mizducky

Oh yeah--I wanted to show you what-all else I wound up buying at Trader Joe's today. Dig my handy-dandy folding shopping-bag on wheels! Within its capacious tiger-print walls are the following items: Glucosamine capsules (good for osteoarthritis); balsamic vinegar (I dunno how authetic it is, but the label sez it was aged 10 years); omega-3 fatty acid gelcaps (for heart, brain, and joint health); pure cherry juice (to ward off any gout twinges from all the animal protein I'll have eaten at Ba Ren); organic free-range chicken broth (useful in so many ways); canola oil non-stick spray (ditto--and TJ's version has no icky off-taste like other brands); peppermint tea (in case my tummy freaks out at the spicy Ba Ren food); whole wheat pitas (my "staff of life" ); and dried European mushrooms (because, like, you can never have too many dried mushrooms around the kitchen). Even with the nutritional supplements, which are usually pricey items, this entire haul (including the previously-consumed carrot juice) came to something like $32. Squeezin' that dollah till the eagle grins ...

I was joined at Ba Ren by three of my fellow San Diego food fanatic friends: Kirk and Gayla, known here on eGullet as mmm-yoso and kalypso respectively, and Howie, of A Foodie's Eye View of San Diego Restaurants. Kirk is the one who first turned me on to this stellar Szechuan restaurant through his food blog. He and his wife were familiar with the work of this place's chef from when they lived up in the San Gabriel Valley and this chef held forth at Chung King in Monterey Park. Alas, Kirk's wife was not able to join us tonight due to work commitments, but she helpfully phoned ahead on our behalf to put in a request for a dish that requires some advance prep. Going to Ba Ren has been a revelation to me--prior to this, I didn't know enough to realize that kung pao chicken and similar dishes served in American Chinese restaurants were really dumbed-down Szechuan for American tastes. Ba Ren does have kung pao chicken and the like hidden away on the back page of the menu, under the heading "America's Favorites," for those who insist. But why would you, when there are over 500 other, more wonderful and authentic delights to choose from? We started with a trio of cold appetizers from the cooler-table in the front of the restaurant: I have developed a fanatical devotion to these cold dishes, so the others let me do the choosing--I went with "Husband and Wife" (thin slices of beef and tripe bathed in lots of chile oil); a salad of julienned bamboo shoots; and dried beef (a fiery Szechuan answer to beef jerky): The special ordered-ahead dish was more than worth it: called "steamed whole squash with meat" on the menu, this was a cute little Japanese kabocha pumpkin stuffed with meat and other yummies--including more hot spices--and then steamed until done: The contrast of the naturally-sweet, soft pumpkin flesh with the meat's fat and juices and the hot spices was absolutely out of this world. I hope to find out how to make this dish, because I expect it would totally rock the next Thanksgiving dinner I need to bring a dish to. Our next dish was one Kirk had been turned on to on his most recent visit to Ba Ren, a dish not on the main menu but only listed in Chinese on the latest version of the restaurant's table card: Thanks for this photo, Kirk! The item in question is the second from the bottom, and is a dish of beef tendon and konnyaku, stewed with chiles and spices until both are meltingly tender: For me, this and the pumpkin dish were tied neck-and-neck for best dish of the evening. I just couldn't get enough of the wonderful mouth-feel of the perfectly-done tendon. And the konnyaku was a perfect match in texture. Also starring in this night's repast was this lovely fish stew, called "Woo Jiang fish fillet" on the menu: Lovely medium-spicy broth with great body, and the fish was nicely-done and not falling apart at all. Last but not least was a yummy "Crispy Rice Crust with Three Treasures": I think crispy rice crust must be what rice cakes dream of turning into when they die and go to heaven. The server presents the dish by first putting a platter full of these crispy rice squares down on the table, and then pouring over it a bowlful of yummy goodies in a light (but of course spicy) sauce. All sorts of sizzlings ensue, sort of the Szechuan equivalent of pouring milk on Rice Crispies--only much nicer. In this case, the goodies included tender slivers of chicken, sea cucumber, and squid, plus lovely big slices of bamboo shoot and other goodies. We ate like crazy, still had tons left over, and walked out of there paying a mere $15 each. That kind of price for such terrific food definitely makes a tightwad gourmand want to jump up and down with delight. Erm, except that she's a little too full to jump up and down safely... Many thanks to my dinner companions for a great evening, with great food and great conversation.

