Philly Food Part I

With my new job I got the chance to travel to Philadelphia for a convention and leadership meeting. I was very excited to visit the East coast for the first time. For months all I could think of was trying a real Philly Cheesesteak. I did my research and planned on exploring the Reading Terminal Market for every meal. Conveniently the Reading Market is located right underneath the convention center and one block away from my hotel!
The night of my arrival began with the cheesesteak I'd been dreaming about for so long. Philadelphia tradition prepares the cheesesteak with CheezWhiz, I opted for the provolone. It was good and I should have tried another one from another vendor or restaurant but I found so many other wonderful things I didn't feel the need to return to the famous sandwich.
My first big breakfast on my own was one to remember. I ventured into the Reading Terminal Market and chose a seat at the busy counter of The Dutch Eating Place. I had heard good things and a busy place is always a good sign. Each of the small counters in the market have a few seats for counter service. You take a seat where you see an open chair and the person behind the counter will get you your food. If you don't have the time to sit or there are no free seats you can order take away food at the register. I was lucky as one person, one seat was easy to find.
I ordered the raisin french toast with one fried egg on the side and a small organge juice. Sure, that sounds like standard breakfast fare but what I received was heavenly. Everything in the french toast was incredibly fresh! The butter was like nothing I'd ever tasted before. The butter actually had TASTE! ( it was home-churned) The orange juice was thick and fresh squeezed. The maple syrup wasn't Aunt Jemima, it was real Vermont maple syrup. And the atmosphere was fun sharing the counter with other tourists and locals.
For lunch the same day I returned to the Reading Terminal Market and settled on the Tommy Dinic's counter. I ordered the Italian pork sandwich and boy was it filling and fantastic! Unlike The Dutch Eating Place Dinic's didn't have a menu other than the sign that hung above the counter. There were only about five options so ordering was simple. The woman behind the counter was very nice and happily bagged the other half of my sandwich for me. If you go to the market keep in mind most places are cash only so be prepared and stop by an ATM.

Catching up

How sad is it that I haven't written in five months? Hows sad is it that I have also never posted a meal consumed in our new(7 months ago) apartment.
This is what happens when I change jobs and and homes and am much more sane and happy.
So what have I been eating? What has Ed been making?
Bleu cheese topped grilled pork chops served with sweet potato fries and their own bleu cheese dip.
40 Clove Chicken. Guess what? It is crazy garlicey! The garlic becomes so tender we spread it on crackers!
The good ol' Jambalya! nice and spicy, made from scratch and provides awesome leftovers for days.

Hawaiian Grilling (an Ed Post)

I seem to have forgotten that I am supposed to contribute to this blog. I apologize. Jodie has been doing such a wonderful job, I wasn't sure what I should write about. Writing about my own cooking just seemed like bragging, and Jodie is covering all the food we eat away from home very well.

However, I realized I could share how I made some of the dishes Jodie keeps bragging about.

Most recently, Jodie described my grilling in Hawaii, so I will start with that. First, let me just say that I love getting a chance to cook abroad. It is actually one of my favorite parts of travelling. If at all possible, I always try to schedule some time for me to cook during a vacation. This is because the types of food available to cook with from one country to the next, one state to the next, or even one city to the next, vary considerably. It is great to be able to prepare kangaroo in Australia, game hens in wine country, or ahi in Hawaii.

Not to say that fresh Ahi is only available in Hawaii. Here in California I've had a good deal of success finding sashimi grade fresh ahi. Especially in San Francisco, but also at my current residence in Los Angeles, with only a little more scarcity. The Ahi in Hawaii is, however, considerably cheaper and easy to find at any grocery store. The quality of the ahi I pepared in Hawaii was particularly good as my parents sprung for the nicest cut available.

Making an avacado-mango salsa is not nearly as complicated as it may sound. Simply, chop an onion, mango, avacado and some cilantro if you have it (I did not that night.) Then carefully mix these ingredients in a bowl with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Cut the avacado in large chinks and be careful mixing, so as not get mango guacamole.

Searing Ahi is also uncomplicated. Just salt and pepper the raw fish. Heat the grill until it is very hot. Try to coat the area you are using with a little vegetable or olive oil to keep the fish from sticking to the grill. Then simply sear the fish on each side no longer than 2 minutes. The fish should be nice and rare on the inside. My Dad's steak was prepared similarly, except that I rubbed the salt and pepper onto the steak with olive oil 10 minutes before cooking. I also cooked it closer to 5-7 minutes per side. rotating it once 45 degress to get the angled grill marks.

Serve the fish with the salsa spread over the top. I served the steak the same way. On the side serve some grilled veggies (in this case corn.) I added some grilled pineapple into the mix, because, as I said, its Hawaii and grilled pineapple is just too good to pass up. Normally, Ahi goes well with a Sangiovese red wine, but because of the mango salsa we opted for a Chardonnay. The more citric a Chardonnay the better. This would be a good time for some of the crisp summery Australian Chardonnays such as Madfish or Grant Burge. Hawaii's wine is expensive, so we opted for a cheaper, but still tasy Barefoot Chardonnay. We paired my Dad's steak with a Penfold's Shiraz-Cabernet blend.

