seeconrun

sloppy joe

2011-11-15T14:32:00.001-08:00

Oh man, this is probably one of favorite burgers. Homemade veggie chili (major chunks of tomatoes and earthy beans), shredded pepperjack cheese and some cilantro in between two wheaty buns. Sooo good!

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Poof

2011-11-02T22:27:00.001-07:00

These flat breads aren't so flat. They each have a cute little puff in them making for a pillowy crisp.

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apple pie cookies!

2011-10-24T20:07:00.001-07:00

I don't like apples much although apple juice I love. My mom gave me a bunch of apples and I didn't want to eat them raw. And so came apple pie cookies. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe.

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pasta! pasta!

2011-10-20T23:00:00.001-07:00

Wide eggy noodles with crushed red pepper on olive oil and Parmesan cheese. So simple and so good. A side of crisp greens with sweet cherry tomatoes and homemade croutons. Dinner in summery San Francisco served,

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Carbs galore

2011-10-19T22:24:00.001-07:00

My brother Timmy got me the Tartine bread book for my birthday, I was so enthused, and then I read about the process, and felt so overwhelmed. But B and I attempted, made our starter, fed it a lot, forgot about it almost as much and finally went through the long haul. I made a big boo boo by accidentally putting in the wheat flour for the amount of white, which is way too much. That mixed with some lax 'resting' period and our loaf came out really dense.

A month or so later B takes another stab, follows the instructions to a T and voila. Two heavenly loaves of goodness. The best thing was that he woke up super early to bake them in the oven after long day and night of various resting and bench periods. Not to mention, lots of kneading in between. Nothing's better than warm fresh bread out of the oven. One's got olives and lemon zest. B never ceases to amaze me. Later for dinner I made a winter squash soup with lots of roasted veggies. It was the perfect comfort accompaniment.

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"hee-bar-ito" the famous, Jibarito

2011-10-18T21:35:00.001-07:00

Hello. Meet Jibarito. Pronounced "he bar ito." It's a Puerto Rican-Chicagoan fusion, and the most tantalizing sandwich on this planet.

With our spin on it-- it's smashed and twice fried plantains as the "bread" and in between, a layer of refried beans, sliced avocados, panko-crusted tofu cutlet, and chunky slices of tomatoes. A dollop of sour cream and it's golden. Nom nom nom.

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summertime in san francisco

2011-10-13T22:21:00.001-07:00

The weather this past week has been incredible. Sunny blue skies throughout the city and warm, cool breeze throughout the night. Perfect for sangria drinking and long walks afterwards. This photo is a tribute to NYC and all the sangria B and I drank there...in the hot, hot heat.

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a little pizzaz

2011-10-12T09:05:00.001-07:00

While I was ecstatic about our CSA box, B totally forgot and brought home the whole she-bang of ingredients to make pizza. I couldn't protest (as I do love the combo of dough, mozzarella cheese and lots of tomato sauce!) Oh and mushrooms and green bell peppers, of course..they're my favorite pizza toppings!

Goat Hill is much to be thanked for their take-home dough, which we used for our pizzas and cesar salad croutons. The salad is super simple and super delicious. Chopped red leaf romaine lettuce, a squeeze of half a lemon, drizzle of your finest olive oil and lots of shaved parmesan cheese. I picked up a $5 small block of Capricious, an artisan goat's milk cheese that looks and is used similar to a parmesan from the farmers market. While I almost regretted the purchase at the time (oh not to mention, the cheesemonger gave it to me at a discounted price because the market was about to close), I'm impressed that it's lasted so long and has complimented so many dishes. Oh, and because B brought home a basket of figs, I had to chop those in bits for a little sweet bite of surprise. In goes the lightly fried nuggets of sourdough, and it's the perfect balance to your Tuesday dinner.

And so without further adieu, our deliciousness.

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Cookie craze

2011-10-11T22:53:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow's my fist staff meeting at work. To celebrate - I made some blueberry chocolate cookies! I just had a bite and was a bit disappointed. It was too late in the night before I realized I was out of baking powder so I axed the idea of cupcakes and scrounged around through recipes until I came across one for baking powder-free chocolate cookies. Of course, that's not what they were called.

My measurements are always off, and something's always off as a result. For example, these cookies are way too sugary and a little undercooked. I think that's why I prefer cooking. No precise measurements are required whatsoever.

But here they are nonetheless.

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Boxed up

2011-10-11T22:34:00.001-07:00

MY CSA box came in today! For the longest time I didn't know what CSA stood for except that it sounded like something good. So just in case you're wondering ( because I just looked t up), CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSA in short is about real people like you and me supporting real farmers who grow our foods. You pay for what you get and you're supporting people who make a living off their land as opposed to large corporations and manufacturers that genetically mass modify everything at a discounted race. That's not to say I'm a purist--far from it. But when I can, like in this instance, purchase a CSA box (at a discounted price thanks to one of those Groupon coupons!) I say, why not?