So, due to circumstances beyond my control (involving an urgent work-related phone call), I got out of the starting gate today a little later than I had planned. Thus, by the time I finished with non-blog-related errands, I realized I didn't have quite enough time to make it all the way out to and back from the farmer's market I had originally intended to visit, and still meet my co-conspirators at Ba Ren at our appointed time of 5:30pm. Thus, it was time for Plan B. My last errand left me pretty close to the University City area. Also known as the Golden Triangle, this neighborhood is adjacent to the main UCSD campus and the town of La Jolla, and is jam-packed with block after block of very new, very huge, very well-heeled condo complexes, interspersed with outposts of the big high-end hotel chains, and shopping centers anchored by stores such as Nordstrom's. Sounds like this neighborhood would be rather slim pickings for your typical tightwad gourmand, huh? But not if you know where, in the bowels of one of those shopping centers, to find one of the local branches of this beloved chain: I hardly ever go to this Trader Joe's, mainly because it's not particularly convenient to my home, but also because the shopping center it's in (La Jolla Village Square) has one of the most bizarrely laid-out parking lots in the known universe, and I'm always afraid I'm gonna wind up in an accident there. Having said all that, though, this TJ's is one of the nicer ones I've ever been in (and I've been in several). I mean, look at how spacious this joint is! That's barely 2/3 of the fresh/prepared food department lining the back wall in the above photo. Heck, even this TJ's ladies' room is ritzier than any grocery store bathroom I've ever seen: And a new feature since I was last here; this is the first TJ's I've ever been in that has one of these babies: I didn't need it today, thank goodness. But even at my healthiest, I can never predict when my joints will cop an attitude and decide they ain't cooperating with me nohow noway--which of course, by Murphy's Law, must always happen at the most inconvenient moment possible. So I keep a mental list of every grocery store equipped with electric scooters for disabled customers, for those times when I must do grocery shopping regardless of whatever mood my knees are in. A TJ's with this amenity--plus, even more importantly, with aisles wide enough to navigate with the darn thing--is sure to come in really handy one of these days. So I made my rounds and picked up a few staples I always get at TJ's because they're great products and great deals ... including a healthy snack-thing to tide me over until dinner: Boy, does carrot juice taste rich! I don't think I could drink this stuff everyday, but every now and then it makes a terrific treat. While I sipped my juice, I entertained myself by scoping these enterprising folks, almost on Trader Joe's doorstep: I'm sure TJ's must love having these guys beat their produce both in price and quality. By this time it was already past 4:30pm, and time for me to fight my way through the gathering rush-hour traffic to Clairemont Mesa and Ba Ren. (continued in next post)

I'm back! Didja miss me? Just gotta go upload some photos, and I'll be right with you all ...

Hi folks--Got my camera and batteries lined up, so I'm finally ready to leave the nest for the day's round of errands and etc. I'm running a little later than I had hoped, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit the farmer's market I had in mind--but never fear, I have a couple of interesting alternate destinations I could substitute (plus I've got other farmer's market opportunities later in the week). And then, of course, there's tonight's dinner at Ba Ren. See y'all later--and keep the comments and questions coming, I love 'em! Cheers ...

The gizmo's box calls it a "Super Slicer Professional Mandoline Slicer" (a name obviously conjured up by the Department of Redundancy Bureau ). Made in China; no brand name visible anywhere on the box. I think I paid all of $15 for it at a local Albertson's/Sav-on superstore. The knob does adjust the blade position/slice size; there's another knob that raises the little perpendicular julienne blades from the bed of the slicer. It also comes with a second, wavy blade for doing ripple and waffle cuts. The thing is damn sharp! I'm still nursing a nick on one finger from using the thing a few days ago--I'm careful as hell while actually slicing, but sometimes I get distracted while cleaing it afterward. Especially considering the price, I'm pretty darned pleased with the thing--it's surprisingly sturdy and well designed. I have no idea whether another blade configuration would be easier, as this is the only manual slicer-gizmo I've ever fiddled with. Edited to add: I've not tried putting the pita in the toaster--I kinda like how soft and pliable it gets in the microwave. (Edited to fix at least the one typo I spotted ... )

My standard road rations these days: low-fat breakfast bars; dried fruit; bottled water; and yes, the dreaded celery sticks and baby carrots (not half bad if they're really fresh).

