The Food Pirates!

The Playground in Santa Ana, CA

2012-07-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

The Playground was a restaurant that I've been waiting to try... for oh so long. I'm a huge fan of The Lime Truck (winners of season 2 of The Great Food Truck Challenge on Food Network) and when Daniel told me a while ago that they were planning to open a B&M restaurant... I was stoked.

Then the restaurant opened... no chance to go...

And finally, an opportunity arose.

I don't know if there is a specialty of The Playground. Much like The Lime Truck, Chef Jason and co. continuously update their menu based upon what was locally and seasonally available Thanks to Melissa's Produce, these guys are able to create amazing menus that are always fun and that always pack a punch of flavor with it.

We went June 29th, just a couple days before the stupid foie gras ban in California. And we pigged out on foie gras.

My personal favorite was the foie gras PB&J... Yes. Peanut butter and jelly spread over foie gras over a small piece of toast.

What looks like a muddled mess is actually a work of art to your palate. That classic combination of foie gras' rich nature and sweet is given a small twist as the jelly sweetens your mouth and the peanut butter almost seems to coat your mouth and adhere the rich foie to it, giving you just another fleeting moment of happiness as you bite into that foie.

These guys like to keep stuff simple as well. Here, we have nigiri. And no, that is not raw fish on the rice, it's a slice of foie gras, nicely carmalized. My party preferred this over the foie gras PB & J... and who can blame them? The rich fat of the foie oozes down into the rice, flavoring the rice with its richness along with the subtle sweetness of the mirin in the rice. Oh man.

Foie gras with oxtail and fries. This was my least favorite of the three that I'm displaying here. It was just a tad bit too salty and overwhelming for me. Though it was still good, it didn't have that graceful balance that the two prior dishes had. Maybe it was also because I had it last and I was already pretty damned stuffed.

Of course foie isn't all they have. Their homemade fries with garlic aioli was I think the most perfect fries I have ever had in my life. So crispy. The aioli went so well with it. A must try.

Other dishes to note were the steak that they offered. I believe it was a wagyu ribeye. Very well cooked. The meat was deliciously tender and we had some chimichurri from another dish that we included with the steak... so good.

Another great part of this night's feast was the pork chop shown above. Though it's a huge roast, the brine was able to penetrate the meat and even the very middle of the roast had a perfect hint of maple. Nicely tender and priced at only $25 for that huge roast.

I can go on and on about each dish that we had. But you know what? It might not even be there when you decide to try this place out! So head over to The Playground right now to see what they have available for you to try. Every dish is a guaranteed treat for you.

My girlfriend and I paid $160 post tax tip for all the foie, food and alcohol we could stuff into our stomachs. You will surely spend less since the foie dishes are gone (damn hippies in California). Hell, that $25 pork chop roast will fill up two people quite nicely.

The Playground
220 East 4th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701
(714) 560-4444

Cafe Rollo in Sacramento, CA

2012-04-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

So because of the STUPID ban that will soon be implemented in California, this review must be made. Yes, STUPID STUPID STUPID ban that will ban foie gras. Forgive my passion about this topic animal rights protesters should not have the right to tell me what I can or cannot eat. Today it's foie gras, tomorrow what will it be? Chicken? Beef? Pork? Please.

That right there my friends is a foie gras sandwich. Yes. Foie gras terrine inside a sandwich. And yes, it was as delicious as it looks. My buddies and I were trekking up to Big Bear from SoCal. I believe it was about a 10 hour drive. We knew we needed lunch. And luckily for us... we found Cafe Rollo in Sac-Town.

I didn't really know what to expect. We just wanted to find a good lunch spot to take a break from that ridiculous drive. We didn't expect too much. Just typical cafe food. But then I saw foie gras. My heart skipped a beat and I smiled. It wasn't one of those fake smiles you make when you see your annoying baby cousins. It's a genuine smile.

We walked in and had a brief 15 minute wait. It was a small cafe but it was packed for lunch. Good sign. We were lucky to get tables outside in the nice and sunny weather to enjoy our food. Our server was brilliant and nice. You can tell he was proud of the food they served at the restaurant.

We started with the foie gras terrine.

Oh my God. Whooooo. A plate of foie gras terrine for $8. Heck ya!

And it was worth every single penny. And more. Much more.

But what more? In a sandwich? As pictured on the top of this post, the foie gras sandwich is no longer something I dream about. It is now reality. And.. for TEN BUCKS? That's right... TEN BUCKS?! Oh my.

That wasn't the only brilliant thing they had on their menu. My buddy ordered a smoked salmon sandwich. It was served with creme fraiche and oozing, melted cheese. My gosh. This sandwich was under $10 too.

Ending the meal? Oh... just one of France's most popular desserts... Creme brulee. They had two flavors that day but I fail because I do not remember which was better. But it was good. Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but good.

If you're in the area. Get your butts over here and eat their foie gras before you are not given another opportunity to try the brilliance of this restaurant. It's a shame that California has reached a point where ignorant protesters are given the right to decide what I can or cannot put on my plate.

If you aren't in the area, many different restaurants all over California have special dinners with foie gras as its main focus. Look it up and try it to get your last taste of foie gras in California. If you've never had foie gras before... for the love of God try it out before you miss your chance!

Cafe Rolle
5357 H Street
Sacramento, CA
(916) 455-9140

Chapter One in Santa Ana, CA

2012-03-19T14:38:00.004-07:00

Chapter One is a gastropub that I tried out during the OC Restuarant Week. For those of you who don't know, it's similar to many other city's "dining" or "restaurant" weeks. (Ie., LA's is called dineLA). It is truly a treat for the foodies who enjoy a playful rendition of typical food.

Firstly, I must say that I really enjoyed a beer they had on tap here called The Reverend. If you like a nice strong beer that's fairly smooth (compared to other Quadrupels,) that's pretty sweet as well and has a nice, sweet finish... this beer's for you! I did not get a picture of it, but you can Google it and find it. Good stuff.

Now, on to the food. We ordered a lot of food. Not only did we eat our three course meal, my buddy Neil decided that there were some must tries/haves on the menu to add to it.

Their most popular dish is probably the pear potato. Or is it potato pear? This dish is actually fairly simple. Riced potato that's been breaded and fried over a Marsala mushroom cream sauce. I thought it was pretty good. Very nice presentation. Flavor wise - it's as you'd expect.

Scotch eggs. Basically a hardboiled egg stuffed inside a turkey meatloaf. There's an Asian inspired mustard sauce over it and it comes served with some greens. Again, it tastes as you'd imagine it. The tanginess of the sauce was great and the meatloaf was light enough that it wasn't a burden to eat with the egg. I think I would've preferred it to be soft boiled and to allow the yolk to ooze all over the plate. Still a solid dish. Oh yeah, the yolk wasn't overly cooked, an unfortunate demise to hard boiled eggs that is too frequently seen.

You know, I don't remember this dish too well. Maybe because it was just so-so. Cheese (I believe it was toasted ricotta?) over a marinara sauce with toasted bread. It's as you'd expect.

The tempura frog legs were good. Breaded with panko and deep fried. The sauce that accompanied it was a too strong for the frog legs. I don't remember what it was exactly, but it seemed Asian inspired - based on either oyster or hoisin sauce. Still very good. We got this again the second time around. I just made sure to go very light on the sauce.

Our entrees soon came. This is the skirt steak over yucca fries with a chimichurri sauce. It was as you'd expect. But that doesn't mean that the dish wasn't amazing. The skirt steak was so perfectly cooked. The yucca fries as well were amazingly prepared. It was deep fried and it didn't have the stringiness that I find in my yucca at other places. The chimichurri sauce was also well made.

I unfortunately didn't get a good shot of my tamarind glazed pork chops in my haste to dig in. This was wonderful. The sweet tamarind went so well with the pork chop which was cooked PERFECTLY medium. Yes, medium. You bastards that are eating it well done are doing it WRONG! (It's okay, I forgive you. For now.) It was served with a nice ginger apple sauce. Yes, this was a combination I've never had before. Tamarind, ginger, pork and apples. But... it works. It really does. I think this was my favorite entree of the night.

Other dishes we had were the mushroom risotto. Nothing special about it, but it was perfectly creamy and had the perfect bite to it. Also, we had the seared duck breast (seen on the top of the page). Served a perfect pink and had a variety of flavors popping all over. I thought its direction got a bit lost. While it was cooked perfectly, the flavor profiles were all over. Would I still recommend it? Yeah, if you are feeling like duck breast.

Then we had the foie gras burger on a separate occasion. Yup. I'm a sucker for foie gras burgers. When I heard about this burger, I knew I had to come back for it. Only $19 for this burger and well freakin' worth it. Foie gras, in my opinion, was a bit skimpy compared to what I got at Burger Bar in Las Vegas (also a larger price tag there,) but it was still well worth it. Burger patty was slightly overcooked. My buddies ordered medium rare, they got medium. I ordered it medium and I got a medium-well patty. Oh well, it was still delicious.