It was a mystery as to what I'd get in the box because the same fruits and veggies don't grow year-round. I had my predictions of kale, but not of white beats and funny looking squash. It stirs up my creative cooking juices!

Alright time to get cooking..

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Blogger is back w/ Vietnamese crepe- banh xeo!

2011-10-09T20:50:00.001-07:00

I keep saying I want to get back to blogging, but so many things have been holding me back. Laziness. Lack of inspiration. New transitions. Who reads this anyway? Enough with the excuses. I'm back and that's all I gotta say about that.

Tonight B and I brought a little of Vietnam and my mom's specialty to our kitchen with one of my favorite dishes- banh xeo (which sounds like bun say-o). It's a savory Vietnamese crepe made with a turmeric flour mixture, which you can pick up at any Asian grocer. All you have to do is add one can of coconut milk, that amount and a half of water and chopped green onions. I'm going to do a little more investigation into the flour mixture bc it seems simple enough to make at home.

The first thing you do is stir fry some onions, pork and shrimp. I substituted the latter with tofu and broccoli, giving it a little California flair. B put leftover chicken in his. That's the nice thing about banh xeo. You can stuff it with whatever you like or have in the fridge! Then pour a ladle of the crepe batter and make sure it's spread evenly into a thin layer. Ass the bean sprouts and put the lid on to steam for a minute. Remove the lid and fry until the edges brown, making sure your crepe has a nice crispy texture. Flip half of the crepe on top and serve hot. Wrap chunks of that goodness in fresh red leaf lettuce with cilantro, mint and sliced carrots. Dip in mom's homemade nuoc mam (fish sauce) and mmmm. It's as if we never left Vietnam.

Here are some photos of the process. Enjoy!

Flour, turmeric mixture with coconut milk, water and green onions

Chopping up veggies

first step on the pan- fry onions, tofu and broccoli

The finished product

B's banh xeo with chicken and all the trimmings!

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nay nay muffins!

2011-09-25T14:31:00.001-07:00

days like these i wish i was home with my little sister, britt. she bakes the most decadent desserts. check these puppies out-- whole wheat banana muffins sweetened with agave.

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to make up for the absence

2011-07-21T14:03:00.001-07:00

It's been so long since I've updated. Lots of exciting stuff going on!

And here I hope to rei-nspire you with this:

B and I took our first big international trip together and ventured off to Vietnam. We had a blast walking miles and getting lost, eating bowls of brothy, piping hot pho in the sweltering heat. The Vietnamese like to eat their hot foods in hot weather it seems. We scootered around towns and crossed the chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh ALIVE. Wheh. We went snorkeling in Nha Trang islands and sled down the white sand dunes in Mui Ne. One night our hotel room flooded due to an unexpected storm. Another we stayed in and read novels into the wee hours. The best part was just being with B. The two of us in a whole new environment taking it all in together.

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

http://seeconrun.posterous.com

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In VIETNAM

2011-06-13T17:51:00.001-07:00

seeconrun is on vacation!

I'm writing from Ha Noi, probably my favorite city in Vietnam. It's so
much more calm compared to the roaring madness of Ho Chi Minh and
Hanoi, although I enjoyed both those cities very much. There are
streets designated for pedestrians and primitive vehicles as they call
it. Yay for not having to worry about being run over, which is also a
thrill of roaming Vietnam. Each is very unique and in this country,
everything is so colorful and full of life with motorbikes and cars
coming in every direction. Not to mention women with carts of fresh
fruits and noodle soups. It's a food lover's destination. I've eaten
lots of dishes that remind me of my ma's cooking and the restaurants
in good ol' SGV-- ban xeo (this fried crepe full of bean sprouts and
other veggies), ban can (more of a steamed rice cake filled with lots
of meat..), I ate mine with fried yams. Yay for lots of fried foods.
Oh, and pho! Yum, yum pho. Cha ca (grilled fish) ..sooo good, and you
add rice noodles to it with fresh mint and stir fried greens and
peanuts and fish sauce. My favorite is ban cuon (I think that's the
spelling; I've left out all the accents and these Vietnamese
spellings, forgive me)..It's a Chinese-Vietnamese noodle dish. B and I
went to Cholon--the Chinatown in Vietnam, and in the morning got two
hearty bowls of ban cuon--rice noodle with a savory broth, served with
ground meat, I think and chopped green onions). It's the best..sitting
on the cramped side of the streets on plastic bright colored short
stools eating hot noodle soups in sweaty hot, humid weather while loud
honking motorbikes and cars vroom by. It's madness I tell ya, but oh,
so exciting!