Hawaii...Mmm Delicious part 2

Every two years my father's family holds a family reunion where most of them live; Honolulu, HI. The first event that kicks off the weekend celebration of family is always a luau at my dad's Auntie Mary's house. Back in the day Auntie Mary used to do all of the cooking. Over the years the younger generation has stepped in to lend a big hand and some of the food is now catered. No matter who is doing the cooking, the best advise is to not eat breakfast or lunch that day.
This year it was a mix of catering and home cooking. I am sad that Auntie Mary isn't doing as much cooking because I truly miss her curry shrimp, but there were plenty of other delights to choose from. I chose a mixed plate of (clockwise from top left) Lomi Salmon, Squid somthingornother, Tuna Poke, Chicken long rice, Kalua Pork and a slice of taro root; all things scrumptous! I could live off of the Lomi Salmon, Poke, Pork and long rice, I love going to Hawaii for the food.
After the family reunions on Oahu, Ed, me and Ed's parents went to Maui for the remainder of our trip. We stayed at Napili Point, a condo resort on the edge of the water overlooking a small cove filled with sea turtles. I LOVE this place! My parents booked it several years ago and I have been back three times since. The condo has a full kitchen, living room, big balcony, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Despite the full kitchen, we decieded to use one of the 3 gas grills on the property to grill up a Hawaiian style feast for dinner. Ed made seared Ahi for the two of us and his mom and a steak for his father. He also grilled up corn and pineapple and made a mango, avocado salsa to top the main entrees. Oh yeah! It was truly awesome! His father licked the bone.
The next morning we went to the gazebo cafe around the point. To get there the best way to go is on the path along the cove (where sea turtules are regularly spotted), down to the expansive tide pools and around to the whale shaped pool. There is always a line that requires about a 20 minute wait, but at the end of that wait there are white chocolate, macadamia nut pancakes! Not to mention a table with a great view. During the winter months (February-April) whales are regularly spotted from the pool and gazebo area. There is a bell mounted on a nearby palm tree with a sign that says "one ring for a whale spout, two rings for breaching".
The last time I was on Maui with my parents we ate at a French Restaurant. I could not remember the name of it but I knew it was in an itty bitty strip mall on the way to Lahina just around the bend. All I remember was that the food was indiscribably amazing! And when we went, it lived up to my memory, some of the best food I've ever had. Of course this time I remember that the prices are up there too. The restaurant, Chez Paul does not have a magnificent view what-so-ever. It is a closed, dark, classic French restaurant, and it is fantastic!
Hawaii was a fun and delicious trip! I am always happy to return. But for now it is back to the wonderful home cooked meals of my husband.

Hawaii...Mmm Delicious part 1

Before I thrill you with my wonderous culinary delights of Hawaii I want to wrap up Ed's infomercial workout.
Only about half of the class was asked to participate in the actual infomercial with before and after pictures and all. Ed was asked to join the top group! He lost a total of 22 lbs. and had to go buy new pants! My hubby is looking great and has kept up the routine after classes ended. Look out for the Shadow Boxer infomercial as a product of Body by Jake. Maybe some late night you'll see Ed's before and after shots and hear how he wanted to get in shape to sell himself better as an actor.

To Hawaii...
This was a special trip to Hawaii. Although I and my family have been many times for my father's family reunions this was different. Not only did we go to see my dad's family but our entire family tagged along. My mom, dad, sister, sister's boyfriend, grandma, husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and me. We all went out to a fancy dinner on one of our first nights to celebrate both my parents' and Ed's parents' 40th wedding anniversary and my grandmother's 80th birthday. The restaurant was called the Hau (pronounced "how") Tree Lanai and had a beautiful view of the sunset. (of course it did, it's Waikiki).


The meal was a fun gathering of families. We all enjoyed wine, food, conversation and catching up with each other. The salad I split with Ed's dad was less than amazing and not worthy of a blog photo, I could have made something better at home. But for my entree I ordered this yummy Mahi-Mahi topped with avocado.


The next morning I was awake early beacuse our room was irritatingly noisy. I left Ed to sleep in the room and went out to find a quick bite for breakfast. I walked up Kuhio Blvd. where I knew there was a small grocery store. I picked up some water and POG (best juice ever; pineapple, orange, guava) and then stumbbled upon the section of Aloha Shoyu, the best soy sauce around. We occasionally found it in Grocery Outlet here in California but it quickly disappeared. I took this picture to show Ed and to remind ourselves to get some when we came across a better, less expensive store. But, I forgot and this is all I have of the Aloha Shoyu.


More to come...

Moving on

There are a lot of things that get neglected when life gets busy. Both blogs and dinners have fallen into that category; more the blogs than the dinners.

Among the many busy things that have crowded the last 6 weeks, transitioning to a new job and a new apartment were on the list. On my last day of my job at Warner Bros. we found out we had been accepted to an apartment we liked a lot and had just looked at two days before. Ed's Aunt and Uncle were also in town visiting during this time. All of this launched our lives into crazy chaos.

Dinner was consumed among a forest of boxes for a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, Ed came through with some tasty dishes.
The always great, baked honey & walnut encrusted salmon is featured here with maple glazed carrots, colorful pasta and a room full of boxes. Dinner (with wine, good ol' two-buck-chuck) was a great relaxing break from packing, working, training, learning, getting trained, cleaning and packing. Our living room eventually became more full when we moved our matress next to our kitchen table. The celling in out closet leaked and then smelled horrible making it impossible to sleep in the bedroom.

Thank goodness, shortly after this picture was taken we moved. Now we are happier in quiet Burbank.

However, two days after moving all of our stuff to the new place we left for Hawaii for over a week...

Hot off the Grill

Some time has gone by and a lot has happened. I'll start at the beginning or rather the end for my sister.
My little, baby sister graduated from college. She is now a (fairly) mature, young woman ready to use her business marketing degree in her new endeavors.
A hot day in Monterey marked her commencement and what better a way to celebrate than to host a BBQ! Our parents brought an array of meats and vegetables for the grill. There was also no shortage of margaritas and wine. Ed, my father and Kyle, my sister's boyfriend, all took turns MANning the barbeques.
Mmmmm, steak and chicken and mushrooms and sausages. It was a great way to kick off the summer!
Congratulations Jamie, now you have to find a job. The best of luck!