The desserts here are just as visually appealing as the entrees are. The red velvet cake came looking like almost a blood bath on the plate. It was good. Nice chocolate flavors, but slightly dry in my opinion.

The PB&B, peanut butter and bacon ice cream was wonderful. It comes with a peanut butter ice cream and a bruleed (French for burnt) banana that was perfectly carmalized. And yes, the topping had to be... bacon! Delicious.

And ice cream. Nothign more to say about this. It was homemade ice cream. Good, rich, creamy. What more can you ask of from ice cream?

This ran about $50 a person after tax, tip and drinks. Give this place a try. Good beers, food and fun here.

Chapter One: The Modern Local
227 N Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92701
(714) 352-2225

Slaters 50/50 in Huntington Beach, CA

2012-03-08T12:09:00.002-08:00

I am a huge fan of the hamburger. I've made an attempt to try as many different burger places as possible (how is it that Father's Office and Umami Burger still eludes me?) Upon hearing of Slater's 50/50 burgers I had to try it. Why? Customizeable burgers. Yes. And spell check claims I'm making up that word, but I'm not. It's a create-your-own burger joint place much like you'll see at places like The Counter. Okay, it's not just the customizeable burgers that made me try this place out. It was their 50/50 patty. Half bacon and half ground beef. Yes. I love me my bacon.

The Slater's 50/50 burger, pictured above, features a 1/3 lb patty made of half bacon and half beef (hence the 50/50). It comes with an avocado mash and a fried egg. Pretty damn good if you ask me. Juicy and different. Sometimes I'm not a huge fan of nontraditional meals, but I must say that this was something I'd come to get again. Maybe it's my love of bacon, my love or hamburgers... or the fact that I'm hitting two birds with one stone! Yes... I know you can have strips of bacon in my burger like the other joints... but give me this!

Is that the only out of the ordinary thing they have at Slater's? No.

Absolutely not. The Peanut Butter and Jeallousy Burger. It features... yes you've guessed it! Peanut butter and jelly!

In your burger! I was really weary of trying this at first. But something about it... I couldn't pass it up. I tried to get my dining partner to get it while I stick with the Slater's 50/50... but he wouldn't do it. Wuss. Yes William, I know you're going to read this.

But I mean... how does it work? Is this a dessert burger? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are my late night quick meal. And no, I did not ask for a glass of milk with this. Something about it really worked. The jelly clings on to the patty and creates another layer of flavor that was actually not overwhelming like you'd imagine. I'd prefer a bit more peanut butter with the burger to have more of the taste, but when you do taste the peanut butter it creates that creaminess that you love in your PB&J sandwiches. Would I try this again? Yes! Would I recommend it to friends? Only the true foodies.

Slater's just couldn't stick with anything traditional. But that's why they stand out!

Well, I guess the fries look normal... right? Wait... what's that in the ketchup...? Is that... is that really... bacon?!?

Yes, my friends. Yes, it is. And dammit whenever I have fries anywhere I will request for them to mix some bacon goodness into my ketchup. Because hell, screw the ranch, it's all about the bacon ketchup that they have at 50/50! It has just enough bacon in the ketchup to give it that unctuous smokey bacon flavor and still keep that sweet tanginess of the ketchup.

Give it a try.

Slater's 50/50
8082 Adams Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 594-5730

Sea Harbour in Rosemead, CA

2012-03-05T17:18:00.003-08:00

Dim sum. To some westerners, dim sum is a brunch for the Chinese population. Serving parts of an animal that is so grotesque I would have to omit the name of those parts to make sure my blog does not require parental supervision to browse through. To me and my group of friends, it's a special event and a vehicle we use to enjoy our time together and have a tasty lunch that doesn't consist of just eggs, breakfast and toast. I've been to many different dim sum restaurants and I've found Sea Harbour to be the best dim sum restaurant in Southern California. To me, the 45 minute drive is much longer than the 15 minute drive to the average dim sum restaurants in Garden Grove -- but well worth the drive.

The one thing that separates Sea Harbour from the many other dim sum restaurants near me is the quality. This is not the typical dim sum restaurant where the carts are being pushed around the restaurant. No, you order from a menu like you would do in many sushi restaurants. You tally up the items you want and the server will slowly bring out new, freshly cooked dishes. This fried tofu with sweet and sour sauce is a great example. Had this been sitting in the cart for half an hour... it would lose its primary qualities. It wouldn't have the crisp skin and the light and airy insides. This is one of my favorite dishes here (but it also is higher in cost at $7 for the 6 pieces of tofu.)

This is an uncommon dish that I found too interesting not to try the first time visiting the restaurant -- deep fried chicken knee. Is it really chicken knee? Maybe? But I think it's just deep fried cartilage from anywhere on the chicken (including its knee.) It's just so amazing how they perfectly deep fry it to have such a wonderful bite and a great crunch. It was well seasoned and just amazing. A must have in my opinion.

The calamari is another solid dish. There is nothing special about it, but it is just cooked perfectly and perfectly crispy. Not too hard and seasoned very well.

Sorry for the blurry picture here. But this is the pork shumai. This juicy shumai is plump and moist. The flavors of the pork are really there. Each bite you take... well... it'll blow you away with every bite. As soon as your teeth penetrate the meat you get a huge burst of juice from it. God, I want one right now...

The chicken feet here is cooked well. But to be honest, it's almost never cooked improperly, anywhere. It's more moist than most other places and there's a small spicy kick to it. My only complaint is that the seasoning is inconsistent. Our first batch was very bland while our second bland was perfectly seasoned.

If you love beef tendon, this is a great dish to have. It comes braised with some tripe as well (which I also love). Very typical but very average here.

My friend thought the fried radish looked great when he looked over at the table next to use. And well, it was. Very lightly seasoned and fried to ensure that it's shape holds.

And my favorite -- fried taro. This time around it was a lot denser than usual... but it was still nice and flavorful. The denseness made it pretty hard to eat as we ate a lot of food. Oh well. I don't always get the chance...

If you're in the area, definitely give this place a try. One word of advice though... it's PACKED on weekends. You're looking at a 1-2 hr wait easily, depending on what time you come over.

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 288-3939

The Bazaar in Beverly Hills, CA

2012-02-20T01:26:00.000-08:00

The Bazaar is, well... bizarre. Jose Andres' restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA is one of the places that you have to try out if you are a foodie. One of the closest resemblances to this restaurant (of the places I've visited before) would have to be WD~50 in New York. Being molecular gastronomy, this place actually exceeded WD~50 in terms of uniqueness. As this is a tapas place as well, we were grateful to have had the opportunity to try out many, many strange things.

Jose Andres' vision of this restaurant is to just have fun with your food. And you do get that with the adult-carnival theme of this restaurant. The first thing you notice when walking into The Bazaar are that there are many different "sections" of the restaurant. It's pretty weird how it's laid out. There's a lounge area that looks almost like a night club at the same time. There is the main dining area where you get your main dishes. There's an almost Alice in Wonderland feel in the dessert area where you sit on small chairs and tables and you feel like you're in a adult version of a game of House. Then there's the actual "bazaar" area where you can buy random things. Seriously, random things. Like those huge bear stuffed animals seen above, along with sunglasses and many other different things.

The first thing that caught my eye was the cotton candy foie gras. I actually didn't expect this to be good because the aerated foie gras I had at WD~50 was a let down... but this was amazing. For $5 a stick it's an expensive lollipop but boy was it good... I was really tempted to get seconds on this. Foie gras always goes well with sweets, but man... this was so amazing.

Of course the ladies got some veggies. This fennel plate had some walnuts in it as well as manchego cheese. Really good... the sherry vinegar made it a bit acidic and the cheese gave it the perfect saltiness. Nuts are always good for a crunch but walnuts were the perfect choice for this dish.

My dining partners loved the brussel sprouts. It had lemon air and lemon puree. It was very lemony and acidic as you can imagine. I found it too acidic for my tastes, but my other dining partners said it was the best brussel sprouts they've ever had.

We also ordered the jicama wrapped guacamole. It was kind of a let down as there was nothing superb about it. It was good guacamole wrapped in jicama. Nothing really gave me the wow factor that other dishes were able to do.

Bur really, it's never just about the greens for me. Other appetizers we got included the American caviar cone. Of course this isn't real salmon or sturgeon caviar, but it was still good. Unfortunately I got a horrible picture of it, but it was good. Nice saltiness without that undesired fishiness that you oftentimes get with fish eggs.

My buddy also got the hamachi. I don't recall what the other ingredients were on this dish to be perfectly honest. I was mostly focused on the hamachi because it was just so damn good. Sweet and fresh... how it should be.

The king crab was really good too. Very beautifully presented. It had a melody of colors and was served in a small tin can. I guess my shot kind of missed the crab was I was so focused on the myriad of colors that was in the can... but the crab itself was really good. Very sweet and succulent... how you'd imagine the crab to be. Nothing really wow'd me besides the presentation of the dish, but it was really solid.

The Bazaar's version of the Philly cheese steak was awesome too. Beautifully seared wagyu beef sliced thin topped over a puffed bread that was filled with cream cheese. Amazing. I will never see Philly cheesesteaks the same way ever again.

