there were a row of booths on the pier for other foods. They had super-Americanized versions of uni rolls in one booth “showcasing” uni. However, a stone’s throw away from the booth, there’s a tiny seafood store that sells fresh fish and shellfish. Sometimes they have live uni there throughout the week, but upon asking, they said they lack the permits to actually crack them open to sell them. Out of curiosity, I went in that day and I’m glad I did. I came out with one of the freshest pallets of large uni I’ve ever had. Way better than anything the festival was dishing out. Moral of the story: festivals are whack, however you may find uni. Be prepared.

 

If you’ve *skimmed* this far, why not do your own food photo meme? It could change your life. Or your eating habits.

Last Tuesday, Abby of Pleasure Palate invited out a slew of food bloggers to a complimentary dinner courtesy of One Sunset. My first inclination was to think of the venue as an intimate late night restaurant situated on the Sunset Strip.

Once inside the large wooden double doors, we converged in the Champagne Lounge to the right of the alcove and host station. 

Here we were served a sparkling wine concoction to kick off the evening: LUSHious Raspberry cocktails brimming with Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine, a touch of Leblon, and a ripe red raspberry sheen; seeds the results of instrumental muddling gathered at the bottom. It was a refreshingly sweet way to start off the evening, and to be sure, everyone looks more sophisticated sporting a rosy filled champagne flute.

The interior space is split into four spaces each flowing harmoniously into each other seamlessly. Our group was seated in a more secluded upper dining lounge, each spacious booth set off with cushy bench seating.

As servers poured Voss sparkling water, chef Jason Ryczek soon appeared bearing the first dish of the evening, a so-called “Breakfast on a Plate”.

This dish was essentially a miniature pancake about the size of a real silver dollar, set off artistically with a poof of bacon foam, crème fraîche, apple caviar, and the tiniest of salty bacon bits. I would’ve easily been amused with a short stack of the tiny discs piled high. Just one pancake was such a tease.

To help wash down our breakfasts, a round of One’s “The Master Cleanse” cocktails were passed around, a mix of Belvedere vodka, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. A bemusing name for a rather unappetizing drink–after a few sips the pleasantly spicy cayenne pepper taste dominated the refreshing citrus aspects of the fresh juice.

Next up we were served Adult Candy, a blue cheese-stuffed date bacon-wrapped and skewered, dished atop a bed of arugula scattered with pine nuts  and dried cranberries. 

The bacon’s flavor was blinded by the predominant shocking sweetness of the date. Even the distinct taste of blue cheese was invisible inside the stickiness of its outer counterpart. I found the arugula to lend a much-needed balance to the dish although their effect was drowned in too much oil.

Continuing on, the Spicy Tuna Tartare made its appearance, a proper scoop of tuna chunks smothered with loathsome spiciness and a sprinkling of red tobiko and black sesame seeds. Each fish mass perched upon a piece of greasy eggplant tempura; a change from the usual sushi rice but I can’t say for the better.  

Heading into lighter fare, the Burrata and Strawberries were a sweet contrast from the salty tartare. Softly toasted cinnamon bruschetta smeared with soft cheese made a base for deliciously soft diced strawberries drizzled with balsamic and sprinkled with basil slivers and pistachio shrapnel. The green sprouts shooting out of the cheese, although fresh and visually appealing, lent a noticeably bitter note to the otherwise subtly sweet dish.

What’s a little late night drinking without some good old meat and carbs to balance things out?

The BBQ pork sliders were a welcome sight–tender pork shreds moist with sweet marinade sandwiched between a carefully sliced King’s Hawaiian style bun. Tucked into each creation was an incognito piece of rich smoked cheddar and a few crispy shallots.

The hand tossed onion rings with accompanying cream horseradish sauce were crisp and balanced alone and paired wonderfully with the sliders.

Continuing with the meat trend, we selected a skewer of what was described as Korean Chicken Satay. Marinated with tamarind and ginger, the chicken had a tangy spice, but was a bit dry with notes of char. The  side of “kimchi” coleslaw was accented with a few shiny crunchy spiced cashews.

Our last cocktail of the evening, the Tropical Sidecar, arrived. Viscous remnants of pineapple chunks and blueberry flesh floated near the surface on a bed of Hennessy touched by Cointreau. This was a very fruit forward cocktail, the high acidity of the citrus masking all but the deepest of cognac flavors.

We launched promptly into the Salade Niςoise plate. Pistachio crusted albacore lay in domino effect nearby an artistic smear of caper aioli with the actual anchovy free salad playing a supporting role in the background. There was talk of a boiled quail egg hidden amongst the foliage, but alas it was scooped up by the deft Ryan of Tangmeister.com.

If I had make a presumptive list of shareable dishes one would see at a lounge,  Turkey Meatballs would never have crossed my mind. They were moist veering towards mushy with grated parmesan, fresh basil, and a spattering of marinara atop. Crispy thin mini-toasts, presumably brushed with olive oil contrasted well with their platter-mates.

Just when I thought we really had just about “One of almost everything” from their menu, the chef whipped out the last whimsical dish: Roasted Clams on the Half Shell. Basically a tablespoon of clam chowder was spooned into the shell with little bits of diced tomatoes, chorizo, and crushed oyster crackers. These rested on a bed of baby arugula with a side of lemon wedge. We were instructed to shoot the shell back and then add the lemon juice to help cut through the richness of the broth. A distinctly different approach to eating chowder, although there was so little of it I can’t be sure quite what it tasted like.

With all the savory dishes out of the way, it was time to spend a little quality time nurturing cavities into fruition. The desserts were simple but comforting and easy to share–a sweet ending to a night of new introductions. “No Carbs” Tony C devoured the Meyer lemon Panna Cotta so quickly I had to get paparazzi on another table’s platter just to document it.

Certainly the most delicate of the three desserts I tried, the lavender oil drizzled panna cotta melted away equally as fast as the round ball of blackberry sorbet perched atop a flaky poppy seed crisp.

I was quite taken with the mini Velvet Rope Cupcakes.

Each exuberantly moist little nub was topped with a dreamy cream cheese frosting that tasted more of marshmallow fluff than the slightly stirred Philly bagel topping I’ve grown wary of. And yes, red sprinkles were in effect.

Lastly, we were treated to a Vegan Godiva Chocolate Gelato, a scoop of chocolate quite reminiscent of a frozen ganache in richness although noticeably filled with thousands of miniscule ice crystals strewn throughout. This was served up alongside a shot of Disaronno which some chose to shoot straight up while others dutifully bathed their scoops before sampling.

At night’s end, my conclusion was that One Sunset is a relaxing plush lounge that might appeal to those looking to share New American style plates and fruit-muddled cocktails. It appears there is some respite on The Strip to cozy up with a new friend or 7 and enjoy cocktails without shouting over music or bumping elbows.

This is what happens when I’m low on groceries: I combine what’s left to create the grossest lunch ever.

From the top shelf of the fridge I sourced a whole wheat pita, Yoshinoya gari, and salsa. I heated up the pita, added some rice, and voila! A delicious wholesome snack!

Here’s a shot closer to the end(proof I actually ate this monstrosity):

So what kind of gnarly snacks/meals have you created? Feel free to post a link to your blog or just leave a plain ol’ comment.