Fat Campers

Pickle Smoochers

2011-02-06T10:43:00.003-05:00

Long ago, Krista hosted a pickling party at her firehouse home.

That's Krista looking hott in the purple. Prettiest ginger in the world. Toni on the left and Sai, center. Missing from all my photos is the instigator of all this business, Kara. It's nice that my friends are overachievers because that means all I have to do is show up with some cash for the cost of goods and put in some sweat equity.

We pickled radishes, green beans, and cucumbers.

I wish I had taken a photo of the radishes after they sat for a bit. The brine leeched the red out of the skins and the water turned pink like the color of a bleeding dawn. (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers reference, and I am teaching simile to my eighth graders. Practice [poorly] what you preach, I guess.)

Toni brought jalapenos, which we added to many a jar. They added a real bite. It was awesome.

I ended up reusing the brine a couple times throwing in carrots or onions, which worked fine but didn't have the same intensity as the initial pickles.

I'll post the recipe soon (fine, probably not). In which case, try the links above. Those girls are on top of their shit.

Flourless peanut butter cake

2010-09-24T22:08:00.004-04:00

HIIIIII!

Last night I was craving peanut butter cookies, but just not any peanut butter cookie. It was a recipe that Uyen handed down to me...one she got from a home economics (that's just a weird phrase, btw) teacher at her school a few years ago. It was a simple one: 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, and an egg. No flour. Mix, bake, eat.

The cravings for peanut butter cookies started around 8pm, but by 11:30 I was making peanut butter cake. Since I didn't have a recipe, I made one up based on the cookie recipe.

Here it is:

About 1 cup peanut butter
About 1 cup brown sugar
About 1 tsp of baking soda
About 1 tsp of baking powder (maybe a little less than that)
A couple pinches of salt
A splash of vanilla extract
4 large eggs

(I didn't really measure anything...I know, this is baking, I should have, but I also didn't have a recipe so it didn't really matter.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix everything except the peanut butter in a bowl. I used a fork and kind of beat it like scrambled eggs. I did it for about a minute to get it "fluffy" since there was no flour. Then add the peanut butter and beat/whip again until creamy and all the peanut butter "dissolves" into the mix. Grease a cake pan...and this is important. USE A CAKE PAN. The first time I tried this recipe I used a loaf pan and the center DID NOT cook AT ALL. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 25 minutes. Top should be nice and brown.

I made a butterscotch sauce for it and it was pretty tastey. It's good on its own as well. I would suggest a chocolate sauce so it's like eating a deconstructed (my new favorite culinary term) Reese's peanut butter cup. If you have gluten-intolerant friends, they'll love you for this.

The glamour shot

In the pan

Drenched in butterscotch sauce

What we eat when we're poor

2010-07-23T11:37:00.001-04:00

Beef stir fry with green beans, red bell peppers, red onions over couscous

Pork Stew

2010-07-22T11:36:00.001-04:00

I made this a while back. The pork was unbelievably tender. Served with a couple of old standbys.

Tofu Curry with Curried Lentils

2010-07-21T11:35:00.004-04:00

Andrew is not a huge fan of curry or lentils. This was not made for him. The lentils were a nice change from the usual white rice that would normally accompany this. This is basically the curry my mom used to make except I added some fresh corn off the cob for a little sweetness.

Fish Tacos

2010-07-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

Lena is my gorgeous 20-year old niece, whose presence has been making me feel OLD. She likes to tell me, "You look good for your age, Auntie."

What I thought was going to be Lena's last night with her turned into her extending her stay by another week. Must have been the fish tacos.

Little Lena ain't so little no more.

I used tilapia filets. I usually bread the fish with panko bread crumbs, but forgot to buy them at the store. Instead I used some corn flour I had in the cupboard. They were nice and crispy.

I had some unused eggplant, so fried those up the same way.

The following morning, I made Huevos Rancheros from the leftovers for the little squirt.

Here we are hanging out at the New York Philharmonic free concert at Central Park.

See ya soon, squirt!

Robster and Crams

2010-07-16T09:30:00.001-04:00

Went to hang at Ted's mom's house in Connecticut last weekend. Kat and Ted prepared a lobster boil and steamers. I usually don't care much for lobster, but I got into it. It was fun dismantling the little dude and satisfying to pull out hunks of meat. Mostly it was awesome to sit around a table outside with friends.

Poor little guy.

Serious business.

I don't know.

Na-na-nay-nay! Poor Masha in the back. Her bravery was admirable.

Thanks Kat and Ted!

We met at fat camp.

2010-07-15T10:00:00.001-04:00

This post is dedicated to Kim, whose love for food and cooking inspires my own. Sunday dinners at Kim's apartment were always filled with amazing food and company. Up until she left for Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago, we made sure to have Sunday dinner together every week. I'm also pretty sure that when I named this blog, I was subconsciously thinking about our single days together. She used to tell dudes who were hitting on us that we met at fat camp.