Now to try to catch up with some recent comments: About the cooking wine: heh--probably not an exception. I just confronted a whole shelfful of the stuff at the 99 Ranch, went "oh hell, I dunno!", and picked one. I got into using Shaoxing wine in my cooking thanks to Ah Leung's pictorials--it does seem to add a nice note to dishes. From what my friends in Weight Watchers say, you might well be able to calculate the points in a typical bowl of pho from nutritional info such as this listing from calorieking.com. I know ... I should probably send out an advance notice: "Warning, warning! Clueless gweipo on the loose!" ← Mizducky: No one would dare call you a "clueless gweipo", not while I'm around. You've had more varied Asian cuisine, and have greater access to Asian foods that this poor ole Chinese on the prairies! ← Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dejah! Actually, the only person who's ever called me that is myself--I'm operating on a variant of the Cyrano De Bergerac principle: nobody can effectively make fun of me if I make fun of myself first. Alas, I forgot to write down the exact name of that soup--it did come from the same section of the menu as the bun bo Hue and other bun soups, as opposed to the other section of the menu featuring bun not-in-a-soup. I have had bun bo Hue, complete with the pig's blood, and loved it. Saigon does an especially nice version IMO because the little cubes of congealed pig's blood are nice and smooth, with no grainy texture whatsoever. Really great for when I feel like I need a little more iron in my diet!

Good morning all! It's another gray, overcast morning in Paradise. And it looks like the clouds, and relatively moderate temperatures, will be staying with us the rest of the day--check today's hour-by-hour forecast. But I'm just as glad, because when the sun gets going around here I have to really watch my mid-day outdoor wanderings, to protect myself from getting zonked by the heat and sun. And I do have some outdoor wanderings scheduled for today (and I'll be taking the shades, brimmed hat, and high-SPF sunscreen with me anyway, just in case). My breakfast this morning, as is typical for me these days, looked rather more like a lunch: I swear my mandoline-gizmo was totally clean and tidy before I started slicing the roast beef on it! The meat is the remains of a nice little 2-pound chunk of rump roast that I picked up on special ($1.99/lb) at my local natural-foods grocer Windmill Farms. Very recently I decided to try and phase out pre-packaged lunch meats, even the low-fat ones, in favor of cooking my own sandwich fodder. Note also the cheap-ass kitchen scale. To my chagrin, I still am a rather unreliable estimator of portion size--I'm okay with winging it when dining out, but when it's just me at home alone, I do slap my food into the ol' measuring device just to keep myself on the beam. Here we have 2.5 oz of lean rare roast beef, loaded into half a whole-wheat pita with some romaine lettuce and cilantro, accompanied by a big honkin' red grapefruit. I go through a ton of those whole-wheat pitas--they're tasty, low in fat, relatively low in calories for a bread product, and whole-grain, plus they make a really satisfying sandwich. My little trick: I microwave them for 20 seconds to take the fridge chill off and make them easier to open--sometimes, as this monring, they tear anyway, but they still taste fine.

Well, that all went rather quickly. I fished the fish out of its marinade, and placed it in a metal baking pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (Oh yeah, this is one of my very few concessions to "diet" foods. It's just too damned useful to ignore; plus I have fat in this dish already, in the form of sesame oil, and I'd much rather spend my fat allotment on big yummy flavor than on utilitarian purposes such as lubrication.) Then I put the pan into a pre-heated more-or-less 450 deg F oven--the "less" because my roommate must have figured someone left the stove on by accident and helpfully switched it off. But it was still quite hot enough for my purposes. Meanwhile, I took the reserved marinade and put it in a saucepan, piled a bunch of the baby bok choy thingies in, and put it, covered, on medium-low heat. In about ten minutes, everything was done and ready to go. Here's the plated meal: I was pretty pleased with this as a first-time experiment. On reflection, I could go a little lighter on the ginger--I've been doing that a lot lately, overdoing it with ginger. I think my body's just craving it for healing, which is fine, but it does tend to take over the flavor of a dish. Still, the fish held its own--great dense meaty texture. Would you believe I paid 2 bucks a pound for this stuff? Another reason why I adore Asian markets--they joy my tightwad gourmand heart. Thank you to everybody who has chimed in here so far. That just joys my heart, period. Tomorrow--or officially, later today: we do Ba Ren. I also have a visit to a farmer's market in mind. Your suggestions for other things you'd like to see are also welcome--I might not be able to fulfill them exactly, but I'll at least find out some stuff for ya. I'll be up for awhile, but I'll say goodnight now ...