I also got the chicken and bechamel fritters expecting something amazing. As weird as it sounds, I was pretty disappointed when I realized that I got exactly what I ordered. I got chicken fritters. Come on guys... I mean the fritter was probably the best fritter I've had in my life, it's a freakin' fritter at the end of the day. Whomp.

We ordered something that was called "the ultimate tapas" or something like that. I'm glad this wasn't the first dish I had. Because the ultimate tapas was apparently potato salad to these guys. Was it good? I guess. Was it something worthy of the title "ultimate"? No, definitely not. Nothing special about this either. Well, except that you didn't know it was a potato salad until you got it.

Their noodles with quail egg and parmasan cheese was so good. If you're afraid of eating raw egg then don't eat this. But it was so good. The umami of that egg the perfectly salty parmasan cheese. Then those tomatoes... just perfected the dish. I loved this dish.

Then some of the meat started popping out. This oxtail bun was really good. It has a jalapeno slice for the perfect kick. The oxtail was braised perfectly and those buns were really good. Nice crusty outside but such a soft and airy inside.

I freaking love wagyu beef. This piquillo wagyu flank steak was so good. Tender and juicy. Beefiness accompanied by a wonderful Spanish sauce. Did I mention that I love beef?

Veal fits into the beef catagory too. This beef was good, but the veggies that came with it didn't impress me like the flank stamp combination that they had.The veal loin was to the perfect medium between rare and medium-rare.

After these dishes, we were pretty stuffed. But we still had dessert. So they moved us over to the dessert area which I described before. I thought it was pretty weird to have to pack everything and move to a different table during your meal. But if that's what they wanted...

Dessert here was wonderful. Too bad the lighting was even worse at the dessert area so I didn't get good photos of the desserts. Missing pictures included the warm chocolate and pear. And let me say that this was surprisingly wonderful. The chocolate was of high quality and that pear that went with it... so good. The ice cream sorbet was actually the best dessert we had I felt. It was so good. Though every dessert we had that night was good, the sorbet was the best. They let you choose three flavors and making the right combination is crucial. Pictured above is the Spanish flan. It came with some vanilla and a citrus fruit whose name I just cannot think of right now. Very good. I've actually never had flan with vanilla so the combination was new and amazing for me. I've actually rarely eaten flan actually. So this was a treat.

The Greek yogurt panna cotta was really good too. This was the best out of about ten shots that I took... barely even made the cut to be honest. But this was surprisingly really good too. I've never had panna cotta made from yogurt -- always made from cream/milk. The apricot flavor was really good. The texture change (if any) from making this out of yogurt was not noticeable to me... very good dessert as well.

For almost $375 (post tax/tip) for a party of four, it wasn't a bad bargain at all. We had good food, good company and good memories. All in all, The Bazaar was a wonderful dining experience. It's new, exciting, and well... fun. To be perfectly honest, I thought food at WD ~ 50 was better, but at The Bazaar, it's much more interesting. Needless to say, this is a highly recommended place for any foodie out there. Check it out, you'll love it. After coming here, you can tell your mom that you CAN play with your food!

The Bazaar
465 South La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310-246-5555

53rd and 6th Halal Cart in New York, NY

2012-02-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

So the first time I visited New York, I missed out on Halal Cart. Specifically the one on 53rd and 6th St. (yes, it's important which one you go to.) Big mistake. After that, all I hear about is people raving about Halal Cart. Yes, RAVING. Like cult-ish type of raving. They would talk about how it was so cheap but so good... how it's a must have in NY... how they want to do inappropriate things to it. No, I'm not kidding, it's one of those or all three. And yes, they really meant it too.

Okay, so what is it that makes the 53rd and 6th Halal Cart so... legendary? Well, I guess the first would have to be the price. It's $6 for a huge plate of food. Yes, things don't usually come cheap in NYC, but this does. You can choose between a chicken plate, a lamb plate, or a combo plate that comes with both... any of them for $6. Great deal. I prefer the lamb, but to each his own.

The taste? It tastes great. Ground lamb/chicken, a small amount of lettuce and a few slices of oiled up pita bread. Doesn't sound very good does it? Well, that was my initial thought. But it was good. The way they seasoned up that lamb was almost perfect. Lots of oregano flavor and a subtle taste of what I believe was coriander and cumin... really good. And what else made it better? The sauces.

White and red sauce is what it's called. The white sauce I believe is made of a mixture of mayo and yogurt... with very little else added. I believe I tasted a hint of parsley or some other herb... but not much else. I don't know what the red sauce was made out of but it was spicy. I really like spice so I put an equal amount white and red sauce, but my friend just liked a few drops. So it's up to you. But I'm serious, it's pretty spicy... so don't overdo it initially. You can always add more...

The rice... was amazing as well. Basmati rice, seasoned with some tumeric and cumin. I'm sure they added butter to the rice and it was cooked wonderfully in chicken or vegetable broth. The rice mixed with the sauces... unbelievable.

The pita bread was okay. In fact, it was pretty bad itself... until you realize that the pita bread has soaked up almost a 1/2 cup of fat from the meat... then you take a bite of the soggy bread and you realize that fat tastes pretty damn good. REALLY freakin' good.

Iceburg lettuce? Well, do I really have to go over that?

Do yourself a favor and check out the Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th. You won't regret anything. Unless you didn't heed my warning and put on too much red sauce. Then... well... be prepared for a fireshow the next time you're in the John.

WD ~ 50 in New York City, NY

2012-01-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

New technological advancements also means new advancement in culinary techniques. At WD~50, Chef Wylie Dufresne pushes to find new techniques with traditional dishes. Foie Gras? Eggs benedict? Fried chicken? All these traditional meals are prepared at WD~50... just not in the traditional method. Foie gras? Aerated. Eggs benedict? ... well, I don't even know how to explain it. Fried chicken? Not greasy and oily. And served cold. Yes, cold. One of the leaders in molecular gastronomy, Chef Wylie Dufresne not only envisions new methods for preparing traditional meals, but new flavor combinations to create a totally new experience. No, not everything will be as a good as traditional foie gras, but come in with an open mind and you'll experience something that you will not experience at any other restaurant.

When one thinks of foie gras they think of a rich slice of seared liver. Well, that's definitely not what you get at WD~50. Instead, foie gras is aerated. It creates a new texture. It's light and, well, airy. Served with beets and mashed plum, it's a great combination of flavors that I've never had. It's not fully sweet and fruity like caramelized pear, but due to the different nature of the foie gras itself, I'd say it was a wonderful combination. Compared to traditional foie gras? I would prefer the original. That's not to say that this wasn't tasty -- and interesting. Am I glad I paid $20 for this? No doubt. If not for the discovery of different flavors, food would be boring.

Sorry for the blurry picture, no tripod and dim lighting makes it hard to take photographs

Fried chicken... that's not fried. Is it right to call it fried chicken? That's a debate in itself. My friend was pretty disappointed that it had very little resemblance to fried chicken. I don't thin it was deep fried, and it was served cold. The chicken remained moist and tender. Probably cooked sous vide. Served with a buttermilk ricotta mixture. There was tobasco in the sauce, and a bit of fish roe served with it. I found this dish to be mind blowing. I was blown away by it. Again, my friend was disappointed that it was not fried chicken. I mean, did you expect to get a battered and deep fried chicken thigh at Chef Dufresne's restaurant? I guess he did.

Duck pastrami was amazing. Our server mentioned that it was a homage to Katz Deli. This dish is a duck breast that was seasoned with similar seasoning to pastrami. It's served with a thin slice of rye bread on the bottom and some greens to go along with it. I loved this as well. More than Katz? Yes... yes indeed. This was probably one of the more standard dishes that we had all night.

One of the strangest? Eggs benedict. We have thin canadian bacon. Very thin. Egg yolk painted on the dish. And the hollandaise makes eggs benedict right? Well it's there. Can you find it? It's hidden inside those cubes. Breaded and fried. So amazing. This is the stuff that makes Chef Dufresne's reputation.

Skate wing. What's not to like about this? It's tender and juicy and moist. Seared well and served with wonderful accompaniments. Yucca, radish and and dates. Though the dish looks very different, its flavors were more or less traditional.

Lamb shoulder. Served with pistachio, spied apricots and an endive marmalade. The combinations of flavors were interesting and unique. Sweet apricot with rich lamb? Yes, please! A little pistachio "polenta"? Yes! These flavors are seen on thing such as pistachio lamb chops or sweet flavors braised with lamb shanks. This 1-up'd the skate wings.

Wagyu steak served with black eye peas, figs and and some rutabega. This steak was so amazing. One of the rare occasions I've had the privilege of trying out wagyu beef. The sweet figs went so well with the tender pieces of steak. So good.

Dessert, doesn't have a name. I was already stuffed so I didn't order dessert. My other two dining partners did. This was something with passion fruit and some acidic or tart sorbet. It had some sort of citrus fruit too. It was amazing. Though I felt there were a lot of things going on, I solved this problem by a simple solution. Don't eat everything together. It solved the problem.

