Tonight's Dinner: September 15, 2014

Tonight’s dinner is one of those that can’t really be replicated.  I was trying to use up all of our sauces from the Spanish inspired dinner that we made for my family.  Because the ingredients cross with a lot of Italian dishes, I thought it was a good idea to make a pasta sauce.  Normally, I would make a soup or stew to clean leftovers out of the fridge.  Pasta sauce works just as well.  I used the left over sauce from the mussels, chimichurri, tomato bread sauce, chorizo, and white wine.  I got so many dishes out of our fridge to make space for our upcoming First Star Capital BBQ that we’re hosting on Sunday. It’s like when you empty your fridge in preparation for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  You just need space and will make anything to get rid of what’s in there.  So basically, I won’t be able to make it again unless I make all those sauces just for the pasta. Not happening.  It’s a bummer because it was really good.  

Tonight's Dinner: September 14, 2014

Tonight’s dinner was a special one.  My family and the Fongs piled up in the car to go to Koi Palace to celebrate my Grandma’s 90^th birthday.  It was a pretty big affair with about 80 people in attendance.  One of the guests said that she had read about this restaurant being one of the top ten Chinese restaurants in the nation.  The crowds make me believe it, but the service was a little lacking.  In the beginning of the night they were on top of everything, but then I think that they just got in over their heads.  We were there early since it was on a Sunday, but as the rest of the restaurant started to fill up, the kitchen was having a hard time putting out the food in a timely manner.  By the end of the night, people started leaving because they thought dinner was over and then the servers came out with bowls of longevity noodles.  The dessert took even longer.  They also shoved us in a tiny back room that I’m sure was a fire hazard.  The dinner, however was a success.  My Grandma looked very happy and we can’t wait to celebrate her 100^th birthday.

The Fongs and I had actually had a similar suckling pig banquet dinner from the Dublin location Koi Palace.  In that post I stated how the flavors were oddly not Chinese.  We had a creamy tarragon lobster pasta dish that we all thought was a little strange.  For my Grandma’s birthday dinner, we didn’t have the tarragon lobster, but we did have crab that had a Cajun-like seasoning.  It was SO salty too.  Did that stop me? No.  I love crab and there were two big ones on our table that no one was eating except my Dad and Aunt.  Earlier in the week when I was at Ranch 99 crabs were $11.99/lb, which is really expensive.  I was trying my best not to let the crab got to waste, but had to stop after my lips starting getting pruney from the salt. 

They first brought out the suckling pig to show my Grandma.

Chinese charcuterie plate. 12 o'clock is seaweed salad, 2 o'clock is stir fried squid tentacles, 5 o'clock is roast duck, 7 o' clock is tofu skin stuffed with mushrooms, 11 o'clcok is char siu, and center is suckling pig.

Toasting with a pretty large glass of Hennessy.

My Dad is the oldest of seven children.  He's toasting with my Grandma.

Sauteed beef, bell pepper, and onions with a bird's nest decoration.  I'm not sure what the bird's nest is made out of, but looks like fried noodles.  This is kind of like a cornucopia of meat.  The beef was super tender and very tasty.

Crab claw puffs.  This is a hunk of crab claw wrapped with shrimp paste an then deep fried.  That's my Grandma's hand yoinking one for my young cousin. I'm pretty fast at taking pictures for the blog, but she's much faster.  You wouldn't think that she's 90!

Faux shark fin soup. They now call it "fish fin" soup, but since shark fin is illegal (for good reason) I knew that this wasn't real and was able to eat it.

Abalone and mushrooms over mustard greens.

Smoked snow bass.  We think it's so red because of the seasoning that they used for smoking.

Peking duck

Mounds of "Cajun" crab.

Chinese sponge cake is my favorite cake in the world. You probably know by now that I don't care for sweets much.  I had three large pieces of cake.  This says "live a long life".

Longevity peach buns

Mango pudding.  This came out so slowly that Nick was shoving one in his mouth while we were walking out of the door.

Tonight's Dinner: September 13, 2014

I realized that after living in our house for almost four months, my family has never been over for dinner.  We’ve had Nick’s family over several times already, but my parents tend to be busy on Saturdays and on Sundays they don’t want to come over because my Dad has to wake up early to go to work the next day.  Since my brother was coming home from school for my Grandma’s 90^th birthday dinner the following day, we decided to have them over for a Spanish inspired dinner.   Since coming home from Spain, I’ve been all about trying to replicate what we ate.  I think it’s nearly impossible to get it exactly the way that it tasted in Spain, but it’s close enough to be a passable dup.   The quality of food is different there.  Even if I buy all organic products, it just doesn’t taste as fresh. 