I made pulled pork sammies, mashed taters, and roasted carrots for our final (for now) Sunday dinner.

The following photos are from Kim's bachelorette/bridal shower weekend that happened back in April.

We had a bridal shower Sunday dinner for Kim in the Diner airstream. The food was awesome, the airstream was awesome, and the friends were awesome. I keep dreaming about the chicken liver mousse or something. It was retarded (i.e. awesome)--like Corky from Life Goes On.

We had a bachelorette party/trip that was pretty tame. We stayed at Kate's Lazy Meadow upstate. It was very cute and very retro.

Look at the cute kitchen we didn't use!

Creepy busts that Kim and Tu tried to terrorize me with at night.

This is what we ate. Hostess fruit pies are even more awesome when you pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Awesome totem pole chimney.

We were on a safari or something.

City slickers.

You can rent cute little airstream trailers too.

Kim, I am so excited about seeing the life you make with Tom in Hong Kong. And I can't wait to meet baby Maia. I miss you so much, mama.

Squid Ink Pasta and Steak

2010-07-13T17:48:00.003-04:00

This is what we eat when we're being healthy.

Breakfast tart with asparagus and caramelized onions

2010-07-12T12:28:00.000-04:00

I made this breakfast tart when we had Pete and Olivia over for brunch. Pete called it a breakfast pizza, which makes it more awesome. I overcooked the eggs, obvs, but it was still delicious.

Vietnamese BBQ Pork Chops with broken rice, pickled daikon and carrots, steamed pork cake

2010-07-07T12:17:00.003-04:00

I still can't get my pork chops exactly like Mama's, but they're good enough to satiate the craving. I usually try to go to Dat Thanh when I'm in San Jose, which specializes in broken rice dishes. It's a classic though, which means that you can probably order it any Vietnamese restaurant with confidence.

after school snacks

2010-07-06T12:12:00.002-04:00

Classed up the chicken fingers with panko bread crumbs. They didn't turn quite as golden as when I use regular bread crumbs, but they still tasted delicious. Served with Bud, obvs.

roasted cauliflower soup

2010-06-25T19:28:00.005-04:00

I know--it's boiling hot right now. Just turn up your AC, don a scarf and pretend for a minute, ok?

1. Roast cauliflower in oven at 425°F until tender. I like to char it in the broiler at the end for carcinogenic flavor.
2. Meanwhile, peel two russet patatas (that's potatoes, dummies!) and simmer in a lot (totally accurate measurement) of chicken broth until fork tender.
3. Puree patatas in a blender. Careful, it's hot! Put it back into the pot. (Also, this is a really good way to make mashed taters. Just pour out some of the chicken broth, then add milk and butter. You almost don't need salt. Smooth and delicious.)
4. Puree the roasted cauliflowers. You may need to add some of the potato mixture to get it started.
5. Put cauliflower into pot with the potato puree.
6. You may need to add more chicken broth or water until it's the consistency you like.
7. Add a bay leaf. Simmer.
7. Stir in some heavy cream for richness.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add some herbs too. I think I may have used thyme or rosemary. But I can't remember anymore. What if recipe books were all written like this? The point is, just do you!

hamburglar

2010-06-25T19:25:00.002-04:00

english muffins rule for burgs.

food flashback

2010-05-19T19:12:00.006-04:00

His.

Hers.

Fill 'Er Up

2010-02-10T14:41:00.017-05:00

These are old photos from my trip back to California that I'm finally getting around to posting. I swear, I'm getting a real camera soon.

Vegan Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue, or Spicy Fake Pork Noodle Soup, Hue Style at Di Lat in San Jose. The word for vegetarian in Vietnamese translates to bland. This was definitely not. Regular bun bo hue is one of my favorite dishes. My mom's is soo good and so spicy. Still no place in NY that can make it.

And the reason I was eating vegan, dear Helena. She recently adopted a wholly vegan diet. She's been really tolerant, if only a little judgmental, about my all-meat inclusive diet over the course of our gazillion year friendship. (I love you, H.) I also find Vietnamese vegan to be the tastiest vegan there is. If you are ever in San Jose, go to Tofoo House for awesome vegan Vietnamese Banh Mi.

Banh Bot Chien which translates roughly to fried flour. I don't know what it is exactly except that I love it. The dipping sauce is like a sugary soy sauce. I could probably Google what the hell it is, but why don't you do the research let me know. A recipe would be great, too, ta very much!

Oh, Hannah. You are a muffin and a half. Little Vietnamese Babies (LVBs) love their pho. In restaurants the bowls usually come with a pair of scissors to cut up the noodles. Also, LVBs do not like cilantro or scallions in their pho, thank you very much.

Here's my bowl of pho. I got the Xe Lua, which translates to train. Yeah, there was no stopping me. I think Hannah could have gone for a dip in the bowl. I finished the whole damn thing, too.

