Shopping When Hungry

Going to the grocery store when you are hungry is always a bad idea. You'll make impulse purchases, spend too much money and worst of all not be able to decide what to eat for dinner therefore postponing eating time even longer.
Last night Ed and I wandered through Trader Joe's hungry and indecisive. We picked up pre-cooked curry chicken as a fast meal, lentils for a Indian curry sauce, ground beef for meatballs, potstickers for fun, chicken pate for an appetizer, wine, beer and more beer, a salad for lunch and yoghurt becuase its yummy. Then we got home and had to deciede which delicious item to make as fast as possible to quench out hunger.
We chose spaghetti and meatballs as our main course. And becuase we were starving the impulse buy of chicken pate was already on the table. While the water was boiling, the meatballs baking and the frozen homemade sauce was defrosting in the microwave we had a mini feast. Chicken pate, leftover stilton bleu cheese and Espiral Vinho Verde (a portugese slightly sparkling, crisp white wine that has become my new favorite aperitive, thanks mom).
Eating these three appitizers together reminds me how much I LOVE food! We moaned and groaned over the delicious pairing until the oven timer went off and we cleared the table for the main course.
Spaghetti and meatballs made on the fly may not be nearly as elegant but can satisfy a craving just as well. I was craving meat, why? I don't know. But the meatballs in meat sauce made my mouth very happy! My stomache was not quite so happy with me though and wished I had stopped after the first two meatballs due to lack of room after so much pate and cheese.
MMMMM...food is soooooooo good! I Live to Eat! Throw caution and money to the wind and don't go hungry when your shopping. Buy what you want and eat what you please but remember, everything in moderation.

Sitting on the Can

Cooking the same thing the same way all the time gets boring. Sure, you can change up the main ingredient but you really only have baked chicken, baked fish, baked lamb or grilled chicken, grilled steak, grilled pork chops or sauteed chicken, sauteed vegetables, sauteed ground beef. Sometimes you have to mix it up a bit, sometimes you have to be different, sometime you gotta be crazy. What about cooking it on a beer can? Beer can chicken has become quite popular. I even saw Target carrying a wire device that held the beer can and helped steady the chicken on the BBQ. Normally beer can chicken is prepared on a covered BBQ with a whole chicken on a 40 ounce can of beer. Ed decided to go crazy on an already crazy idea. He made beer can game hens. Cornish game hens were placed on normal sized beer cans and cooked in the oven (so yes, they were baked). As funny looking as they were they tasted great! The beer cans should be only about half full of liquid when the hen is placed on top making some pleasurable work for the chef before hand. The left over liquid is then absorbed into the chicken (or the hen) during cooking making the meat tender and moist!
Good weather means its grilling season! Get out there and make some beer can poultry of your own.

Philly Food Part II

A couple of days into the convention I spotted a window of time I could escape. Armed with a map, my cell phone and notebook of information in case anything was urgently needed (which it was, of course but fixed in minutes with a couple of calls) I scampered off towards the Liberty Bell to do some sight seeing.

I was lucky enough to catch the Liberty Bell with very few people around. While I was slowly making my way through the museum a big group of school kids entered the hall. I ran down to the Bell and got a few photos with it before the big group came. (strangers are not the best photographer. The bad thing about sight seeing alone) I lingered to hear the park ranger give his speech about the bell to the school group.

After seeing the bell I set off in the direction of the river. I can now say I've seen New Jersey but I've never been there. Walking down the historic looking Chestnut street a brewery caught my eye. I had some extra time and I figured I could use a quick rest. I sat myself at the bar of the Triumph Brewery and ordered a pint of seasonal ale brewed on site. A bizarrely named beer intruiged me. The bartender gave me a taste of their crazy concoction. It was particularly strong but very good, I would have rather drank a pint of that, oh well.

Philadelphia provided me with many good meals some of which where fancy gourmet entrees but it were the inexpensive unexpected meal that were the best. The first night that several other people arrived for the leadership meeting I grabbed some dinner with a couple of them. We wandered away from the hotel with a specific cantina in mind. When the wait turned out to be over an hour the pizza place we passed on the way sounded great! I ordered two enormous slices, the second only because it sounded crazy and I had to try it; potato and egg pizza. It tasted like breakfast. The food was good. The restaurant even offered several pasta dishes which, according to my dinner mate, were pretty good. And it always helps that everything was very inexpensive with no tip required.

My last full day in Philadelphia was spent in an all day leadership meeting at our Courtyard Mariott Hotel. We got a quick break for lunch. Unfortunately it wasn't long enough to go anywher other than the hotel restaurant. I ordered a crabcake sandwich with high hopes. I was disappointed with a soggy pile of crab mush. I picked at it and then excused myself from the group exercise that I wasn't really apart of. The outdoors were calling me and I had to get some fresh air.

The next morning I woke up early to squeeze in anymore sightseeing I could do before we left for the airport at 11:30am. I arrived at Independence Mall just before everything opened and asked a park ranger where I could grab a bite for breakfast. She suggested a buffet place inside the Bourse Building. I expected something expensive with tons of food. Tons of food yes but you only paid (by weight) for what you put on your plate. Some eggs, a few pieces of french toast and syrup cost me $3 and change. I gobbled the affordable food and ran off to see the US Mint, Ben Franklin's grave and the US Treasury.

Yummy trip to Philly!

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.