FrogPrincesse

The frozen shrimp was from Trader Joe’s (and so were the purple garlic and linguine). I rinse it until partially defrosted. Then I follow this classic Ina Garten recipe. I have been making this regularly for a very long time now, it’s a family favorite! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/linguine-with-shrimp-scampi-recipe3-1916619.amp

I make sure to have shrimp in the freezer so I can make linguine with shrimp scampi when I don't feel like grocery shopping. Wild Argentinian shrimp, purple garlic, and linguine from TJ's; lemons from a colleague.

Or just upgrade to rhum agricole…

Sure. Have you exhausted all possibilities? Out of the > 100 stores that they show as having carried this item recently, there are likely a few that still have it in inventory.

Here is a nice article about the vibrant Asian food scene in San Diego, and its origins. We are so lucky to have all these great shops and restaurants here! https://sandiegomagazine.com/food-drink/how-convoy-became-the-heart-of-san-diegos-asian-food-scene/#:~:text=In 2020%2C the city of,known for quite some time.

Wine Searcher shows that W&N is available at many (> 100) stores in NJ. https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/j+wray+nephew+white+over+proof+rum+jamaica/1/usa-nj?Xsort_order=p&Xsavecurrency=Y

It’s all about TikTok trends these days! There was a giant line there too as we left (we apparently got there during a rare lull and were able to order right away). At least their ice creams are pretty good.

They call it tripe on the menu but based on shape, it looked like the intestines (similar to the Mexican "tripas"). Tubular as we would say in Southern California. 😉 It's close enough for me - it is all part of the digestive system. This discussion taking place at what is breakfast time for me reminds me of a passage in Amelie Nothomb's Hygyene de l'Assassin. "Des tripes à la graisse d'oie au petit déjeuner ? C'est excellent." But I digress..

See corresponding discussion.

Thanks for letting me know. The link worked earlier, so I assume the site must be undergoing maintenance at the moment. It didn't provide details on how the tripe was prepared if that is what you were curious about. That particular tripe resembled a small tube. My guess is that it was from the small intestine and cooked for a very long time given how tender it was. I have five Korean cookbooks I borrowed from the library and none of them discusses tripe (they were published for the American market, so no wonder! ).

Tamarind mojito adapted from a recipe by Pierre Thiam. The tamarind which is naturally tart added interesting flavors to the classic mojito recipe (spice and burnt sugar notes). First you make a tamarind simple syrup with 1/2 cup of tamarind pulp or paste (I used a tamarind puree which has the consistency of honey), 1 cup of sugar, and 1.5 cups of water (heat everything together, then let it cool). To make the cocktail, you muddle 1 mint sprig with 1-2 lime wedges, add 2 ounces of white rum, 3/4 oz of tamarind syrup, 1/2 oz lime juice, shake with ice, and strain into an ice-filled glass. Then you top with club soda and garnish with a mint bouquet.

Gravity Heights in Mission Valley. This is their new / second location (the other location is in Sorrento Valley). They make their own beer, and have a diverse menu that pairs great with the beer. I started with the Moonlight American IPA. My notes read: acidic, resin, piney, lemon, gravel, tropical notes. 3.75/5 The pierogies are a must-order - crispy browned exterior, creamy center. I also liked the dill sour cream on the side. I had the crab-crusted halibut for my main. I love the local halibut, it's one of my favorite fish. This one was well prepared, maybe just a touch overcooked. The Caesar salad was fine (there are superior versions out there at the Fishery or Paradisea). The Demi More burger with gruyere and caramelized onions that my husband ordered was good, very rich. A small pour of the Daybreak IPA to round things off. Piney, pineapple, coconut, grass, floral. 3.75/5 At the other location I previously enjoyed the mezze platter, the oven-roasted mussels, and the pork bolognese. Their woodfired pizzas are also quite good.

I made chef Ludo's boursin omelette the other day. It was pretty rich, and I would use smaller dollops of boursin next time. Regrettably I was out of chives, so you will have to picture this with finely sliced chives on top. The center was custardy-creamy.