But wait, you say, that's not the same bowl. You have continuity issues. I say, God you are so linear. This is the after bowl of the next bowl you see, which is actually not pho. Not pho? you say. Why, no. Read on to find out what filled this bowl.

Hu Tieu Mi Nam Vang. This is the fatty express. Wide rice vermicelli and egg noodles combo with shrimp, pork, and the most delicious broth in the world. The best place to go in San Jose for this stuff is Samkee.

Mi Xao Don Thap Cam. Combination Crispy fried egg noodles. I didn't eat this. My nephew did. The young ones like to eat this kind of stuff. I loved it as a kid too. Ok fine, I had a little taste. It made me want to be a kid again.

I miss all the great food so much, but really, I miss all the company that came with the food. Can't wait to eat with you all again.

Chili Bowl

2010-02-07T11:40:00.005-05:00

Andrew is mildly obsessed with the European football, ne´ soccer. His big game today concerned his team, Arsenal, versus Chelsea. Today also being Superblow Sunday (ha!), I couldn't pass up the excuse to make chili. I hoped the chili would help to soothe any disappointment the Gooners might cause my baby or at least replace the bitter disappointment with heartburn. Nothing like the contrast effect to improve a situation.

Pictures of chili always look disgusting. It's a good thing the photo I took is busted.

So I had this post all planned out and was so pleased with the chili. Well, I think I ate too much of it. So much of it that I ended up making myself sick. The title Chili Bowl has several meanings.

It was still delicious.

Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground Turkey or Beef
1/2 medium onion, diced
2-3 bay leaves
handful of chili powder
handful of cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
4 jalapeno peppers, diced
1/2 can of tomato paste
2 cans of beer, any
2 cans of diced tomatoes (the small cans)
2 cans beans (black or red--small cans)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Brown turkey in large pot over high heat. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add handful of chili powder and handful of cumin. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add tomato paste. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add diced tomatoes and beans. Mix again.
5. Stir in beer. Turn to heat to high and bring to boil.
6. Turn down heat and simmer.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.

Again, I should not be giving out recipes, but seriously, go with your gut. Especially when your gut says, "Stop eating chili."

How much is that doggy in the window?

2010-01-04T10:01:00.005-05:00

I definitely appreciate the simplicity of New York hot dogs, but why can't New York ditch the water dogs and go grilled like this yummy guy I hold in my hands courtesy of San Francisco? Bacon-wrapped, smothered in onions, mustard and ketchup, please.

p.s. I failed at my bucket list (no burrito), but I'm pretty sure I made up for it in other ways.

The Ol' In-Out (updated)

2009-12-26T15:46:00.011-05:00

Dear Santa,
Thank you for giving me all that I wanted for Christmas--time with family and friends and delicious food.
Love,
Uyen

There are three things that I must eat every time I return to California: In-n-Out Burger, burritos (from La Victoria in San Jose; from El Farolito in SF), and pho. Not necessarily prioritized that way either. It's like a bucket list.

Fatty Tran aka Trans Fat aka the non-contributor to this blog kindly picked me up from the airport on Christmas Eve. Oddly, he wasn't hungry, but offered to take me to get something to eat anyway. We had originally planned on going to La Victoria, but ended up at In-n-Out.

I usually get just a plain old cheeseburger or hamburger, but Fatty encouraged me to get the double meat double cheese with grilled onions, which he always gets. I think he was living vicariously through me since he wasn't eating. My only complaint about In-n-Out is the smell it leaves on my hands even after a thorough washing. It's really disgusting. Think about it.

Eugene aka Catfish, who was visiting his family nearby, made a cameo appearance.

Fatty and I made both observed in different places in San Jose (him at Christmas at the Park and me at the airport) that there is a HUGE Indian population here. Our observations coalesced at In-n-Out. See, there's an Indian dude right behind me. There was also a group sitting to my right. Why does this sound racist? It's not! There are also lots of Vietnamese peeps in San Jose. Look, three of them are featured in this post. EDIT: I just realized that there's an Indian person in the background of three of the four photos.

Anyway, I need to get back to my bucket list. Time's a tick-tocking away.

Blackberry Patchwork Top Pie With Almond Crust

2009-11-11T18:29:00.010-05:00

Being a teacher rules because I get to indoctrinate today's youth and I get all holidays off. Today was Veterans Day. Thank you, Vets! (Side story: I was teaching the youths about some Vietnam War stuff when I asked, "What does this headline tell you about the time period?" The headline was "Vietnam Vets Protest War." One student raised his hand and said, "That the people who took care of animals in Vietnam didn't like the war." Kids say the darnedest things!) Since I had the day off, I decided to bake a pie.