Okay--first, here's a close-up picture of two pieces of the mystery vegetable: Notice that the one on the right looks totally like baby bok choy ... and the one on the left has the little flowers. So ... maybe this is baby bok choy, some of which has been allowed to go to seed? Heck, I dunno, but I'm sure it'll taste just fine ... Meanwhile, here's what's happened with the fish so far: The hunk o' yellowtail, with some of my mise materials in the background: a couple of blood oranges, some garlic and ginger, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and some scallions that are admittedly a little past their prime, but in good enough shape for these purposes. Also playing in tonight's game: ground white pepper, reconstituted dried shiitakes and their soaking liquid, and Shaoxing cooking wine. The fish (rather messily) sliced into steaks: Mincing the garlic (and showing off my big butch cleaver ): The fish, resting in their marinade: By the way, you will notice that the hour has grown rather late. I am a bit of a night owl--one of the advantages of working as a freelance telecommuter--so it is not uncommon for me to be cooking and eating at a relatively late hour. Think of me as working the night shift. Still, that fish should be getting in the oven pretty soon now ...

I know ... I should probably send out an advance notice: "Warning, warning! Clueless gweipo on the loose!" (White stems, green leaves) is what Cantonese call "bok choy". In Cantonese (at least Hong Kong Cantonese), "choy sum" is a vegetable has green stems and green leaves. http://www.foodsubs.com/Cabbage.html#bok This is a picture of what Cantonese call "choy sum" (click on the image to enlarge): (Choy Sum) ← Ahhhh ... I see now what my confusion was. The sign in the store actually identified the veggies I bought as "baby bok choy sum." I thought: "Wait, I've heard of bok choy, and choy sum, which one are these? Wait, I can see that some of them have little blossoms ... doesn't that make them choy sum?" But now I looked that the first link you provided, and see that there is in fact a vegetable called baby bok choy sum a.k.a. Canton bok choy, whose description matches what I've bought (white stems, some yellow flowers). I'll upload a photo shortly.

Aha! Your post snuck in while I was posting. I see we're thinking along similar lines with the yellowtail. I think I have a couple of oranges handy ... and I was actually debating as to whether to leave my chunk of fish whole, or slice it into steaks ... let me step into my laborotory--bwahahahahah! P.S. Sorry about your 99 Ranch deprivation ...

I've not experienced an H-Mart in person, but to judge from your blog and H-Mart's website, I'd say that 99 Ranch is thinking similarly in terms of scale, but not necessarily aiming at the same level of cross-cultural outreach. As far as I can tell, I think they're still very much flavored by the SoCal-based Asian communities from which they first sprung. Here's their website. Meanwhile, having heard no suggestions for what to do with my li'l chunk o' yellowtail, I think I'm going to go ahead and give it a simple oven-roasting with some ginger and various onion-type products. Pictures hopefully soon to follow...