Nick and I may not be Masterchef caliber, but we get by just fine.   For dinner I planned to make a chateubriand like I had in Benahavis, loose chorizo, Asian chicken wings (my Mom likes them so I broke away from the theme), mussels in wine sauce, tomato bread with anchovies, and cilantro lime rice.  Last minute I decided to make a spinach salad with pickled shallots, red bell pepper and tomatoes because we didn’t have any vegetables.  We noticed that aside from the Padron peppers, we didn’t really have many vegetables in Spain.  

Considering  chateubriand is a prime cut of beef, my Dad who is our ultimate critic, enjoyed dinner.  And he says that I have expensive taste!  We basically served a roast of filet mignon since it is a beef tenderloin.  We also are preparing for a large BBQ with Nick’s coworkers and wanted to test out some of the dishes.  I read the day that we were having my family for dinner that Mexican chorizo, which is what I had, can’t be substituted for Spanish chorizo.  They apparently have two completely different flavor profiles.  The article that I read suggested getting Portuguese linguica as it is a closer substitute.  Well, by that time it was too late to go back.   The Mexican chorizo over the cilantro rice was delicious.  We’re definitely doing the Mexican chorizo for our BBQ, but I’ll have to hunt down some Portuguese linguica in the future. 

My charming husband grilling the meat.  Normally you would pan sear the roast, but since we were trying it out for our BBQ we wanted to make sure it would turn out okay.  We don't have enough large pans to feasibly cook the meat in a timely manner for 20+ people.

I baked the chicken wings in the oven instead of grilling just to save some time.

I used the picked the shallots (recipe here) for my last minute salad.  They were really good with the sweetness of the tomato and red bell pepper.  I didn't pickle the cucumbers because I didn't want the flavor to be overwhelming.  Just as a note, the quick pickles that I made from the post linked above gave me an upset stomach.  I would not advise eating an entire bowl by yourself.  Eating in moderation like I did tonight had a much better outcome.

This rice doesn't look harmful, but there is a whole stick of butter in here.  So good, but so bad.

Fresh chimichurri sauce for the meat.

Tomato bread with anchovies.

Mexican chorizo

Tonight's Dinner: September 10, 2014

Tonight I actually did eat dinner because it turned out pretty well.  I don't know how people can be vegetarians full time.  It gets kind of boring and I haven't found many recipes that have piqued my interest.  Most are loaded with extra carbs and cheese.  I wouldn't normally think this is a problem, but we're trying to eat a little bit leaner since we gorged on our trip.  I haven't been very good with sticking to a healthy diet during lunch because my office eats out a lot, but for breakfast I've been juicing and dinner eating light meals.  I'm just really glad that I don't have an affinity for sweets.

I made a vegetable pasta salad with the usual garlic-balsamic vinaigrette that my good friend taught me. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I love pasta.  This pasta salad has more vegetables than pasta.  This is a big deal for me.  It took a lot of restraint not to pour the whole bag of pasta in to boil. I first blanched the broccoli in large pieces and then cut them into bite sized to prevent it from overcooking.  If I cut the broccoli ahead of time, it could easily get to soft.  We don't like our broccoli raw, but we still like it to have a lot of crunch.  This technique is something new that I tried, and it worked out really well.

Vegetable Pasta Salad 

1/2 c broccoli, chopped
1/2 c baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 Persian cucumbers, diced
1 can olives, halved
3 small tomatoes, cut into 8ths
1/2 lb pasta (any shape) 

Directions:
Blanch broccoli in boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  All other vegetables remain raw.  Combine ingredients and mix with dressing of your choice.  Let dressing absorb for 15-20 minutes before eating. 

Garlic-Balsamic Dressing 

3 garlic cloves; grated (use microplane)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 c EVOO
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt 

Directions:
In small jar combine ingredients and shake until emulsified or to desired consistency. 

Tonight's Dinner: September 9, 2014

Keeping with out vegetarian theme, tonight we had squash and tofu over rice.  I first boiled the squash until tender and then mixed them with tofu, soy sauce, Siracha, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.  Normally, I would use a wok for this, but since I had started boiling the squash in a regular pot, I used that to do the last bit of cooking.  Now I know why my Mom always uses her wok.  The regular pot just doesn't get hot enough to get anything remotely near a stir fry.  Nick is a good husband and dutifully ate it while I had two boiled artichokes and a peach.

Tonight's Dinner: September 7, 2014

We are officially in intestinal recovery mode.  I hit up Costco early on in the day before any jet lag could really kick in and left the store looking like a vegetarian save for Emmy's organic chicken.  I told Nick that we would be eating like rabbits for the next week.  Tonight kicked off that trend.  Inspired by the delicious food from Spain, I wanted to try out making simple tomato bread before diving into anything really complicated right off the bat.   Something we noticed is that a lot of the Spanish dishes that we really enjoyed were not overly complicated.  Of course, there were some that were very technically in depth, but a lot of the flavors were bold and not jumbled as sometimes happens when I start throwing things at random into a pot.  Their flavors are very fresh and deliberate.