I realized why I should not bake by memory: I have a bad memory! So the last time I made a pie, my crust turned out dry because I got it in my head that one stick of butter equals one cup. And I never bothered to look at the measurements on the stick of butter. Oh, kitchen follies. Needless to say, today's crust turned out much better. I also added a half cup of finely ground almonds. I still work with a lead hand, so my crust always falls apart. Instead of trying to roll the crust out perfectly, I just let the cracks be and plopped them right on top of the pie. I'm like a jazz musician, I totally improvise. Yeah, man.

Girls' Night--WOOOO!!!!

2009-11-11T14:17:00.005-05:00

me: andrew's out of town this weekend. wanna have a shut-in girls' night?

Kim: Yes please! Which night?

either night. wanna do saturday?

Kim: Sounds good. let’s bake and shit.

Vietnamese Beef Stew

2009-10-27T16:45:00.013-04:00

This is one of my favorite dishes that my moms used to make. The spices smell cray cray. It's a great hearty stew, serves lots of people (my mom has 7 kids), and I've never had anyone tell me they dislike it. I think this Vietnamese Beef Stew was influenced by the French. It's very much like a beef bourgignon.

Ingredients:

(above, clockwise from top: clove, star anise, bay leaves, chili powder, cayenne powder, achiote oil, garlic, lemongrass, cinnamon stick)

1. Heat oil. Throw in the anise and cloves. Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Brown the beef. Brown = FLAVOR.

2. Remove beef and set aside.

3. Sautee 1/2 chopped onion in the pot the beef was cooking in. Scrape the bottom of the pot with wooden spoon to remove the brown bits. Remember brown = flavor. Add the lemongrass, cinammonstick, bay leaves.

4. Return the beef to the pot with the juices. Add the chili powder, cayenne powder, garlic, and 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Give it a stir.

5. Add can of diced tomatoes and one bottle of beer. I like Newcastle, but have used Miller High Life in the past. You know, because I'm real classy.

6. Bring to boil. Add carrots, turnips, potatoes. Turn down to low heat and simmer until meat is falling apart and vegetables are tender.

I've realized that my food blog sucks because everything is "to taste."

7. Garnish with cilantro and serve with a lime wedge. Sounds totally weird, but it for some reason it works. I think the tartness cuts through the salt. Also, my mom used to serve it with lime.This is really good over egg noodles or with a baguette on the side.

8. Et voila!

Pear Ginger Pie? Tart? Pouch?

2009-10-12T13:58:00.000-04:00

I made this a while ago, but am just now getting around to posting it. This was a part of my pie-making phase. It's just 4 bosc pears, 3/4 cup of white sugar, a little bit of corn starch, and lots of ginger. I keep peeled ginger in my freezer and when I need it, I use a grater then throw it back in the freezer. Mix it all together and then dump it into your pie crust. I made the crust for this, and while I am getting better, I still haven't really mastered it.

Pie Crust Ingredients:

All-purpose flour, 2 cups
unsalted butter, 1/2 cup frozen
vegetable shortening, 1/2 cup frozen
ice water, 2 tablespoons
pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)

1. Mix flour and salt if using.
2. Cut in the butter and shortening. It should look mealy.
3. Add ice water a little bit at a time and gently form dough.
4. Separate and shape into two "discs."
5. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before rolling out.

Instead of using a pie dish,which would only highlight my deficiency as a pastry chef, I made two little foil "bowls," placed the crust inside, then the filling. I brushed with egg, sprinkled some sugar on top and popped it in the oven at 425°F for about 30 minutes.

I also made fresh whipped cream, which is just heavy cream, some confectioner's sugar and little bit of vanilla.

Pies are totally easy to make. In fact, I'm gonna go make another one right now. Happy Columbus Day, you politically incorrect assholes. (I have the day off from school, but what would you have me do? Protest by doing work?)

Happy Birthday, Baby Tuxedo Pants!

2009-08-21T16:27:00.002-04:00

Me: What's your favorite cake?
Andrew: Chocolate roll cake.

When he first told me this, I thought it was a weird choice because it's both so specific and seemingly random, but as it turned out his mother used to make this cake for him and his brother on their birthdays. I had it last year when we celebrated his birthday on Block Island with his family. I immediately realized why it's his favorite--it's delicious. Light, airy, just a touch of sweetness.

Since Andrew was turning 30, I thought I'd honor him and his mother by baking one myself. I found a recipe online for a flourless version. I left out the orange zest and the Grand Marnier, using vanilla extract instead. Despite this ugly picture, it actually looked pretty good. And it tasted really good!

I'll admit it makes a strange looking birthday cake, but sentiment trumped all. Hope you had a good birthday, you big jerk.