Okay, so the the real-time food aspect of this blog starts with a whimper rather than a bang--namely, a lowfat breakfast bar hurriedly inhaled while driving to my weekly support group/exercise class thingie at my HMO. I will spare you a picture--you know what those groady little things look like. I eat them only in situations like that, when I have no time for a meal but at least want something vaguely healthy in my tummy so I'm not running on empty. Things got a good bit better, foodwise, once I finished with my class--which, being up in Kearny Mesa, puts me right next door to all the Asian eateries and groceries in the Convoy Street neighborhood. So I made a beeline for one of my old reliable pho joints in that area, Convoy Street Noodle House: Here, I ordered my usual: the basic pho with everything--rare steak, well-done brisket, flank, tendon, and tripe--the smaller bowl rather than the humongous bowl: Note that the accompanying plate of veggies and herbs is rather less generous than the one at Saigon. I also like Saigon's broth better, as it's stronger-flavored and richer (a little too strong and rich for some people's preferences, but it suits me). Anyway, Convoy Noodle House does make a competent, well-flavored bowl of pho. I've always loved the stuff, but when I switched to my health regimen my interest in pho increased dramatically, as its ratio of protein to starch and veg fits in almost perfectly with my routine. Suitably refueled, I turned to errands, two of which wound up being food-related. First, I headed south on Convoy to Nijiya Market: This is one branch of a small chain of California-based Japanese grocery stores specializing in organic produce. They also do a brisk business in takeout (in fact, one of the teaser photos for my previous blog was of a bento from this store). This is only one of several prepared-food cases lining the entire back of the store: And of course they have the obligatory Wall of Pocky (and other Japanese stick-shaped snacky-things): But I wasn't buying food here today, but kitchenware: This is a suribachi, a Japanese mortar/food-grinding bowl. The ribbed interior of the bowl provides the major grinding texture. I used to have one of these ages ago, but it went walkies several moves back. I've wanted to replace it for a long time now, and blogging week seemed to be a good excuse to take care of that. Not sure if it'll actually see action this week, but who knows? Nijiya has lovely produce, but it's a bit on the expensive side. So I then went to do my actual food shopping at another old reliable, the local 99 Ranch Market: Yep, that's a fountain out in front. The statuary is several big bronze carp leaping out of the water. 99 Ranch does have its big-and-glitzy side: But they also have the huge fresh fish department in the back, complete with tanks of live critters makin' faces at the humans: And they also have an extensive produce department with extremely reasonable prices: So here's my haul from 99 Ranch (cunningly displayed against the backdrop of my current roommate's two George Foreman Grills ): In no particular order: a container of shirataki noodles; a big yellow onion; a bag of shallots; a bag of cherries that looked like Rainiers, but turn out to be rather tart-tasting; a bagful of baby choy sum; a packet of enoki mushrooms; a package of unidentified Asian basil; and in the white butcher's paper is a 1.25 pound chunk of yellowtail, a segment from the tail with skin on. I'm more familiar with yellowtail as sushi than in a chunk obviously meant for cooking. I'll be happy to entertain suggestions as to how to cook it--though those suggestions had best come in rather promptly, as I'm beginning to feel ready to cook myself some dinner.

Howdy, folks! Back from the day's errands and shopping and whatnot. I've got a bunch of photos to upload and post, but first, let me address some of the queries and comments that came in while I was away: Y'know, I have no idea where Humphrey's gets its dishware, but I swear I've seen that stuff on some website somewhere. I know, not very helpful, huh? Let me see if I can retrace my Google-steps on that one ... IIRC, that was indeed mint in that pile of herbage with the bun soup. Also in that pile were bean sprouts, finely shredded cabbage, sliced jalapenos, and I think there was a lime chunk or two. I will definitely be going into my food plan, and related health endeavors, in greater detail fairly shortly. One little misconception I do want to clear up right now: I am *not* doing Optifast. Nothing against anyone who does that program, but personally I wouldn't, because (a) it's way too fast a weight loss for a body to take without extremely close monitoring (which licenced Optifast programs do include, but still...) and (b) you still have to learn how to eat and exercise right to keep the weight off once you get to the end of the program. What I'm doing involves real food all the way; it goes nice and slow--I try to aim for a two-pound-a-week loss, on average--and has required me to learn how to do portion control and balanced nutrition from the very git-go. And yes, what I'm working on is very much the food routine I intend to be doing "for the duration" ... where "duration" is staying undefined, but informally is intended to be, well, the rest of my life. No fly-by-night fad diets here! Heh. I have to say, I have heard more Steely Dan (and Donald Fagen solo) music turn up as muzak in supermarkets, department stores, you name it ... always makes me giggle, wondering if anyone in the store's management has ever really listened to any of the lyrics on those songs. Steely Dan also drops some very intriguing food references in their lyrics ... more on that anon. Periwinkles are wee little marine snails. They're apparently more popular as food in Europe and Asia than in the US. They can be cooked as for escargot/land snails, or by many shellfish recipes--as long as you take into account their tendency to get chewy. I referred to them as periwinkle *meats* in the bun soup description because in that dish they were served removed from their shells. More about the little critters here. Donald Fagen plus Walter Becker essentially equal Steely Dan--all the rest is done with hired-gun studio musicians, and many hours of extremely expensive studio time. Donald is the one who handles lead vocals and keyboards; Walter has only recently taken turns at a few lead vocals on CD and in concerts, and plays either lead guitar or bass. Both of them are equal partners in all Steely Dan compositions--in fact, the synergy between these two guys as friends and songwriters is IMO almost as remarkable as the music they turn out. I have definitely noticed a terrific improvement in my physical condition since I started this health-regimen back at the end of January. Some of that is purely due to taking some weight off my poor suffering knees and hips, but some of it, I'm sure, is also due to getting much better nutrition from a massive increase in my fruit and vegetable intake, and accompanying decrease in the quantities of animal protein and fat I was eating (I was *way* out of balance!). As for feeling satiated ... most of the time, yep, I feel very satisfied with the quantity and quality of food I'm eating. When I get hormonal, well, that's when things can get a little hairy! But between a strong commitment to stay on this thing no matter what, and some strategies I've developed for coping with the midnight crave-crazies, I've managed to hang tough so far. I will definitely go into greater detail about all this too, very shortly. Now, off to do dances with groceries and camera--but I'll be back real soon!