To be honest, I don't even remember what this was. Frozen ice cream they said was some volcano thing. It has the cold foam coming down to look like a volcano. Chocolate sorbet. Freeze dried corn. Pretty good, but I preferred the first dessert that was more fruit and acidic based.

Dinner ended with a rice crispy treat. It was pretty much rice crispy texture/flavor over ice cream. Very unique. And a great way to end.

Dinner for 3 after tax and tip was about $300. Expect to spend but expect a night you won't forget.

WD~50
50 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 477-2900

Bacon Wrapped Filet with Shallot-Wine Reduction

2012-01-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

For the most part my steaks come simple. Salt & Pepper. That's it. But the royal tenderloin or filet mignon... well, it doesn't have a lot of it its own flavor. Yes, it's tender, lean, and very expensive -- but nobody can deny that filet just doesn't have the beefiness that a ribeye or NY steak will have. However, that can be a good thing. We can take advantage of that property and infuse flavor into the steak. Yes, a marinade will work, but a sauce will work just as well. And you know what? I've said this before -- bacon makes everything better. Seriously.

I generally am not a fan of filet mignon. There, I said it. Like I said before, it's pretty bland compared to my favorite cut -- the NY steak. But once in a while. Just every once in a while, it happens. The urge. And thus, filet was on the plate for dinner.

You can do almost anything to filet. You can season it with your favorite steak seasoning, you can marinade it, you can make a sauce, or you can just salt and pepper it like any other steak. I don't have a favorite way, but this time I chose to make a sauce. And wrap it in bacon. I love bacon.

Since cooking the steak itself is pretty quick, start with the sauce.

Ingredients for the sauce include:
(You can certainly double the recipe very easily)
1 tbs butter (half to cook the shallots down and half to add to the end to glisten up the sauce)
2 shallots
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups red wine (a shiraz works well in this case, but most any dry red wine will work)

Throw in a pad of butter and cook the shallots in them in low heat -- this will take about 20 minutes.

Once the shallots are cooked down to this level (perhaps even more... I was a bit impatient I must admit), add in the sugar and wine, increase the heat to medium-high to high and reduce the sauce by half. Add in the balsamic vinegar and cook until desired thickness. I like to cook it down until it just sticks onto the back of a metal spoon. Don't forget to season with S&P and adjust seasoning if necessary. Keep in mind you are also salting your steak and the bacon is a bit salty -- so don't go overboard.

You can make the sauce early and reheat it later if you need to.

For the steak, you need steak about 1-1.5" thick. Basically the thickness of the width of the bacon. My advice is to buy a whole tenderloin and butcher it yourself. It's really easy to, you just need a sharp boning knife and remove all the silverskin. Then... well... slice it to your desired thickness. S&P the filet and wrap the bacon around it. Remember, bacon can be very salty so don't oversalt.

Pan fry on a cast iron or stainless steel pan for about 2-3 minutes per side on high heat. That should get the bacon nice and crispy and the filet to a rare. Of course this all depends on thickness. About 3.5 minutes per side for a medium rare. And if guests want it done even more, kick them out. Just kidding. Finish it in the oven for about 5 minutes for medium. Sorry I don't know exact timings for more than medium rare.

And that's almost it. Don't forget to let the steak rest, veryyyyy important. Add butter to the sauce and stir it in. Then spoon the sauce over the steak. And you've got dinner.

Peter Luger's Steakhouse in Brooklyn, New York

2012-01-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, so my one must stop place in New York was definitely Peter Luger's. A steakhouse that doesn't fit the steakhouse mold. It's not the fancy schmancy place that has a piano playing in the background, it's the live and loud atmosphere where peter are enjoying their food - family style. A place where the focus is not just the food, but the company you are with. Peter Luger's, rated #1 steakhouse in New York and America xxx years in a row... yes, they've earned their reputation.

Coming in, I was not sure what to expect. This doesn't seem like a high end steakhouse. How can it be rated #1 so many years running? Well, let's just say it definitely wasn't a fluke.

We wanted to start with the bacon. Oh my.

Not overly salty, and not crispy like the thin bacon strips you buy at grocery stores. No, these are plump, juicy, thick and smokey slices of pork belly. This, my friends, is how bacon should be everywhere. But alas, only at Peter Luger's. Of course a single slice costs as much as a pound of bacon at the grocery stores at $4 a slice. But don't go cheap. Get it!

We didn't try any other sides. We really wanted steak. We got the porterhouse for 4. It came with two huge porterhouses. Huge.

And steak we received. Unfortunately, before I was able to take a picture, the server had already served us a few slices. You can pretend there is meat in the missing parts.

Nice and pink. Tender, juicy, meaty, delicious. They break the golden rule of making steaks too. Instead of just traditionally broiling it, letting it rest then slicing, they actually slice it and then slosh on some more butter it and finish it up in the broiler. Hey, rules are meant to be broken and this works. To be perfectly honest, I preferred Maestro's in Costa Mesa and having my own steak. That way I can order it rare -- the way I like it. But sharing is caring and Peter Luger's did not disappoint.

They also have their homemade steaksauce at Peter Luger's. It has small bits of beef in it (how awesome is this?). It's actually really good. I tried it on my steak -- maybe I'm a purist but I preferred my steak without it. But it's still amazing. A billion times better than A1, that's for sure.

I was already stuffed. But the server sold us on the apple strudel. Well, sold my girlfriend. Worth it? Yeah.

With "schlag"

"What is schlag?" we asked.

"Schlag? It's this," he said. Then he emphatically took a huge scoop of homemade whip cream and tossed it on the strudel.

"His schlag is amazing," my friend said.

Yes, we giggled. And yes, that is what she said. And suddenly, our dinner ended at Peter Luger's. Be prepared to drop a bill on this place, after a few drinks, tax and tip. Worth it? Most definitely.

Peter Luger
178 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 387-7400

Saraghina in Brooklyn, NY

2012-01-09T02:17:00.000-08:00

So when I walked up to the restaurant, I thought it was closed or had changed locations. I mean look at that building. It looks beat up, run down, and to be blunt, it looks abandoned. So I pull up the navigation on my phone and I walk away from the building. A minute later, I realized that I'm walking away... can it be? Is that really the restaurant?

Yes, yes it is... and boy I sure am glad that I turned my ass around. This place was a great start to my food adventures in New York.

Walking in, the atmosphere is totally different. The dining room is clean and pleasant. It's very inviting and it makes you feel like you are visiting a relative's house. It's very homey and spacious. Very different from most other New York restaurants.

Though New York may be considered the food capital of the US, there's one specific thing I think about when I think about New York cuisine -- New York thin crusted pizza. Yes, I'm a thin crust type of guy. I want the crust thin and I want to taste the toppings on the pizza. Saraghina does it right.

We start off with a carafe of wine. Their house wine is inexpensive and of good quality. I think that huge carafe is $24. Great deal. Don't miss out on this wine. Order it with your pizza. You won't regret it. Unless you drink too much. Then that's different. You might regret it then...

Moving on, we ordered a margherita pizza for three of us. It was just enough for a weekday lunch.

Simple, but delicious. You have your fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce and your basil. You don't need anything else. This isn't a Pizza Hut pizza. This is the real deal. Delicious and sweet tomato, good quality mozzarella and basil to meld everything together. Happiness in a bite.

And of course happiness only increases with dessert. Their tiramisu was delightfully rich and smooth.

This is one of the few places in New York where you sit down to enjoy your meal. Where you relax and you enjoy your lazy afternoon.

Nom noms

Saraghina
(718)574-0010
435 Halsey St
Brooklyn, NY 11233

Ki Sushi in New York

2012-01-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Wow. Honestly, this is the best bargain for sushi, ever. This is one of the best sushi I've ever had. Best part? It doesn't cost me an arm and a leg. This is Ki Sushi, in New York. Fresh, sweet fish, friendly service, great pricing... there's really not more you can ask for. This is one of those places that makes you wish you lived in New York...

So. What makes this place great? Quality. Awesome quality. As in overnighted from Japan quality. Yes, it's true. Well, they claim it to be true -- and it tastes that way as well. Let's start with the Ki Roll. Just by looking at the roll you can tell that this isn't some low end fusion xxx roll with fake crab sticks.

Real crab meet, healthy slices of fresh bright fish and two kinds of fish eggs. I forgot which fish they were from but they were a perfect pair for the roll. And then the lobster tuna roll.

Real lobster meat wrapped with tuna. Oh my God. A bit of caviar (just fish roe, not the expensive stuff) and then they had to overdo it with the gold flakes. On a bed of wasabi cream... so amazing. That wasabi cream was so good. My friends would not let the server take the plate away just so they could dip anything else they can get their hands on, into that wasabi cream. It really was amazing. Creamy, nutty, with that wasabi punch...

And yes, I did say gold flakes.

Yup. You wouldn't believe that this roll is only about $15.

Another great deal? Their lunch chirashi special. Just $14. You get miso soup, salad and some amazing sashimi.