Sunday Roast

2009-07-27T15:17:00.010-04:00

I actually made this on Wednesday last week. I did an oven roast beef with a horseradish crust and horseradish mashed potatoes on the side. The horseradish flavor in both the mash and the roast was really subtle. The leftovers made excellent sandwiches. I also stuffed whole cloves of garlic inside the roast by poking a butter knife into the side of the roast in multiple places then using a finger to push the garlic cloves inside. It's pretty gnarly looking to see your entire finger inside a piece of meat and it feels weird, but the end result leaves you with delicious flavor and pretty slices of garlic when you cut up the roast.

Horseradish Crusted Roast Beef

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

1. Mix about 1/3 cup horseradish and 2 tbs minced garlic.
2. Generously salt and pepper the roast.
3. Spread horseradish paste all over roast. Let sit for half hour at room temperature to let flavors infuse.
4. Heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Be careful not to let the butter burn. When oil and butter begin to smoke a little, place roast fat side down. Brown the roast on all sides, being careful not to lose too much of the horseradish crust.

Remove roast to roasting pan and place in oven. Cook 15 minutes for each pound for medium rare or until the internal temperature reaches 130°-135°F. Other than rare, I don't know why anyone would eat beef any other way, but you can this chart to help you out. You'll need a meat thermometer though.

When oven roast reaches desired done-ness, remove to carving board and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Otherwise, all the juices will run and your roast will be dry and gross. Yuck.

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Prepare mashed potatoes as you normally would and throw in some horseradish.

Here's how I did it.

1. Wash, peel, and quarter potatoes (1 1/2 potatoes per person allows for generous portions and seconds for piggies).
2. Place in pot and cover the potatoes with water.
3. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender.
4. Drain in a colander.
5. Mash potatoes with a masher. If you have a rice mill, use that for really creamy potatoes.
6. Add half and half (or milk if you want to be boring) and butter to desired consistency and taste.
7. Add prepared salt, pepper, and horseradish to taste.
8. Eat up, piggies!

Pied Piper

2009-07-20T20:24:00.001-04:00

Pies rule because they are easy to make and you can fill em up with anything you like. Tuesday night I made a chicken pot pie. Find the original recipe I used here. I left out the celery seed because when the hell do I ever use celery seed? I also swapped out the chicken broth for two chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in warm water and added a potato because who the hell makes a pot pie without potatoes? It's too warm out for chicken pot pie, you say? Who the hell turns down chicken pot pie at any time of the year? Cray-cray! I think next time I'll try some Indian spices to make it like a samosa pot pie.

Then yesterday I made a lovely blueberry pie for my main booberry (barf!). I'm not so good at making pie crusts; I kind of work slowly and have a lead hand. It still tasted delicious.

jerkface chicken for jenny-fa

2009-07-15T15:15:00.000-04:00

Jenny-fa requested that I make jerk chicken for her birthday dinner, so I happily obliged. I used a recipe from the New York Times that I changed to taste. I leave the oil out because even though it makes the chicken really tender, it also makes it greasy. Since I don't have a charcoal grill, I cook it in the oven then put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes at the end to char the chicken. It adds a little something. I also switch out the scotch bonnet peppers for jalapenos because my crap grocery store doesn't carry them. I'm sure you could find them at Whole Foods or some shit, but I like to shop with the common folk at Key.

I also did some jerk tofu for the veggies. I used the same marinade then seared the tofu on each side for 3 minutes.

Coincidentally, Tyler Florence, whose show I DVR, had an episode this week on jerk chicken in which he created a stove-top smoker. Can't wait to try that.

I also made the accompanying New York Times recipe for pigeon peas and coconut rice, which is soo easy and soo good. I also made pickled red cabbage, which is as easy as sauteeing some garlic and a 1/4 white onion sliced, then throwing in one shredded red cabbage along with a cup of white vinegar and 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Jenny-fa brought over the cutest mini cupcakes that were yum yum (peanut butter and honey; red velvet). And Olivia brought over delicious gelato from El Laboratorio (watermelon; espresso). I'm not much of a baker, so it's fantastic when people bring desserts.

Happy birthday, Jenny-fa!

See ya around, jerks!

BEP

2009-07-06T12:27:00.000-04:00

Delicious Vietnamese food in Williamsburg not made by me. It's like going to a friend's for dinner. Except you have to pay for it because it's your friend's restaurant and not your friend's apartment.

Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup--It's pronounced more like FUH, not FO.)

Banh Mi Thit Nuong (Grilled Pork Sammy)

I'm so sleepy, meester or: mexican rice, black refried beans, and chimmichurri marinated skirt steak

2009-07-06T11:05:00.000-04:00

I think I might have been Mexican or some kind of Latino in a previous life. You should hear me roll my Rs.

Chimichurri Marinated Skirt Steak

1 bunch parsley (cut off stems)
3 large cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
1/3 to 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil
salt to taste

1. Blend all ingredients together in a food processor. (It's that easy!)

** The supermarket was out of mint and cilantro, which can also be used in addition to/instead of parsley. You'll just need to adjust the amount of olive oil and red wine vinegar. This was delicious with just parsley.