Good morning, folks--just sticking my head in real fast before I take off for my class. Got the camera in tow, and will hopefully have photos to show you later on today. I'm greeted today by a nice, non-sunny SoCal morning (the type of foggy overcast we're experiencing this morning is known as the "June Gloom"). Thanks to those who have posted so far--I will happily address any questions, and those of others, as soon as I get back home this afternoon. Cheers!

Howdy folks. Welcome back to my little food-world. I'm really tickled to have been asked to blog again so soon, and am looking forward to having another really fun time with y'all. And I do hope that, once again, people will feel free to participate with questions, suggestions, stories, whatever turns you on about what I'll be presenting. In this week of traipsing around with me, you'll notice that a lot of the same obsessions evident in my first blog will still be in full effect in this one, including but not limited to: good cheap eats in little hole-in-the-wall mom-n-pop joints; ethnic markets; Asian cuisines; exploring neighborhoods; shameless references to classic rock. You'll also note a whole new obsession making its presence known, which I realize I've been harping about almost too often in my posts around eGullet recently--but hey, it's helping me keep my commitment, so I appreciate you all humoring me. Yep, I'm talking about my whole little crusade to come up with a weight-management plan for myself that is realistic, healthy, customized to my food preferences, and enjoyable enough that I can stick to it for a good long time without it driving me nutz. So far it's been going pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. So I'm only feeling a little bit nervous showing you all what I do now to implement this weight-management plan in my daily food doings. Part of what I do now with weight-management will be occupying most of my morning today (I mean, once I get done with the business of sleeping). I'll be headed over to my HMO for my weekly weigh-in and exercise class. Then I've got a bunch of errands lined up, some of which are food-related: one will be catching lunch at a local pho cafe, and at least one other will involve some shopping. I will bring camera along, of course, and do my best Harriet the Spy imitation for your enjoyment. Other plans will be revealed as the week progresses. Some of them are admittedly rather fluid--I do a lot of little shopping trips for fresh produce, and I tend to let what I cook be influenced by what looks good and appeals to me at any given moment. And this week, I'll also be soliciting opinions and ideas from you folks--so feel free to chime in. As to (somewhat) more solid plans: I do know there will be at least one outdoor farmer's market. I think there's supposed to be at least one food-related community event at my organo-groovy UU church. There will even, finally, be a visit to Ba Ren, the local Szechuan joint I love so well--my food plan includes, for the sake of my sanity, the concept of the pre-planned occasional splurge, and a few of my local foodish friends will help me demonstrate how that's done. Oh, and I can't resist filling you in about the photos from my blog teaser, especially as they too relate to planned blog stops: This is a wonderful Vietnamese soup known as "bun" -- actually, I think the word "bun" refers specifically to the type of rice vermicelli noodles used in this style of soup. This variation has tomatoes, periwinkle meats, and fluffy cubes of shrimp cake. The broth is spicy, and enriched with a fermented fish paste. Like its sister-soup pho, this one comes with a big pile of veggies and herbs to add in. I had this at Saigon, 4455 El Cajon Blvd, one of the westernmost outposts of a whole string of Vietnamese and other Asian restaurants and shops that I am busily exploring. I may or may not hit Saigon again during the week, but I'll definitely show you some of "The Boulevard's" delights. Oh yeah--and this blog would not be complete without an appearance by the owner of this scarf: I guess I gotta call him Fearless Ex-Housemate now, huh? I was over at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge, a local live-music venue attached to a very popular resort/restaurant complex, to hear one of FXH's bands perform, and I was lining up a photo of the extremely nice warm scallop and shimp salad they served me there. When FXH noticed how Humphrey's dishware pattern matched the scarf he was wearing (swag from the recent concert tour of Donald Fagen, better known as one half of the classic-rock act Steely Dan), he couldn't resist accessorizing my photo--and voila, he "scarfed" my salad. (ow. sorry, couldn't resist). It was in fact FXH's Steely Dan tribute band that was playing that night--whenever he plays there, he can't resist directing the audience's attention to the view out the lounge's windows: ...of course, it's night by the time he sings the lines "The end of a perfect day/Distant lights from across the bay..." All this is actually on topic, because there will be at least one more planned musical visit from FXH during this blog--and food will very much be involved.