So fresh, so good, so amazing. Make a visit here when you get the chance, you will definitely love it. And if you live or work nearby -- I can guarantee this will be a regular spot for you. Do it.

Ki Sushi
718-935-0575
122 Smith Street
New York, NY 11201

Lack of updates! :(

2012-01-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, those are grocery bags tying the claws instead of rubber bands...

Sorry for the lack of updates guys... finals, exams and a trip to NYC has been taking up a lot of my time. I'll be back with some great material in the next couple weeks so get ready for those updates! Until then!

Balut... Fear Factor Challenge or Good Eats!

2011-11-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

Too many times Asians are often criticized by Western palates as eating... indelicate things. Well, in this case, it's just an egg right? The word "balut" comes from the Philippines where it is often sold by street vendors. However, they are very common in many other southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. Called Hot Vit Lon in Vietnamese, this dish is commonly served with beer. The salt and pepper that you eat with it makes this a deliciously high protein snack as well as giving you a snack that has the salt hit that your palate craves while mildly intoxicated. Okay, not just mildly. But another reason this snack is so commonly sold as street food is because it's so easy to make.

Did you ever watch that Fear Factor challenge? There was a challenge of eating a balut egg. I can't find the episode but I remember an Asian dude owning it up. Why? Because balut is actually freaking delicious. It's like eating a duck soup... out of an egg shell. The liquid inside is huge in flavor and if you can get past the fact that you're eating a duck (you would eat it cooked after it has hatched and would eat a regular egg scrambled and such... what's wrong with this?)

Oh well. At about $1.25/egg, these are great foods to pick up when you know you're going to be drinking with some buddies.

Recipe is as followed:
-Balut egg(s)
-Rau ram (Vietnamese coriander)
-S&P

That's it.

All you do is drop the egg into a pot of boiling water, much like as if you were hard boiling an egg. I guess you technically are hard boiling it.

Leave it under a slow boil (higher than a simmer, but you don't want a rolling boil) for 25 minutes. Turn the heat off and scoop out the eggs. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes as it will be hot. Plus the carryover heat will cook the eggs to a perfect temperature.

Serve by cracking the egg on the thicker side. You can eat right out of the egg or pour contents into a bowl.

Create a salt&pepper mixture and spoon it over the eggy goodness. Serve with Vietnamese coriander to bite into the richness.

And yes. That does look gross. But it's so good. SO good. Try it, if you dare.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with 11 Spices and Herbs!

2011-11-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

So when my buddy got a new deep fryer, the first thing that came to mind was fried chicken. Of course, we wanted to be more creative. Maybe fish and chips? Chicken tenders? Fried frog legs? These all came to mind (and some of these will be posted in the future), but fried chicken was the one thing that we couldn't pass up an opportunity to make. If we are going to indulge in deep fried goodness, we needed to make it count. Fried chicken is worth the artery clogging.

Normally I make my fried chicken in a cast iron pan or my dutch oven. With a cast iron pan, I pour just enough oil so that the oil doesn't necessarily flow over the chicken. With my dutch oven, I get lazy and just pour in huge amounts of oil. With a deep fryer, well, you don't really have an option. Any way you choose will work. The secret is the buttermilk brining. Do not skip this step. It's crucial to not only give the fried chicken a tanginess, but it keeps the chicken irresistibly moist.

The next important step is temperature management. If your deep fryer sucks, make sure you don't put in too many pieces of chicken in at a time. You do NOT want your oil temperature to drop under 300*F. That's why using cast iron (either pan or dutch oven) is great. The cast iron has great heat retention so your oil temperature doesn't drop too dramatically.

To get this fried chicken recipe started you'll need:
-Chicken (I prefer thigh pieces only, but you can joint a whole chicken or buy whatever pieces you like)
-Buttermilk
-Flour (for dredging)
-Seasonings including salt, fresh ground black pepper, white pepper, paprika, cayenne. Also you'll need dried thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, garlic powder, and onion powder.

I think I just counted 11 spices and herbs. And yes, garlic powder and onion powder will work better than fresh in this case. Same with dried herbs instead of fresh herbs.

As far as the amounts go, it's up to you and how much chicken you're using. I prefer to go heavy on oregano, thyme, rosemary, cayenne and paprika.

So go ahead and get your chicken soaked in buttermilk. Season the buttermilk with everything but the salt. I like to salt my chicken directly and salt the flour.

Let the chicken sit in the buttermilk bath for at least 4 hours. I prefer to go 6-8 hrs or even overnight.

Dry the chicken well and dredge in flour. I made a lot of chicken (probably close to 4 lbs) so I just put the chicken in another container and threw my seasoned flour over the chicken and shook the container so the chicken is evenly coated. Get rid of the excess flour by shaking the chicken.

How long do we cook it? Until "GBD" -- golden brown & delicious. Or if you need a time, deep fry for about 20-25 minutes at a starting temperature of 350, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165. The temperature will drop down close to 310 and slowly rise up to about 315-325. That's perfectly normal. Remember, white meat will cook much faster than bone-in dark meat. So the time varies. Cook in batches if necessary. My friend's deep fryer sucked so I was only able to cook 4 thighs at a time. (Yes, it took a very long time to finish cooking everything...)

And you're done. The result? Tender, juicy fried chicken. The chicken is definitely more tender than almost any fried chicken you've ever had. The crisp skin will be wonderful. I know you'll want to eat it right away but it'll be hot. Very hot. So I'd wait. If you can. If you can't... well... sorry. The burn will be worth it though.

Look at how juicy that meat is. Yes... it's worth it.

Gen Korean BBQ and Yakitori Bar

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

So this is the current KBBQ rage in the OC. Move over Cham Sut Gol, because you have some true competition. AYCE KBBQ, $20, best meats (in fact, 25 different kinds of high quality meat) I've had at an AYCE and great banchan.

So my biggest qualm with this place is its front of house. An estimated 30 minutes of wait ended up being about 1.5 hours of wait. Why? Oh, they just like to let their friends skip to the front of the line. Great service guys! Great! This was such a horrible way to start an evening and try out a new restaurant. Seriously guys? We were "next in line" for about an hour of the wait, as we saw many parties (with the same number of guests) go in before us. All Korean. Just saying.

Other than the front of house, which left such a sour note, the rest of the evening went much better. Our server, I believe his name was Ron, was great. He was enthusiastic about the place and he knew what he was talking about. His recommendations were great (but then again pretty much every cut was great).

You come in to the dining area and you notice that this is no ordinary and dingy KBBQ place. It definitely has a more modern vibe to it and it does have certain focuses on aesthetics. Banchan are placed in square dishes that make it easier to tetris around with your limited table area.

And hey... they have Shocktops on draft! +1!

So we start ordering.

The prime rib sirloin was one of their most popular and I can see why. It's well marbled and as long as you don't overcook it, it'll be beefy and tender. Overcook it and it's just an ordinary piece of sirloin. Don't overcook it.

Brisket is everybody's favorite. It's much better marbled than its competitor at Cham Sut Gol. It was really good. How I've missed good brisket...

Short ribs... always a favorite. But here, it's different. It really is tender and juicy. Other restaurants with short ribs sometimes are tough... but not here. Well marinated too.

Bulgogi? Pretty much standard. Except that it's much leaner. The marbling is great, but they don't have excessive fats like pretty much every KBBQ place.

Other favorites were the beef belly, beef tongue and a second order of the steak. Haha, but seriously, try out most of the 25 item menu. I didn't have a single thing that I did not enjoy.

Oh, and hopefully the front of house gets their act together.

Gen Korean BBQ and Yakitori Bar
714-505-1800
13741 Newport Ave
Tustin, CA 92780

Raku in Las Vegas, NV

2011-10-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite spots in Vegas has got to be Raku. It's located a couple miles off the strip in the Chinatown area of Vegas off Spring Mountain Road. You know it's a good place to eat if Vegas chefs typically come here after work to enjoy some good food that someone else prepares for them. What makes Raku so good? It's got to be the fine ingredients they start off with. Or maybe the grilled skewers that come out perfectly every time. Maybe it's the super clean and amazingly cool restroom with the aquarium (no joke). Whatever the reason, make reservations ahead of time (try to call a week in advance to get the time you want over weekends) and head over next time you're in Vegas.

The blue fin tuna was on special this time so of course I couldn't resist. At $25 for the plate which also includes a grounded up version that they made that was mixed with some herbs. Great value as this was probably one of the better sashimi slices I've had in my life. You don't dip it in soy sauce, but instead, they have some sea plant premarinated in soy sauce so you eat the sashimi with it. Such a great way to start off.

I have two favorites here. Yes, I am allowed to have two favorites. They are the pork cheek (pictured above) and the pork ear. The pork cheeks are so amazingly tender. They sear the cheeks to have a perfect crisp when you bite into it, but it's so succulent and rich when you get inside. Highly, highly recommended.

The pork ear is really good too. It has a wonderful bite from the sear on the skin, but also from the cartilage inside. You pour over some sake and chili mixture over it and it gives it a delicious spice. Very good, I could eat just this as the entire meal.