Marinade your steak in this godly sauce for a half hour, but set aside some of the it to slop on top of your steak. You'll be glad you did. I want to bathe in this stuff.

MY Mexican Rice

2 c. white rice
one 16 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 white onion diced
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or 2 cubes chicken bullion dissolved in 1 cup of water)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tb cooking oil

1. Heat cooking oil (I used olive) in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add onions, jalapeno, garlic, and oregano and sauté until onions are translucent.
4. Add rice and coat with the oil, almost toasting the rice.
5. Add diced tomatoes, and chicken broth. Mix well.
6. Increase heat to high. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to low and cover.
8. Cook for about 25 minutes or until rice is done.

* The quantities for the liquid I used are approximate. I'm Asian, so cooking rice is second nature for me, kind of like squatting. The rice to water ratio when cooking white rice is usually about 1:2.

Black Refried Beans

2 cans whole black beans
1 jalapeno diced
1/4 white onion diced
1 clove garlic diced
pinch of cayenne powder (optional)

1. Sauté onion, jalapeno, and garlic over medium heat until onions are translucent.
2. Add beans and cayenne.
3. Increase heat and bring beans to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low.
5. Allow beans to simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
6. Use a potato masher to mash beans to desired consistency.

Kim's Got Balls

2009-07-06T09:44:00.000-04:00

Kim made spaghetti and meatballs. It was
awesome!

Dressing the salad

Arugula, tomato, and parmesan salad

Kim's balls

Storm King

2009-06-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

Andrew and I took a bus to Storm King on Saturday to kick off my summer vacation. The place is pretty magical as is, but even more magical when you're with the Wiz (yeah, you can barf now). I don't think we could have had a better day in spite of some light rain and accidentally sloshing through some swampy grass.

Maya Lin created these huge grass waves, which were cool but a little underwhelming. I liked the models and sketches that were used in planning Wavefield. Totally minimal.

I packed stuff to make turkey wraps there so as to avoid eating soggy wraps. I used red pepper hummus instead of mayo. Andrew thinks mayonnaise is demon semen. We also packed some darling clementines. I can't believe we ate one and a half wraps each, a bag of bagel chips and a bag of goldfish. Such piggies.

If a tree falls...

The sculpture from Beetlejuice, yes!

Can't wait to go back!

Ca Hap + Goi Tom

2009-06-29T16:16:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday, I had a few people over for dinner. There was no real occasion although it was sort of an end-of-school year hurrah for me. I made (or approximated) an oven-steamed striped bass moms used to make. I steamed it in foil since I didn't have any parchment paper along with some bean thread noodles and tree ear fungus. I seasoned it with a generous amount of soy sauce, some kosher salt and pepper, slices of fresh ginger and drizzled it with sesame seed oil. I served it with fresh green leaf lettuce, Chinese chives, sliced cucumber, and fresh mint leaves all wrapped up in rice paper. The nice thing about this meal is that it's interactive since people are wrapping their own rolls. I also made a red cabbage and mango salad with grilled shrimp. And Olivia also brought some cupcakes from sugar Sweet sunshine that were retardedly good. Her assortment included red velvet cake, strawberry (from fresh strawberries, in season!), and some yellow cake one. The strawberry seemed like everyone's favorite. It was a lovely and stomach-satisfying night.

Olivia thinks the salad is boss.

The Salad

Ca Hap aka Steamed Fish

Sugar Sweet Sunsheeeeeine!!!!

Fridays with Brandon

2009-06-28T22:53:00.000-04:00

Brandon and I usually call each other on Fridays around 3. He can blow off early from work and I'm the only one who is done at 3. This last Friday we went to Sweetwater to have a late lunch. I like the burgers there because they serve them on English muffins. I had the lamb burger, which came with a watery yogurt sauce and an undercooked lentil salad. I'm usually not disappointed by the food there, but I think this guy's energy really fucked with the place. In case you were wondering, this is not Brandon.

Fat Campers: Arts & Crafts Table Edition

2009-06-24T21:51:00.000-04:00

I hijacked one of Andrew's white t-shirts and started to make these fabric rosettes that I plan to affix to a t-shirt. I also plan to tie dye them, a favorite pastime of mine. Young and I tie-dyed together on one of his visits here. He tie-dyed and dyed just about everything he had packed in his suitcase. Needless to say, our color trip (refrain from making acid trip jokes, please) was a complete success. But I digress. I need more practice making these. Right now one appears to me like a butt hole (bottom-ha ha) and the other (top) a vagina (or an oyster?). They were very easy to make and fun fun fun. I experimented a little between the first one (butt hole) and second (vagina). I see a summer full of obsessive flower making. Lord knows I will have plenty of time as school lets out on Friday. Wow, lots of parentheses.