I made the baked shells from the newsletter. I had homemade tomato sauce on hand so it was quite easy to make the recipe (I also do not have the energy to stuff an individual shell ). I made a half batch. It turned out pretty good, slightly on the dry side so I would use a bit more tomato sauce next time. I used these as well as the surprisingly excellent fresh ricotta from Trader Joe's, TJ's mozzarella, and TJ's parmesan. Assembly The finished product. I served it with a sprinkle of parmesan on top and a rioja on the side (also TJ's).

Here is my low tech solution for juicing grapefruit: I cut it in eighths, and I press each eighth using my Hamilton citrus press. It's a bit messy but it works. Out of curiosity, what instrument do you use to measure the brix of your juice @JoNorvelleWalker?

For dessert, we went to one of my daughter's favorite places, somi somi on Convoy. They serve the Korean dessert ah-boong, which is a freshly baked fish-shaped waffle filled with ice cream and various fillings. Cookies & cream ice cream with nutella filling in the front, matcha & black sesame swirl in the back.

I was searching Yelp to look for a specific Korean dish (the search feature in Yelp works great for that purpose). The dish was jokbal, or braised pig's trotter. Only a handful of restaurant serve this dish and one of them is the recently opened Dalbam Moon Night on Convoy. This is a smaller restaurant, with only about 30 seats, which is open late, a rarity in San Diego. Menu Banchan Here is the jokbal. It was my first time having it and I really liked it (good thing as there were plenty of leftovers!). The meat was very tender. My daughter got the bulgogi - copious and delicious! My husband got the crispy pork belly which tasted nice but was too rich for me. Speaking of overly rich, the kitchen sent us this corn cheese freebie and I couldn't eat more than a spoonful.

Reporting on a couple of Korean restaurants I tried recently. I went to Yuk Dae Jang in Kearny Mesa to try their signature dish, yukgaejang, which is a spicy beef soup made with shredded brisket and served on glass (cellophane) noodles. I got their "premium" brisket and tripe version. I am not a huge fan of tripe generally but am an adventurous eater and that sounded interesting. The tripe was actually one of the best things about the dish - it was extremely tender and delicate, and its flavor was very mild. The broth itself was quite spicy, right at my tolerance level. I read that the soup is traditionally made with bracken fern but I did not distinguish any in my bowl. The menu which is fairly limited We enjoyed their banchan (side dishes), especially the napa cabbage kimchi which was very fresh-tasting, flavorful, and not very spicy despite its fiery color. Yukgaejang My husband had the much tamer sullungtang which is an ox bone broth-based soup. We had rice & purple rice on the side.

Use different types of citrus (lime, lemon, orange - use wedges to extract the juice, rather than making lemonade), other fruit/ strawberry, etc, and some mint. See Toby Maloney’s Three Seasons. Or top with ginger beer.

A few new-to-me products (organic parpardelle nests, wild-caught grilled sardines, purple garlic) and a few repeats (the mangoes and donut peaches).

Anchovy-butter chicken with chicken fat croutons This was very delicious, however the cooking instructions didn't work as written and I had to adapt them. I recommend following the online recipe as it seems to have been updated. My chicken was 4 pounds (recipe is for 3.5 - 4 lb). After massaging the chicken with a butter / anchovy / garlic mixture it is stuffed with a halved head of garlic and some herbs. Large quartered shallots are added to the pan. The chicken is first cooked at 425F for 25 - 35 min (I went with 35 min; the website recipe says 40 - 45 min), then at 350F for 25 - 30 min (I went with 30 min; website says 30 - 35 min at 325 F). Then the chicken is cut up into pieces, torn pieces of rustic bread are added to the pan to soak up the chicken juices, and the oven temp is raised up again to 425F. At that point I realized my chicken was too pale so I added them back to the pan and cooked until brown. At the end the breasts were sadly overcooked (and the garlic was very under cooked). Anyway, the chicken with all the butter and anchovies still tasted delicious so I would make it again, ensuring that the chicken is well browned before lowering the oven temperature. Probably another 10 minutes would have done it in the first step! I would recommend following the online rather than the book recipe.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8DTCscSIbu/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==

Just a few days later, I went to my friends' new bar Happy Medium and on the menu was a drink called the High Fashion that used bourbon, pineapple benedictine (!) and burlesque / angostura bitters. Another great example of benedictine working well with tropical flavors!