But I don't want to. Because everything is so good. This agedashi tofu is so amazing. It's juicy and soft with a wonderful pork broth that you eat with it. It has some salmon roe (unfortunately, I took the picture on the wrong side) that you can see behind the nori strips. So good. The greens are the perfect compliment to the tofu and the roe are little flavor balloons that explode when you bite into them. The red paste that you see is a spice paste. You mix it into your broth for a hint of spiciness.

Beef liver is not on everybody's list. But I love me some liver. Beef liver is horrible when overcooked, but this was definitely cooked perfectly. This beef liver has a very, very slight liver flavor to it (which in my opinion is a good thing). What it does have a lot of is a huge beef flavor and a very tender quality to it. With just a bit of the sauce that it is glazed in, I instantly fell in love.

Duck breast is one of those things that I cannot ever say no to. For me, the best duck breats must be cooked perfectly. It cannot be overcooked and it must have a good sear. Most places can accomplish this task easily. However, what usually defines the duck breast is the sauce that it comes with. The duck here had a soy balsamic reduction. It was wonderful and almost perfect. The soy just added to the umaminess of the duck. Balsamic vinegar and duck is almost a match made in heavy. The rich red meat of duck and balsamic vinegar can never go wrong. Pairing the two flavors creates total perfection.

My only qualm with this is that they took out the duck skin. I guess it makes it grill evenly since it's skewered and rotated frequently so that it doesn't burn. I was a little sad about this. Crispy duck skin is a gift that God gave me for being good in life.

Besides duck breast, foie gras or duck liver is my Achilles heel. I go for it probably 90% of the time I see it on the menu. And at Raku it did not disappoint. Nice and rich, just enough soy for saltiness and you get the full flavor profile of the foie gras. I would've taken a picture of the inside, but it was gone way too quickly. We couldn't wait.

We ended with a green tea creme brulee that we split. When I first saw it, I was disappointed, thinking that the ice cream was the "green tea" part. But I was wrong. I wish I got a picture of it, but the custard was also made of green tea. It was cool to see a green custard like that. This was also great. It was also interesting to see them able to brulee (burn in French) the creme brulee and stack up the ice cream. As you can see some of it melted. But it was actually good as it leaked down to the creme brulee adding a watery texture to the velvety smooth custard.

Along with a few other items and some alcohol, a table of four was served amazing food that they will never forget for just under $200 after tax and tip. Definitely must try this when you have the chance.

Raku
702-367-3511
5030 Spring Mountain Road Ste 2
Las Vegas, NV 89146

Lobster Rolls! An East Coast Favorite!

2011-10-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

First things first. I've never had an authentic lobster roll. Hell, I've never had any sort of lobster roll before. I know the buns are supposed to be buttered up and nice and toasty -- but mine aren't, and that's just how I wanted it. Regardless of its authenticity, it tasted really damned good. I honestly have no idea how this could have been any better. Rich, creamy and sweet lobster filling, my wonderful garlic spread, and a perfect Italian roll to go with it.

For something so good, it was so easy to make. Sure, I bought the rolls. But as far as the filling...? Easy, peasy. One thing to make sure is to get a live lobster. You might be tempted to get a lobster tail to make the job easier, but nothing compares to a fresh lobster.

I am not going to show you how to kill the lobster. I don't think it is appropriate to have a picture of it. But basically you need to have the point of your knife on top of the lobster where you see two lines intersect. Essentially just the end of the head and the middle of the body. Push down on the knife and cut the head in half. Don't be squeamish and just get it over with. Honestly, you can put it in live too. I heard lobsters do not have feeling so they won't be 'tortured'. Up to you.

My lobster was a good 5 lbs so I had to create my own steaming contraption.

It was a huge pot, with a large wok over it, and the pot's lid just to hold the wok down (so the pressure of the steam doesn't push the wok off. So hopefully you have something better than what I did.

So let's go over the ingredients you'll need:

-5 lb lobster

-1 tbsp garlic spread/aioli

-2 cups cabbage

-2 cups mayo

-Roll of your choice (the East Coast traditionally uses Pepperidge Farm Split Top Rolls)

-Butter (optional)

And that's it. That's it!

Directions:

1) Get your pot ready to steam the lobster. Whatever vessel you are using, make sure that it will not release all the steam while the lobster is steaming. Otherwise... your lobster will not steam.

2) Steam your lobster. Times vary depending on the size of the lobster. Also, the season matters. During summer I heard lobster shells are a lot softer... visit this site if you need more help.

3) When the lobster is cooked, remove it from the heat and let it cool. You're going to have fun getting the meat out of the lobster...

4) When it's cool enough to handle, use kitchen shears to help get out all the meat that you can. The steaming sort of softens the shell a bit, making it a bit easier to cut the shells at this point. If the pieces are large, shred them into bite sized pieces. For the small legs, don't discard them! Use a rolling pin, or like I did, use a wine bottle. Make sure the label is not paper or get rid of the label before rolling.

Do not discard the roe. Lobster roe is amazing. It's buttery and rich -- a mix of foie gras and pate. That's probably why I did not need butter. But really, it's great stuff.

5) Mix in the ingredients. Notice, I gave measurements, but it's really just preference. For a 5 lb lobster, I used about 2 cups of mayo and 2 cups of cabbage. Add more or less if you like. I liked the cabbage in my rolls just for the texture.

6) That's it. Put some spread on your roll, toast and butter them if you want (I did not) and add as much filling as you possibly can!

Enjoy!

Fried Calamari

2011-10-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

There's no way around. This is an ugly dish. Of course I could've garnished it with parsley and some lemon wedges, but frankly, this is not something pleasing to look at. Fried calamari. Something you go to restaurants and pay $8 for... yet something so cheap and easy to make at home! Never again... (okay, maybe just not as often.)

So basically calamari means squid. Where to get the squid and what forms you want is up to you. I got mine in a package at an Asian grocer... I purposely got the tentacle parts only... because that's my favorite. Some people prefer the top cap. It's up to you. It works great either way.

And there's no substitute for this. It's deep fryin' time! Yes, get your peanut oil and get it to 350F degrees. No, you're not baking this or anything else, it's called FRIED calamari! So get that oil (or deep fryer) out. If you're worried about health... well... press the back button now.

The ingredients list is simple:
1 lb calamari, cleaned and dry
2 cups flour
Lemon, parsley or whatever garnish you want to use ( I used cayenne)
Dip of choice (marinara, or in my case, garlic aioli)

To start, make sure you start preheating your oil to 350F degrees.

Okay, go ahead and clean, rinse, pat dry, then salt and pepper your calamari. You know the drill. Touch those squirmy squids.

In a ziploc bag or just a large bowl, mix that flour with the calamari. Get your hands in there, it's getting messy.

Very messy.

Toss them into the pot of oil or the deep fryer one by one. If you toss a huge clump in at a time... well... it'll turn out as a huge clump as well. So make sure you do it one by one.

Fry until your desired doneness. I prefer it to be just barely golden. It should only take a minute. Make sure you don't overcrowd your oil otherwise the oil temperature will drop... and you'll end up with soggy and overly greasy calamari.

Place on a cooling rack to let the excess oil off. Garnish with lemon, parsley, cayenne, or whatever you want, and serve with your favorite dip!

Vampires are going to stay away this Halloween, Garlic Aioli!

2011-10-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is just a simple recipe for a basic garlic aioli I made as a dip and spread. I'll show the recipes for those in the next few days. This recipe is so versatile. It can be used as a dip or as a spread. You can alter the recipe to make it to your liking -- some prefer more garlic, some prefer less. If you want it more watery, you can add more lemon juice or more oil... up to you! Garlic lovers, rejoice, this is for you!

This is a very easy recipe as there is no "cooking" involved. You just need:
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 garlic cloves, minced very finely (more or less to your liking)
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- 1 tsp yellow mustard or 2 tsp dijon mustard

Start by whisking the egg yolks, lemon juice and mustard. Don't worry about it too much because you'll be doing a lot more whisking later. This actually works really well in a blender or food processor. So if you have these, more power to you. I was too lazy to bust mine out for this small amount. But then I regretted it after because my arm was hurting like crazy... anyways...

Start mincing up the garlic. Smash it, mince it up and smear it across your cutting board. In this case, one of those white boards with the textures will be best as it'll help smash the garlic. If you're using a food processor/blender, just put the garlic in before the other ingredients and start pureeing it.

Add some kosher salt to the garlic as well to help it create a paste-like consistency on the garlic. Use the side of your knife and spread the garlic across the board continuously until you get your desired consistency. I couldn't show it as I was taking a picture, but hold both hands on the end of the blade, use it as you would a dough cutter.

I was too lazy to do anymore so I stopped. But a bit more would be nice. But it's not essential. Actually, it would've been nicer to do more. So do it. Sue me, I didn't have any sleep.

Now, start whisking in the olive oil. And yes, the picture on the left shows my three hands. I have three hands. Well, four if you include the camera hand. Yes, the secret is out -- I have four hands.