Peanut butter Nutella shake

2009-06-24T01:27:00.000-04:00

Those who know me know that I have a massive sweet tooth. Usually I love pastries with some kind of sugar on top or inside or around it. But sometimes, I just don't want to chew. That's when a milkshake comes in handy.

My years of working as a server at Johnny Rockets has taught me one thing: vanilla ice cream is the key to a good milkshake. If you want a chocolate shake, start with vanilla ice cream and add some Hersey's syrup. If you want a strawberry shake, add some real strawberries in syrup. There's no excuse for a bad shake.

Tonight Patrick wanted a milkshake, so I had him to get the ingredients at the store (with MY money). We got milk, peanut butter, and vanilla ice cream. I had some Nutella laying around, so I decided to use that as well.

Measurements are as follows:

Splash of milk (not too much or else it'll be too runny)
2-3 big scoops of ice cream
1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter
1 heaping tablespoon of Nutella

If you have a milkshake machine, use it. If not, you can use a blender instead. Pour in the milk, add peanut butter and Nutella (if you don't have Nutella, just double the peanut butter). Then put in the ice cream. Blend on a lowish setting until everything is smooth. Make sure you poke the mix with a spoon to make sure all the chunks of ice cream is blended. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

The ingredients

Yum

worst food blogger ever

2009-06-22T19:21:00.000-04:00

It's not as though I lack content as I have to eat multiple times a day--I just keep forgetting that I have a food blog now. And by the time I remember again that I have a food blog, I've already eaten the thing I want to take a photo of. Such was the case today.

So there's this new Vietnamese Banh Mi place that opened recently in Williamsburg that I've been curious about, and tonight Andrew came home with two sammies for us. He got me the classic and himself the bbq'd pork. They mixed up the sandwiches, and we weren't paying attention to what we were eating until we had finished our first halves, so we ended up getting to try both. Our review: not impressed. There's something Vietnamese banh mi places can't seem to get right in New York, which is also the most important component: the bread! (whoa, lots of colon use.) The bread was doughy and chewy, not light and airy with a crispy crust that hurts the roof of your mouth. They skimped on the meat in both, which in the case of the bbq'd pork was probably a good idea. The bbq'd pork was bland and gristly and fatty.The cold cuts in the classic were sliced way too thin. Oh, and the pate was the faintest smear. And what's with NY banh mi places not pickling daikon? Andrew asked for spicy, but the jalapenos were no where to be found. I guess the cucumber was good...

I always miss the banh mi in San Jose. I was always torn between Dakao and the one on Tully road right the 101. (Help me out, Young. Was it Huong Lan?) The sanwiches were always so cheap. When I moved a few years ago, they were still $1.50. In NY they range from $4 to $8, some fancy place even charges $12! But the best was how these places also carried so many other goodies, like banh cuon, goi cuon, or nem chua.

maybe it's not too late to open a banh mi place of my own.

coming soon (with pics and if i remember): full review of other banh mi places in williamsburg, including (full disclosure coming up) my dear friend an's over at Bep. There's been a weird proliferation in new york recently. just read this article in the new york times.

Vietnamese food with a Vietnamese friend

2009-06-21T03:30:00.000-04:00

I went to San Jose to drop off a car I borrowed to go camping last weekend. While I was there, Eugene called and asked if I wanted to go to Denny's with him for a late lunch. Of course, I said. I love places like Denny's. I know the food's gonna be crap, but I love the chain restaurantiness of it.

So we're at Denny's (the one on S. Bascom right across the street from where Uyen used to live) and it's 3pm, so not very busy at all. If you've been to a Denny's before, you won't be surprised that we didn't get served for a long while. During this time, Eugene told me about this Vietnamese restaurant he really likes and we both got to wishing we had chosen Vietnamese instead. So I convinced Eugene to drive downtown to the other restaurant instead. Meanwhile, no one has come to our table yet so it made it that much easier to get up and leave. Also, one of the three girls in the booth next to us was on the phone talking about how they're eating at Denny's right now and are going to a pool party right after and then go dancing after that. WOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, I'm glad we got Vietnamese instead because I LOVE PHO. Eugene got some weird dish where the pho noodles were deep fried and the sauce and veggies on it were more Chinese in texture and flavor than Vietnamese. Whatever Catfish wants, I guess. FYI, the restaurant, Dac Phuc, made their own hot sauce which is really, really hot. Another FYI, I went to Johnny Rockets afterwards and got a strawberry shake.

Here are the pictures.

Pho before.

Pho after. Notice how dark the broth got. It's a mixture of too much hoisin sauce and too much of the really, really hot hot sauce.

And then there's Eugene/Catfish with his fried pho.

Zucchini bread

2009-06-15T14:25:00.001-04:00

It's summertime, and that means lots of zucchinis. I've been pretty lucky with my batch of zuke seeds. The plants are huge and the fruits are equally enormous. Even the cold San Francisco weather can't stunt their growth. I picked a few this morning (see above) and decided I wanted to try and make zucchini bread, something I've never made before. As always, I consulted allrecipes.com and found a good recipe.

