Mystery Dinner menu

A big thanks to Luigi for many of the pictures!

Salted edamame
Mystery ingredient use: edamame!


Oeuf À La Toque, crispy potato strings
Mystery ingredient use: linguica









I didn't have tiny tasting spoons so everyone had to use fondue forks. haha.


Faux crab, rutabaga puree w/ a dash of cardamon and cayenne. Lime juice and zest.
Mystery ingredient use: FAKE crab! Coconut milk. Rutabaga.





Grilled Sanma with sweet soy, galanga (A traditional Japanese dish called Sanma-no-shioyaki)
Mystery ingredient use: Sanma fish, of course




Shaking "lamb" (Vietnamese style - came up with this at lunch when I was eating shaking beef with Diana) with oyster mushrooms cooked in lamb sauce.
Marinade: soy sauce, galanga, garlic, lemongrass, sugar, fish sauce
Mystery ingredient use: Lamb shoulder. Oyster mushrooms.





Traditionally, it's dipped in a mixture of lime juice, salt, and pepper.


Tapioca in coconut milk with Anjou pears.
Mystery ingredient use: More coconut milk.



Strawberries and mint dark chocolate chip cookies for pre/post dessert. I wanted to make dark chocolate covered strawberries but ran out of time.



Funny outfit


Smile!


Everything turned out pretty tasty, and everyone was pretty satisfied. The sanma fish, shaking lamb, tapioca, and cookies were definitely hits. Long meal. Too many dishes (to wash). Back hurts. The End.

Mystery Dinner (prep)

Luigi and Carlo had a great idea of having a mystery dinner - everyone brings a completely random ingredient and I prepare a feast with it.

Most of the ingredients were given to me the night before or this morning. I can use whatever else I have laying around in the fridge and/or get extra garnish/condiments (but no major proteins/vegetables, etc).

For this dinner, I was given:

Rutabaga
Coconut milk
Fake crab
Squash
Sanma fish
Oyster mushrooms
Edamame
Lamb shoulder
Linguica
Strawberries

FUN FUN FUN






And some prep work...




Sanma fish




Made a rather large pot of stock from the bones leftover from the lamb shoulder. Only to reduce to a little tiny ramekin of sauce for the mushrooms.


To be continued...

American portions. Dessert for one.

I mean, really. Come on ! (like G.O.B.)


The brownie was made of pure sugar.

Zachary loves Zachary's

Since I was in Berkeley, I decided to pick up a deep-dish Chicago pizza pie from Zachary's Pizza, a Berkeley favorite. My brother, sister, and bro-in-law all went to Berkeley. When I was in high school, I used to go to CAL to hang out with my sis for the weekend, go to college parties, and eat Zachary's. I swear she named her son after the pizza place although she claims she didn't. ;) I love this place - it brings back fond memories (and maybe some not so fond ones.)



My sis always orders the chicken and basil so that is what I got. By the time I got home, it was still warm. I gave a little bit to Zacky, of course.

He loved it!


Zachary's Pizza
1853 Solano Ave
Berkeley, CA 94707
(510) 525-5950

Chez Panisse

After all these years, and hearing about all the hype, I finally made it Chez Panisse with Aaron.

Pizzetta with creme fraiche, roe, chives, and scallions.


I am normally not a big fan of roe but was interested in how this pairing on a pizza would taste like. It was a good choice. The pizza dough here is really tasty and the non-traditional ingredients together were great. I loved getting a bite of potato, cream, and a lil roe. Who knew after all these years, I have (almost) acquired a taste for big roe. (Still waiting for that to happen with raw oysters... *gasp*)

Grilled Laughing Stock Farm pork leg with sauteed greens, olives, and potatoes.


This was cooked to perfection. Seasoned to perfection. So delicious. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it all, but I did. LOVED it.

Aaron got the fried rabbit.


Not your typical soul food, but fantastic.

Pink Lady apple and quince tarte with fresh whipped cream.


To me, a tarte is a tarte. I have only been blown away by one tarte de fruits that I've had in Bordeaux. Not to say this wasn't good, it certainly was a tasty apple and quince tarte. I loved the whipped cream.

Overall, I think that Chez Panisse has definitely lived up to it's name. Fantastic fresh and local ingredients. Uncomplicated food. Seasoning and cooking is to perfection. Service at the cafe is casual and friendly.

When I walked back to my car, I was welcomed with a parking ticket. But after a nearly 2,5 hour filled with foodie conversation paired with delicious meal, I wasn't feeling as bad as I normally would. (Well, until I realized I could have used those $30 for another lunch at Panisse... And I guess it's been a good 12 years since I really hung out in Berkeley. Is it me or did they really clean up the place???) Anyway ! Can't wait to go back for dinner.

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA‎
(510) 548-5525‎

My take on traditional Greek food

Made an attempt to recreate a favorite meal that Rafael and I often feast on at Evvia. Very simple food, but delicious.

Lamb loin chops marinated in olive oil, garlic, thyme, and oregano.


Unfortunately, I don't have a charcoal or mesquite grill.




Olive-oil roasted potatoes. Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.


Galaktoboureko


And finally...


Unfortunately, I haven't mastered Carlo's fancy digital camera... but you can get an idea here


And Galaktoboureko =)


For the most part, everything turned out pretty tasty. In the future, I will add more herbs to the lamb, and change to semolina flour in the Galaktoboureko.

Love & Children

You've been caught !

Who is that? I guess someone was that desperate for fresh squeezed orange juice.

Lil green trees and fungus

A&J's Beef Noodle Soup

After attending the cupping demo at Barefoot, Luigi and I went to eat Niu-rou mien at A&J's.

Niu-rou mien is a Taiwanese spicy beef noodle stew. I'm normally not a huge fan of Taiwanese food, but I LOVE this dish. Along with the dra-bing (translated into English - grab 'bread/cake'), or thousand layer pancake.



Niu-rou mien. Did I mention they make their own noodles. Hand-made noodles has to be one of my favorite things to eat EVER!


Luigi isn't a big fan of spicy foods so he got the plain beef noodle soup.


I haven't found a better niu-rou mien than here, even though, to be quite honest, most of the people that work here are douchebags. But it's okay because the contact you have with them totals to be about 30 seconds. Besides that, the food here is really good and comes out fast. And it's cheap and fresh. What more could you ask for ?

A & J Restaurant
10893 N Wolfe Rd
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 873-8298