Anyway, start by whisking the oil slowly. Start with just half a teaspoon and fully incorporate that into the egg yolks. Start drizzling the oil in very slowly to start. If you do it too quickly, you'll break the emulsification, or the bonds between the egg yolk and the oil. So don't do it too quickly. Starting over will suck. As you get further and further along, you can start pouring it in more quickly because the emulsification is much stronger. Keep drizzling the oil in, until your desired consistency.

The 1 cup measurement I gave earlier is just an estimate and suggestion for consistency. Just like the garlic, you can choose as much or as little as you want -- it depends on your intentions for its use.

Again, if you have a blender or food processor... this would be a much easier task... trust me...

Anyway, that's pretty much it. The only other suggestion is to taste for seasoning and salt and pepper it to your desired taste. Let it stand in the fridge for at least half an hour for the flavors to incorporate together. I used this as a dip for calamari as well as a spread for my lobster roll. Both recipes will be shown in the next few days.

Until then...

The Food Pirates' Breakfast!

2011-10-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

Breakfast is one of the most underrated meals of the day. Cereal gets boring, soggy waffles blow and don't even get me started on Denny's. It's no wonder that breakfast is oftentimes overlooked. However, The Food Pirates' breakfast is different. Eggs on some nut and flax toast, and... steak!

After a night of insomnia, I waited eagerly for Trader Joe's to open. 3 am slowly hit 5 am and even more slowly hit 7:50. I ran to my car and headed over to TJ's. I had no idea what I wanted to make, but I knew I needed some eggs. I then found the whole grain bread, then I looked for some sausage, but this ribeye steak was just screaming out for me.

This really took no time at all. I preheated the cast iron griddle and seasoned the steak with salt and pepper, then coating it with some canola oil.

I waited about 10 minutes for the griddle to preheat and lightly sprayed it and put the steak right above it. The sizzle is the best sound I can hear when I wake up. And the smell. Damn. Best smell after the coffee. I heated the steak for about 2-3 minutes per side (it was a pretty thin steak) for a medium rare with a perfect sear.

Popped some eggs over where the steak was and made some over easy eggs. Toasted the bread with some butter. Perfect. And all on a single griddle.

Let the steak rest. As impossible as it sounds. You must.

Yes... that is a yolk-less egg. I needed it for the garlic aioli that will be posted soon!

Carve it up and enjoy!

DX Peruvian in Santa Ana, CA

2011-09-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the only thing people think about when they hear of Peruvian food is ceviche. I guess it makes sense, it really is their most popular dish here in America. But Peruvian really is a lot more than that. DX Peruvian is able to push their other foods and make their diners appreciate the rest of the Peruvian culinary goodness. Chicken, fillet and fries, are spiced up and served in delicious fashion at DX Peruvian.

The first time I went to DX, I fell in love with their ceviche. But this time, when I came with my camera, I wanted to try the rest of their menu and neglected to get the ceviche. Oh well. We arrived at 1 pm, on a Sunday afternoon and it was surprisingly empty. Only a couple other tables were filled. I guess it's more of a lunch spot for the businesses nearby on Monday through Fridays. We were promptly seated and I was already salivating thinking of their bread with the huacatay sauce.

I fell in love with it the first time I had it, and I was still in love with it this time around. For those of you who don't know, huacatay sauce is made of huacatay (a spice native to Peru), peppers and oil. Fantastic stuff. It almost surpasses chimichurri as my favorite South American sauce.

We decided to try out the Peruvian beverages that they offered here. I tried the maracuya -- a purple corn drink sweetened with some cinnamon. My dining partners tried out the chicha morada, or passion fruit juice. The purple corn drink was a bit thicker and heavier -- as well as sweeter than the passion fruit drink. You'd definitely want to know what to expect, had I not asked about the drink, I probably would've been dissatisfied with it. But I really enjoyed it. The passion fruit drink was lighter and tasted more of a traditional juice. It was sweet and tangy from the passion fruit. I preferred my drink, but they preferred theirs. They were both good though.

As far as appetizers go, we ordered the empenadas and the Chicharron de chancho -- or deep fried pork.

The empenadas were a bit on the dry side and the breading didn't have the texture that I liked. It was almost hard and not flaky at all. It comes with a buttery-garlic sauce that went better with the deep fried pork than the empenadas themselves. The deep fried pork was better. It was topped with marinaded onions with some yucca and sweet potato on the side. It was okay. A bit dry for me but it went great butter sauce that comes with the empenadas.

The pork was also served with deep fried yucca which I loved and some deep fried sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes were ordinary, but I wish I was able to get an order of just the yucca. So good.

Three of us were already pretty full from the bread and appetizers, but our entrees came in.

The fillet with fries were really good. Though the fillet didn't get the sear that I would've attempted to get, it was still very tender and very flavorful. I'm assuming the fillet was marinaded -- partially why it didn't sear.

Potatoes are a very important crop in Peru and they make their fries very well. Even though the fries in this dish lots its crispiness to the juices of the dish, it was still very tasty. In fact, the fries absorbed a lot of these flavors creating a vessel of goodness.

On my half chicken dish (shown on the top of the page), the fries came standard. These fries were wonderfully crispy and so good. They gave us a ketchup bottle but no need. They had a chili sauce with this. It's that yellow thing that looks like mustard (and we thought it was mustard until we asked them.) That sauce was amazing not only with the fries, but with the chicken as well. The chicken wasn't as moist as I'd like. I'm guessing they didn't brine it. Sad, but the chili sauce really made up for it.

Though I didn't feel that DX Peruvian had impressed me with their technical cooking skills, the flavors of Peru were well displayed here. The sauces really impressed me and truly were able to support the moderate technical skills and bring the food to something worth talking about.

Give it a try if you want some good Peruvian food. And don't forget the ceviche.

DX Peruvian
3930 S. Bristol St #108
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714) 424-0014

Pho! Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup!

2011-09-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly, the most popular Vietnamese food is pho. And why not? Beefy and hearty, great on a cold winter night and somehow still amazing in the blistering summer afternoon... If there is one thing I can have for the rest of my life, the only thing that comes to mind is pho. It might be my Vietnamese bias, but hey, it's true. If you ask me what the Vietnamese's best gift to the world, it would be pho. That's how much I love my bowl of pho.

Now, the problem with pho is that it takes quite a bit of time to make. You'll need to char some aromatics and you'll need to let the broth slowly simmer for hours. You're going to have to excuse the lack of pictures in this post as it probably exceeded 100 degrees in the kitchen and I was pretty damn lazy to take the pictures. I did take them, but they turned out horribly. And it was really hot.

Depending on where you go, you'll find different beef bones used for the broth. I personally prefer to use oxtail. Oxtail gives off a more gelatinous and thicker broth. I also like to pick at the bones after eating my pho. Really, I do. It gives me something to do while the other diners are still eating because I've devoured my bowl so quickly. That way, I don't look like a fatty. Or more of one. Alternatives to flavor the broth include beef marrow, or my mom's secret (best bang for the buck with amazing meat to go with it) is using a seven blade cut.

As for the tai meat, or the rare steak meat, round eye is most commonly used. It's a very lean cut and must be cut very thin or it will be very chewy and hard to eat. I like to use tenderloin. You'll find tenderloin at Vietnamese stores for just a bit more than round eye -- but I like it so much better. You can also use flank steaks as well. Just make sure you cut it thin. To get it thin, the trick is to either get your butcher to slice it very thin for you (okay, this isn't really a "trick"), or freeze the meat for about 15-20 minutes to get it a bit more solid so you can more easily slice it thin at home. Make sure you don't forget and come out with a block of ice. That would realllllly suck.

I heard that the reason beef tenderloin is so much cheaper at Vietnamese stores (not sure if this story is true) is because the Vietnamese stores get the bad tenderloin cuts. Either from older cows or milk cows or something. Like I said, that could be total BS. Whatever, it works. ANYWAY... on to the recipe...

Ingredients for the soup:

7 quarts water
3 lbs ox tail (or whatever you choose to use... if you use seven blade, add in closer to 4 or even 5 lbs)
1/2 lb - 1 lb beef tenderloin, sliced very, very thin (round eye works as well)
1 package beef meat balls, found in the frozen section of your Asian markets
1 package pho noodles (prepared as instructed on package)
1 large onion, cut in half and grilled/charred over an open fire
2-3" knob of ginger, also cut in half lengthwise and grilled over an open fire
6-8 star anises (anise? anises-es? Plurality sucks)
1 stick Vietnamese cinnamon (regular grocery store cinnamon works in a pinch)
12 cloves
1/2 tbs coriander seeds
3-4 tbs fish sauce (you can adjust seasoning towards the end)

For garnish:

Bean Sprouts
Green onions sliced thin
Onions dipped in vinegar, also sliced very thin
Limes
Thai Basil
Hoisin Sauce
Siracha Sauce

Directions:

(Optional) 1) This step is optional and is intended to remove impurities and give you a cleaner looking broth. It's definitely recommended if you use bone marrow bones as this will clean the grits from the bones. Throw your oxtail (or whatever cut you're using to flavor the broth) into the pot and fill up plenty of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and discard water by pouring contents of the pot into a colander.