Here is the original recipe, with my changes afterwards:

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

From the above recipe, I substituted 1 1/4 cup of brown sugar for the white sugar. I think the flavor's much better than white sugar when baking. I left out the walnuts since I didn't have any. Instead of 2 cups of grated zucchini, I put in about 3 1/2 cups (I like moist bread and that was how much two of my zucchinis yielded). If you'd rather have dry, disgusting bread, go ahead and reduce the amount of zucchini. Also, for some stupid reason, I only have one loaf pan, so I filled it up with the batter and then put the remaining batter into a muffin tin.

See how the muffins are in cupcake cups? Yeah, don't do that. I instinctively lined the muffin pan before pouring the batter in. No need for that, just make sure it's well-greased so the muffins will pop right out.

Comfort food

2009-06-15T00:57:00.000-04:00

Chicken soup, oatmeal, and mashed potatoes are comfort foods to some people here in the states...but for an immigrant from Viet Nam like me, nothing says home like a nice plate of broken rice with BBQ pork (even if it's served in a restaurant). Vietnamese cuisine is, hands down, my favorite. What I particularly love about Vietnamese food is how amazing the food tastes, yet is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. Herbs, spices and sauces are all key to the big flavors.

For my two cousins' graduation from high school, their parents took everyone out to celebrate at the Vietnamese restaurant across the street from their house. This was in San Jose, so we drove there.

Here are some tips for dining at a Vietnamese restaurant:

Don't worry if the menu's a little grimy, that just means it's authentic. (Same goes for the table tops)

Now that you're at an authentic restaurant, it probably wouldn't hurt to wipe down the authentic grime from the spoons, chopsticks, etc.

Hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce go well with most things. Use them generously.

Slurping is ok.

At the end of the meal, tip what you feel is appropriate. But if you're low on cash, a dollar or two would be perfectly fine, yoo.

The condiments and utensils: various kinds of peppers, vinegar, soy sauce, chopsticks, forks, spoons.

One of the most delicious dishes (besides a bowl of pho): com tam thit nuong, or broken rice with barbecued pork and veggies and fish sauce.

Like fried chicken in New York, the best Vietnamese food is usually found at Uyen's place.

Jacques Pépin

2009-06-13T16:36:00.000-04:00

He was kind of a looker, eh? I am not much into celebrity chefs, but I've always been a fan of Jacques Pépin. When I was in college, I lived with a boyfriend and every Saturday we woke up and watched Jacques Pépin's cooking show, Cooking with Claudine. Claudine, his daughter, was totally useless. Thanks to Jacques, however, I know how to butterfly a chicken, sharpen a knife, carve swan out of a honeydew melon, and a host of other kitchen tricks. And what did I learn how to make this morning? A caramel cage.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Dinner

2009-06-13T15:38:00.000-04:00

Andrew and I finally found a place in Williamsburg that serves the best fried chicken--our motherfucking apartment! I also made some garlic-sauteéd kale and buttermilk mashed potatoes. Of course we ate the chicken with Sriracha, which the NY Times wrote a little piece on last week. As usual, I cooked enough to feed an army, so I had leftovers for lunch. Why is cold fried chicken so good? Apologies for the poor-quality cell phone pics. (Remember when digital cameras with 2 mega pixels were considered decent?)

I usually cook more by feel, so measurements below are approximate. If your chicken tastes like shit, it's not my fault.

Ingredients:
whole chicken, cut up
hot sauce (I used Tapatio)
all purpose flour 3 1/2 cups
cayenne 2 tb
paprika 2 tb
garlic powder 2 tb
salt 2 tb
blackpepper 2 tb
buttermilk 1 quart
frying oil (i like canola) 2 quarts

1. In a large bowl, season chicken with 1 tb each of salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Mix thoroughly.
2. Combine 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 tb each of garlic powder, cayenne, and paprika, salt, black pepper.
3. Let marinate for 1-2 hours if you have time. Otherwise, however long you want.
4. Combine remaining dry ingredients and mix thoroughly in a baking dish.
5. Fill another shallow dish with buttermilk and mix in 2 tbs of hot sauce.
6. Dredge chicken in buttermilk then in flour. Make sure that all the buttermilk is absorbed by the flour. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
7. Heat oil.
8. Fry. I'd say if your oil is hot enough, the cooking time is about 3-4 minutes on each side. Careful not to put too many pieces in at once because that brings the temperature down and the oil could overflow.
9. Drain on paper towel or brown paper bag.
10. EAT.

hot taco

2009-06-11T09:34:00.000-04:00

score one for the perverts who got hot tacos on the menu. the t.v. commercial features a cheesy money shot on the taco.

Don't call me a foodie, or I will kick your fucking ass.

2009-06-10T18:38:00.000-04:00