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pizza shmeeza

2011-05-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

I love pizza. Melted cheese, sweet tomato sauce, flaky crust. What more could you want? This time I experimented with leftover dough I had from the cheese rolls I made here. With farmers cheese in the dough, these were extra cheesy. I piled on top of that all that I had in the kitchen--thick slices of tomatoes, fresh basil, and lots and lots of mozzarella Yum Yum!

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go bananas

2011-05-19T15:18:00.001-07:00

Bread is so beautiful to make. Here's a tiny loaf of banana bread perfectly complimented with a strawberry orange smoothie.

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what happens when you mix lemon, dulce de leche and lots of coconut flakes..

2011-05-13T10:51:00.001-07:00

alfajores!!

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alfajores

2011-05-05T22:17:00.001-07:00

Shani came over and we made these delicate, oh so scrumptious Argentinian cookies called alfajores. She got the recipe from her grandmother, who always keeps them in stock at her house in Israel. Here's our final product. Aren't they beautiful?

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cheese and jam rolls with other goodies

2011-05-04T13:43:00.001-07:00

I found this crescent jam and cheese cookies recipe on smitten kitchen, saved it in my inbox, and after months of waiting patiently (not really), I finally put it to good use!

I love the combination of sweet and salty. And anything involving cheese. The interesting tid bit is that the (farmers) cheese is in the dough.

My crescents are stuffed with apricot jam, petso and jack and a good amount with chocolate chips.

Enjoy the making-of photos!

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nothing a 'shroom burger can't cure

2011-05-04T13:14:00.001-07:00

B picked up some portobello mushrooms at the market, and I said "Oh, let's make portobello burgers."

And so we did.

We grilled big portobello mushrooms (well, not really grill because we used a frying pan but you get the picture). B was sneaky and took out some of the brioche insides and put in slices of jack cheese before they went to melt and toast in the oven. We topped the shrooms with caramelized onions and sauteed swiss chard. Added slices of heirloom tomatoes and a side of baked potato rosemary fries. Some siracha aioli to dip in. And boy, was it yuuuumm.

Being sick is no fun, but staying in and cooking for dinner is!

letter from varese, italia

2011-04-28T18:01:00.001-07:00

I just got the email that made my day. My dearest friend Natalie and her beau, Nate, are traveling around Europe for six months, and I just got an update on how they've been doing. Their farm stories, talk of beautiful sights and all that food they're eating just makes me hungry and wanting to read more! Thought I'd share with you as an inspiration to go somewhere, Granada, Sardinia, anywhere!

Dear family and friends!

Sorry this email is getting to you several weeks late.

Here is an update on what we have been doing in the past two months or so:

Nate and I started our travels in in Pollensa, Mallorca where we WWOOF-ed ( Willing Workers on Organic Farms) . The farm, the little quaint town of Pollensa were absolutely beautiful!! The farm produces organic olive oil (which was delicious!) using a very old and impressive pressing system (which I have pictures of.) The farm is owned by am American family living in Washington, D.C. and we worked alongside the ground-keeper, a local Mallorquin. We were given 50 Euro a week per person to buy food, and we had our own separate apartment in the house. Nate and I enjoyed cooking together every night, using the olive oil from the press. On the weekends, we walked to the cute town, especially enjoying the open air markets on Sunday.

After that we spent two days in Barcelona and Nathan was completely blown away by La Sagrada Familia, which we were able to see the interior of. We of course also loved Park Guell and the other architectural gems in the city.

Then it was off to Granada, Spain! I have been wanting to go to Granada ever since I saw a poster of the Alhambra. We worked on an organic goat-raising and cheese-making farm about 30 km away from the city. Most of our work involved taking care of the goats, which I really enjoyed! Goats are pretty darn cute! (Especially, the little baby goats who dance around) We herded them and make sure that they grazed on the pasture. The farm reminded me of the hippy coops I lived in in Berkeley. At the house were other volunteers from Italy, Germany and Spain. We ate fresh and cured goat cheese pretty much every day (as well as milk and amazing yogurt!) YUMMMMM. Although the weather was COLD COLD COLD, the beautiful landscapes, cute goats, delicious cheese, and hilarious hippy farm owner (Rafael) made it definitely worth it!!!