2) In the same pot, pour in 7 quarts of water (do not fill more than 3/4 of the way, as you'll be adding a lot more ingredients) and put your oxtail back in. Bring to a boil.

3) While water is heating up char your onions and ginger over an open flame. If you do not have a gas stove, use the grill if possible. If that's not possible either, then use a dry pan. I char both sides but I don't know if that's essential. One side should be fine. Be careful not to burn the onions and ginger. Oh yeah, it's nice if you don't burn your kitchen down either. Throw these in the beef pot.

4) In a dry pan, on medium low heat, also toast the cinnamon, star anise, cloves and coriander seeds. Do not add oil. And do not burn as it will give off a bitter flavor and ruin your broth. Stir frequently so the spices do not burn. Place these contents into a mesh ball or cheese cloth. Throw these in the pot when ready.

5) Add fish sauce to the pot.

6) Let the pot gently simmer for 6-8 hours and low heat. To remove excess fat you can let the pot cool and refrigerate overnight. I can never wait, so I bring to a heavy boil and the trick is the fat will all congregate together in the middle. Quickly remove the fat with a ladle or it will emulsify into the broth (which isn't totally a bad thing...) Also, remove the spices, onion and ginger while you're at it. If you used seven blade, this is a good time to slice the meat. The meat will be very, very tender.

7) When you're ready to eat, throw in the beef meatballs. Bring the pot to a boil as you want this pot HOT! Taste the pot and add more fish sauce if necessary. Put noodles into the bowl and ladle soup over it. Spoon in a few meat balls and put the sliced tenderloin over. Garnish with the optional garnishes mentioned above... and enjoy!

There you have it. Homemade pho. Way better than you'll find in most restaurants, and if you didn't notice -- NO MSG! You can customize this how you want it. I gave you lots of options for meats you can use -- feel free to be creative on what you add to the pho broth as well. You'll frequently find tripe, tendon and brisket when you go to Vietnamese restaurants. These ingredients are also simmered with the broth for a long period of time to get very tender. Be shy with the siracha or add tons of spice. Add sliced jalapenos if you wish. If you want a heavier broth, use less water (or use more bones).

It's totally up to you.

Ohshima Japanese Cuisine in Orange, CA

2011-08-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's rare for me to get an opportunity to go to a nice and authentic Japanese restaurant. Sure, I go to those yakitori places that specialize in grilled meats like Raku in Vegas or Musha in Torrance, but Ohshima is different from those places. Its specialty is more of the quality of their ingredients. Basic techniques are perfected and new flavor profiles test your palates. Oh Ohshima, I'm so glad I was able to try you out.

As we parked and saw a tiny establishment, we had no idea what to expect. Of course, Yelp raved about it and my friend did as well, so I was still hyped. But if you never heard about it, you would've gladly drove on by to look for a restaurant with flashier lights on the outside. No... Ohshima needs none of that. Word of mouth drives its business and reservations are almost required to get a table.

We were only able to get reservations at a table and not the bar unfortunately. That's okay by me, as our servers did a great job of helping us. They recommended the omakase special -- we chose the 8 piece for $24 per person. First and foremost, let me apologize for the pictures. It's a very dim lit place and I was not going to use my flash and disturb other customers.

Well, the sushi was great. Thick, tender, sweet pieces of fish over just the right amount of rice. Seasoned perfectly well so please, do not ask for more soy sauce! It's offensive to the chef and it's already seasoned perfectly... at least try it out! If it is not seasoned to your liking, they will gladly give you more soy sauce though.

Different varieties of fish including scallops and squid... so delicious. My favorite? Probably the blue fin tuna or the cherry salmon. Or the yellowtail. Dammit, I can't decide.

Of course, the sushi isn't the only thing Ohshima is known for. There was a menu full of things we wanted to try, but our stomachs can only hold so much food.

Braised beef cheeks were the first thing we wanted to try. Yes, I'm starting heavy. But I didn't care, it sounded too good. Served with a potato salad, two potato cakes, and a small salad, the beef checks were amazing. Succulent and tender, the salad was able to bite through the richness and the potato cakes added an extra crunchy bite to lessen the amazing richness. Beautifully done and well executed.

Agedashi tofu is something that I always love to see in a Japanese restaurant. Here, it was wonderful. Texture is great and the tofu itself is amazing. The sauce accompanying the tofu was good too. Though not the best I've had, it's definitely up there.

This mess was their marinated uni. This was incredible. It was hyped by my friend but I was still overly impressed. I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but if you're a fan of uni, you'll be spoiled by this! Definitely a must have.

The jellyfish salad was also amazing. Great texture and the perfect amount of sweetness and acidity from the vinegar to balance it out.

Fish collar is one of my favorites of Japanese cuisine. Fatty with crisp skin -- that's the good life right there. And hey, fish fat is good for you! So I had to try some collar. My friend recommended the black cod collar, though it was good, I think I would've preferred to stick with yellowtail or salmon collar. The skin doesn't crisp up as well as salmon collar so I was a bit sad. But it was still amazing, the meat was still very moist and sweet.

Then there's the miso duck with forbidden rice. For those of you who don't know, forbidden rice is just a strain of jasmine black rice. Its texture is harder than standard white rice and it is very fragrant. Wasn't my favorite thing, but I can see the benefits of having the forbidden rice over standard white or even brown rice. But then again, I felt the rice's texture and even flavor kinda put the duck on the backseat. I think they felt that regular rice would be too simple, I did feel they tried too hard on this dish. Maybe it's just me. Yes, standard miso duck is very common -- but it's probably common for a reason! Oh well, I didn't have to eat the rice.

Without the rice, the duck was bliss. I've always been a huge fan of duck and this was no different. Cooked to a perfect medium, it had some miso glaze and then there were berries and apples to cut into the richness of the duck.

For dessert, instead of the typical mochi green tea ice cream that we're accustomed to, we decided to go for something new. After all, how many more chances will I get to come here right? We elected for the shiratama zenzai, or a red bean dessert. It was described as a more 'traditional' dessert for us. So I'm not going to lie, even with the great food we had before, I was still worried it was going to be disgusting. It wasn't. It was just sweet enough to be considered a dessert and it felt healthy and actually kind of light. I felt it was very similar to a red bean dessert my mom used to make for me as a kid... so it was also a bit nostalgic.

Overall a great experience. Water cups were always filled up, waitresses were very nice and if you love real Japanese food (no, I'm not talking about your California roll with crap stuffed with it and barely edible and thinly sliced raw fish over it), then you'll love Ohshima. Authentic, delicious, and memorable. For a party of two, after tax and tip, it came out to be about $140, with no alcohol. For a night to remember with that special someone, check Ohshima out.

Ohshima Japanese Cuisine
1956 N Tustin St
Orange, CA 92865
(714) 998-0098

Okra and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya

2011-08-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

With summer drawing to an end, the season for harvesting okra will be ending as well. So I decided to make something with okra to commemorate another awesome year for okra. I picked up a bunch of okra from a local Farmer's Market (the best place to get okra), and also picked up some andouille sausage from Neto's in Santa Clara.

Stuff I used:

16 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1/2 a can of chicken
1 Andouille sausage
2 tablespoons Cajun/Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 lbs okra, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stems of celery, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 Bay leaves
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Japanese brown rice, washed
3 cups chicken stock

Prep work:
Poach the sausage for 20-25 mins.
Combine chicken and shrimp with a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning.

Over high heat, combine the oil, garlic, okra, onion, green pepper, and celery, saute for about 5 mins. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, rest of the Cajun seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce. I added lots of bay leaves. Lower the heat to about medium and add the stock and rice. That's one of the key ingredients which gives the Louisiana or Cajun aroma. To make it spicier, add additional cayenne. Let all ingredients simmer for another 10 mins.

While cooking the rice, I prepared the poached sausage to be added with the shrimp and chicken concoction. As you can see, the inside is still raw. The sausage will fully cook when added into the base jambalaya. Once the rice is done cooking, after about 15 mins of simmering, add the shrimp, chicken, and sausage into the base jambalaya. Simmer for about 10 more mins to cook the sausage. Make sure to keep an eye on it because the liquid will start to evaporate. Once done, remove from heat, plate, and serve.

This is was the second time making jambalaya. If I remember correctly, I only added 2 bay leaves. This time I added 5, and man did it make a huge difference. One thing I wasn't expecting was the amount of stirring I had to do at the end. If you've ever made risotto, this was the same thing. I made the mistake of turning away for a couple minutes and came back to hard rice on the bottom of the pot. I just simply stirred and re-hydrated the rice. Also, this recipe has more than the normal amount of vegetables. Been on a diet lately, so I've been trying to cutback on the carbs and fatty cooking. :Last thing I wanted to mention is that I didn't add any additional salt, besides what was in the seasoning. Thanks to the okra and sausage, the saltiness was just right. If I were to make this again, I'd have served it with fried okra, mmm.......