Oh cool! I saw that pictorial, and was already thinking about trying it some time. Thanks once again, Ah Leung!

Gorgeous yard, and gorgeous food. Got any favorite tips on grilling or broiling eggplant? I can't seem to keep my slices from getting all soft and mushy, whether I do the salt-purge thing or not. (I do rather better when I grill or broil the long skinny Asian eggplants, because then I can split them lengthwise, and the skin helps hold them together.)

Heh. The only trivia about watermelon that I can think of is this (actually pretty apropos) aphorism attributed to Mark Twain: "It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took: we know it because she repented." I am notoriously lousy at picking out ripe melons of any species, so I'm sitting out that question.

Heh. I'm not sure I can predict accurately what your or your husband's menu preferences are, but (assuming for the moment that calories are no object) the following would probably be my top choices: starters: Fried oysters Shrimp grits Salads: Spinach (but what is this Shed salad they speak of?) Entrees: Roast duck breast Salmon croquettes The okra pancakes sounded intriguing, but I found myself wondering how they managed okra's tendency to slime in terms of not gunking up the pancake's texture. So--Google to the rescue! Here's the recipe--apparently, these wind up a bit more like pan-fried fritters than flat pancakes. (Hey, I'm a nice Jewish grrl from New Yawk, I don't know these things... )

I just thought of another illuminating example from my cookbook stash. I am a (mostly) happy owner of Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For The Food, which I guess is technically more of a reference book than a cookbook. Nonetheless, it does have recipes in it ... of which I don't think I've cooked a single one. And I must confess that while the coffee table book format and sprightly graphics are kinda cute in an abstract way, in terms of practicalities they're a bit of a pain--the book weighs a ton, and I find the squiggly lines rather distracting. HOWEVER ... the darn thing is full of AB-esque explanations of how stuff works that really seem to broadcast on my wavelength, so I'm pleased to keep this sucker around for a loooooong time. Another illustrative example: somewhere along the way I acquired one of the Two Fat Ladies' cookbooks. Again, I think I've yet to cook a single one of the recipes. But again, I'm keeping it ... partly because I did really get a kick out of the Ladies, whose attitudes are well-captured by the book; plus it's a window on styles of cooking I'd barely been exposed to. Plus who could resist a book that ends with detailed instructions on how to roast a whole "beast" on a spit? I mean, visions of the Grinch's Roast Beast fairly danced in my head! (Okay, so I do have a bit of a taste for gratuitious porn after all--I am nothing if not inconsistent. )

I just Googled "moist towelettes" and turned up a number of food-service and other links, such as this one. Yeah, this place has a minimum order of a case, but the price per case looks fairly manageable; and it doesn't look like they require you to be in the business to order off this site.

Hmmm. Y'know, this question may well be complicated by the practice of many people--myself included--to use recipes more as inspirations for their own improvizations than blueprints to be followed exactly as written. It's not like I've *never* done a recipe straight--for instance, I very seldom alter with yeast bread recipes as I'm not an experienced enough baker to predict what effect any change will have over the rising process. But otherwise, I'm pretty adventurous. But I don't count a cookbook a waste if I never do any of its recipes as-is -- or even if I never do any of its recipes, period, but just use it as a reference book for info and technique. Just one example: my copy of the 1970s-era Joy of Cooking. Frankly, a lot of the recipes just don't spin my propeller. I can't remember the last time I used a recipe out of it, either straight or, well, warped. But hey--what a terrific compendium of info! If I ever had to do the survivalist thing, I'd be all set with instructions on how to skin a squirrel! Having said that, the cookbooks I have found myself discarding sooner or later are ones that are more on the frou-frou side, devoted to very exquisite fancy dishes that are long on beauty and presentation, and giving reference-type material short shrift. Lacking such underlying meatiness, such foofy books just don't have any staying power for me. But even if a book is frou-frou-ed out to the max, if it does have any useful reference material in it at all (say, an appendix of interesting sauces and stocks, or an illustrated glossary of ingredients previously unfamiliar to me), I'll still hang onto it. In other words, I'm not at all against food porn, but I majorly prefer porn with redeeming social value as opposed to purely gratuitous porn.