Although we loved the goat farm, it was nice to reconnected with civilzation in the city of Granada. The town reminds me of UC Berkeley in the fact that many of the residents are students, and there is definitely a bohemian vibe to the place- although Berkeley cannot lay claim to having the Alhambra right smack in the middle. Nathan, a German volunteer at the farm and I stayed at a lovely guest house near the Mirador San Nicolas, which overlooks the Alhambra and the beautiful snow-covered mountains. Emily would also love Granada, because with the purchase of one or two drinks, you get UNLIMITED TAPAS!!! (Sorry if this whole email is about FOOD, haha)

From there was the city of SEVILLA. Nathan was pretty blown away by the city- it was incredibly beautiful. The cathedral housing the remains of Christopher Columbus and the Plaza de Espana (where witch-burnings took place during the Inquisition) were definite highlights. Also the bloom of orange trees everywhere in the city was an amazing thing.

From Sevilla we fly to Sardinia, Italy. Highlights there include the beautiful beach and archeological sties at Nora, an ancient Phonencian and then Roman city (outside of the capital) and staying in a quaint town called Bosa near Alghero in the north.

Then it was off to ROMA where Emily's friend PAOLA was incredibly hospitable!!! We stayed at her apartment a good 5 or 6 nights! I absolutely loved Rome and had a hard time leaving. Nathan and I did not know how to express our gratitude to Paola and her roommate (because we don't really know what they like), so we cooked them a Mexican dinner with hand-made torillas and an assortment of fresh salsas. They really enjoyed it!!

Then it was off to an herb-distillation farm (Podere Santa Bianca) in Pomerance in the province of Pisa, which of course is in beautiful Tuscany. The farm was established only a few years ago by Claudio Gaiaschi, who was a successful photograher in Milan but wanted a change of pace in life and renovated an abandoned farm. They grow lavender, rosemary, thyme and (not sure what it is called in english, but they it "CREE-ZOH"). Needless to say, it was the best smelling farm yet! We ate dinner with Claudio and his wife every night and Nathan offered to cook Mexican food one night. I was incredibly anxious at the thought of cooking for TUSCANS (Claudio's partner was born and raised in Tuscany), seeing that they are incredibly proud of their food culture. They then invited two other foodie Tuscan friends to the dinner. Needless to say I was nervous about the meal, but we made fresh corn and flour tortillas, a variety of salsa, chicken fajitas, and rice. THEY LOVED IT!!! They ate everything--- and we made a lot. What a relief.

Then we spent one night in PISA, took funny pictures in front of the Leaning Tower and then spent about three nights in the cute little town of LUCCA, in Tuscany. We had a great time biking around the city, and we even set up a vegetable garden for the young woman we stayed with.

From there we spent three nights in FLORENCE, which was expensive but definitely a treat. We slept in a hostel near Piazzale Michaelangiolo, which over looks the city- it was the best view in town. The obvious highlights were the Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery, which we wasily spent 4.5 hours in. I loved the Botticelli's and Caravaggio's.

Then it was off to Amedeo's place in Varese. We have had a nice week here and are about to take off to Torino, again to hang out with Paola and her family.

All in all, our experience thus far has been nothing short of amazing. We are constantly meeting great people, eating good food and learning new things (like the best way to herd goats, haha).

Oh, and par for par, every city we have been in is full of Senegalese street vendors. The majority of them get a little freaked out when a tall white guy from the States starts speaking to them in their language.

Anyhoo, sorry this is getting to you so late. I really miss all of you!!! Big hugs and Kisses,

Nat & Nate

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stylin' sammiches

2011-04-23T23:37:00.001-07:00

Britt's my sixteen year-old sister and she's got a style for plating. My brother sent me this photo of a sandwich she made for him. I think it's beautiful. The crisscross of the carrots and yep, that's a dollop of hummus. Super cute and classy. I'd like to think I had some influence ;)

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chocolate fro-yo and visits from a lil sis

2011-04-07T14:57:00.001-07:00

last weekend, britt came to visit. she's the youngest of six and my lil sis. here we are with b digging into the chocolate-vanilla fro-yo at at zero zero served with ricotta donuts. sooo yum!

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ODC: Force at Forty

2011-03-30T11:23:00.001-07:00

In another world, I would be a dancer. Says Betty and myself. Along with our significant others, we caught the last performance of ODC's Force at Forty. Ah, it was beautiful and so much fun. I was a little upset at the costuming in the first two sets and just blown away by the muscles these dancers possessed. For lack of a better word and as it was his first time attending a modern dance performance, B said it was interesting. I'd say the second set was my favorite. A mix of fun and flirty and French nouveau. Makes me want to dance. The third set was totally cool and impressive. All the female dancers dressed the naked male dancers into these really beautifully crafted dresses made of sheath fabric and tape.

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blueberries shmooberries

2011-03-16T11:50:00.001-07:00

I believe highly in the superfood power of blueberries. Sweet and a tad tart, and oh so sexy blue became the inspiration for these blueberry muffins. I like sweets in cute, bite-sized morsels that way I can eat lots without little guilt. Thanks to smitten kitchen for the recipe.

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