I love Costco's focaccia bread so I used that instead of baguettes.  Baguettes really make a difference, but with only two people, we wouldn't be able to finish a whole baguette before it went stale.  I blended up a few plum tomatoes, garlic, EVOO, and salt in my Vitamix to make a chunky tomato juice that I could easily spread over the bread.  It turned out pretty well.  I just wish I had gone to get some anchovies and green olives.

For the salad I simply boiled the corn, no salt or butter added, and cut it off the cob for a topper.  I also opened a large can of tuna (in water) to split between the two of us and used the excess tomato sauce I made for Spanish-style tomato bread as a dressing.  I liked this as a dressing because it's low in fat, but added a subtle richness to the salad.  I got avocados from Costco, but they weren't nearly ripe enough to eat.  I tried cutting one up, but it was so hard that I when I tried biting into a piece it left teeth marks like a piece of foam.  I never knew that avocado was that dense when not ripe.  Live and learn.

Spanish-style tomato sauce 

3 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp good EVOO
1 tsp kosher salt 

Directions:
Blend in a mixer or food processor until chunky. 

I brushed on the tomato juice and then stuck the bread under the broiler for a few minutes.  Once the bread came out, we drizzled a little more EVOO over the top.  

Barcelona, Spain: Day 13

Well, the vacation that I've been looking forward to for the better half of the year is now coming to an end.  Two weeks certainly goes by quickly.  We boarded a flight from Malaga to Barcelona for one last night in Spain.  Tomorrow we head out bright and early back to San Francisco.  Although our flight from Malaga to Barcelona was only an hour and a half, it pretty much wiped out a whole day.  The only thing we did after checking into our hotel was go to collect our Starbucks mugs and then rest before dinner.  All great things must come to an end.  I'm ready to see Emmy and my belly is in need of a long rest. 

We had a lot of time in the Malaga airport so we watched the US Open and had lunch at an airport sports bar.  Nick got a club sandwich. 

Buffalo chicken wings.

I got a quesadilla that was both burnt and soggy at the same time.  Not good eats. 

Because our lunch was poor, Nick and I got an afternoon snack of Pringles and corn nuts at the hotel. 

Our room is really modern compared to all of the places that we have been staying. 

 

They have cool golf ball shaped soaps, but no soap dishes.  We were propping the soap on the box but after a while the box collapsed from the excess water and the soap went rolling across our room. 

In the evening we walked half a mile for our last dinner in Spain. Dennis and his family will be staying an extra day to embark on a Mediterranean cruise.  Oh, what it must be like to have a lot of accrued vacation time and to be retired.  One day I'll see said retirement.  Sister found a place through Trip Advisor called Restaurant Koxkera.  Our hotel is in a rather residential area, so there weren't a lot of tourists at this restaurant and the wait staff didn't speak that much English.  We were able to get by okay.  We haven't really had a problem this whole trip with language.  Most of the people in Barcelona and Marbella speak English fluently, and if not, they speak enough to understand us with our broken Mexican Spanish.

Tomato bread with oiled anchovies.  These were really good and I'm going to have to try to make these at home.  I know that there is a nice olive oil place in Walnut Creek, so I will probably head over there to see what they have.

Plain tomato bread

Octopus over potatoes.  The octopus was so tender that you barely needed to chew. 

So many different pieces of silverware to eat seafood that we felt like we were in Princess Diaries getting an etiquette lesson.

Seafood appetizer of mussels, razor clams, and cockles with padron peppers.

Fried cuttlefish. 

Dad and Jerng Jerng both got the grilled mixed seafood plate. Their shrimps were huge!

Nick got a mixed seafood rice. 

Mom and Ye Ma shared a squid ink lobster fideua. 

Den and Sister shared a creamy lobster rice that was actually a soup.  

I got a mixed seafood fideua. 

Dad liked the way that they prepared their razor clams so much that we asked for a whole order after we were done with our entrees. 

Lemon sorbet.  The last time I was in Spain the lemon sorbet is something that really stuck out in my memory.  When we had gotten it in Sevilla it came out in a lemon peel.  Kitchy, but I really liked it.  This sorbet tasted just as good, but it's cuter in a lemon peel. 

Chocolate mousse cake. 

Catalan Cream. We got this during our first week in Barcelona, but I think this was better.  It was less sweet and seemed to be a little more custardy. 

Another one down for the books.  I wouldn't say that I'm a world traveler, but I've travelled abroad enough to still say that Spain is my favorite country to visit.  (I've been saying that since 2006 and now Nick understands why.)  I'm am so thankful to my inlaws for letting us tag along on their vacation.  It's definitely a trip to remember, and if we don't, well, we can look back on all the food pictures.  Food is love.  Until then: Eat well, travel often.