eG Foodblog: mizducky - San Diego: A (Really!) Moveable Feast

[kalypso]

My mom volunteers at the Mission Trails Regional Park center.  She doesn't like to go for walks around the Trails due to the sporadic presence of rattlers.    She threatens to climb Cowles Mountain every once in a while but she prefers a walk around the Lake Murray pedestrian path (as kalypso suggested) due to its gentle hills and flat runs. Lake Murray is actually part of the Mission Trails Park, though it's quite a distance from the rest of it.

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Yikes, Toliver, if your mom can hike up Cowles Mountain I'm in trouble

I hiked up last year not too long after all the rain stopped. The path was steep, rutted and rocky. Way cool view though. It's 2 miles to the top, and, of course, 2 miles back down. I only made it 2/3 of the way up. Too hot and I'd already exhausted the liter of water I lugged with me. Unfortunately, I took a misstep on the way down and slipped on some loose rocks. Boy, did I end up with a doozie of swollen foot and lots of nice black and blue reminders. And I thought I was in good shape..............

[mizducky]

Whoa, I crashed *hard* last night! But here I am, back again, bright-tailed and bushy-eyed ... erm, or something like that.

Once again, thanks for all the love--and thanks for all the yummy pork belly suggestions!

Catching up on various comments etc.:

Congratulations on successfully negociating the dreaded Mission Gorge/Friars Rd. intersection.  Clearly designed by some demented men with an axe to grind with CalTrans.  Once you get used to it, it's not so bad, but admitedly the first few times through it kind of resembles one of the old E-ticket rides at Disneyland. 

Yeah, what is up with that intersection? The first several times through, I was totally bewildered by all those silly concrete berms. Does the city really need yet another person taking a lawsuit out on them? Okay, that's as political as I'm gonna get here, respect to the eGullet groundrules and all ...

Meanwhile--thanks for this latest crop of fabulous food suggestions, kalypso! That Vine Ripe Market sounds like it has my name written all over it. I'll see if I can take a swing by there sometime today, as you'll see in a post or two that I'll be in that neck of the woods again...

Is the hope of Kurabuta Kakuni out of the question????

Basically Nagasaki Style Braised Pork - it dies use okara - which is tofu lees

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Oooh, that looks terrific, Kirk! Would 99 Ranch or Nijiya happen to carry okara, or do I need to hunt down a more specialized store? And I'm curious what function the okara serves in the recipe--is it tenderizing or seasoning the pork? I've seen okara listed in other recipes, and it's been on my list of ingredients to investigate further, so even if I don't wind up doing this recipe for my blog, I'm sure I'll get to it eventually!

And that goes for all the rest of everybody's lovely suggestions--I'm definitely storing them all up!

I have never had pork belly as such. I can't wait to see what you decide to do with it! I vote for crispy, just because I like crispy fatty things, yum! And, yes, folks, I live in the tiny Town of English. It's the only place I could find a 2 bedroom rental, decent school zone, SOMETHING to walk to, SOMEWHAT in my price range(living on savings, still, ulp), SOMEHOW near my suburban sister's town of Marlboro($$$$$). There are lots of horse farms, places where George Washington slept, orchards and Dixie flags . I am singular here, of course.   Come visit me, and we'll visit the horses together, and go junking.

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Say, isn't Englishtown the home of a humongous flea market? I never got a chance to go, but friends who did have told me it's outrageous. And to haul this back on topic, I was given to understand there are bunches of food vendors at this flea market too. Who knows, maybe someday when I'm back in the New York Metro area visiting family I'll give you a holler. The southern half of Jersey really is a whole other trip than the part up closer to New York, innit?

My mom volunteers at the Mission Trails Regional Park center.  She doesn't like to go for walks around the Trails due to the sporadic presence of rattlers.    She threatens to climb Cowles Mountain every once in a while but she prefers a walk around the Lake Murray pedestrian path (as kalypso suggested) due to its gentle hills and flat runs. Lake Murray is actually part of the Mission Trails Park, though it's quite a distance from the rest of it.

Yeah, the Lake Murray bit was probably what I was thinking of--just checking Google Maps now, I guess I didn't realize it was totally separate from the more mountainous rattle-snakey parts--YIKES! Fearless Housemate's band used to play the 4th of July celebrations at Lake Murray--lovely family-oriented crowd, all picnicking and barbecuing on the grounds, and booths selling burgers and kettle corn (yum!).

Saving up your local food suggestions too ...

[mizducky]

Okay, here's what I'm contemplating for today's round of blog fodder:

--Sometime last evening, I succeeded in hooking up with New Roommate and picking up my set of keys. His prior roommate has succeeded in vacating the premises early, so now I can measure my new room exactly without having to climb over furniture. So--I'll be going by there today, and can show you what my new kitchen looks like.

--Next intended stop: IKEA, with measurements in hand, to order a new bed and workstation (my current ones are crap and not worth moving). Not sure if I'll have an IKEA meatball attack or not, but I'll at least poke my head in at the restaurant ... and I can never resist puttering about any kitchenware department, so I'll probably show you that too.

--If time permits, I'm going to swing by that Vine Ripe Market kalypso mentioned. The adjoining restaurant looks yummy! If I don't eat at IKEA, I'll probably lunch here.

--And this evening: I'm attending one of my favorite monthly spoken word/open mic events. Alas, the event itself isn't really on-topic for the blog, as somehow I've yet to write a food oriented spoken word piece--unlike the fabulous Zucchini Mama (girl, every time I think of that photo of you as the embodiment of Saskatechan in that grain elevator bra, I get this huge happy grin on my face!). But its location right in the heart of San Diego's North Park neighborhood puts it at ground zero for a host of cheep eatz possibilities, so my intention is to share with you where I wind up dining.

Busy day! So I'll pause here to get my ducks in a row (har har) and then check in one more time before I head out.

Edited January 20, 2006 by mizducky (log)

[daniellewiley]

--And this evening: I'm attending one of my favorite monthly spoken word/open mic events. Alas, the event itself isn't really on-topic for the blog, as somehow I've yet to write a food oriented spoken word piece--unlike the fabulous Zucchini Mama (girl, every time I think of that photo of you as the embodiment of Saskatechan in that grain elevator bra, I get this huge happy grin on my face!). But its location right in the heart of San Diego's North Park neighborhood puts it at ground zero for a host of cheep eatz possibilities, so my intention is to share with you where I wind up dining.

Busy day! So I'll pause here to get my ducks in a row (har har) and then check in one more time before I head out.

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ooh, sounds like fun! We ate at Big Kitchen in North Park - that IS North Park, right?

[mizducky]

--And this evening: I'm attending one of my favorite monthly spoken word/open mic events. Alas, the event itself isn't really on-topic for the blog, as somehow I've yet to write a food oriented spoken word piece--unlike the fabulous Zucchini Mama (girl, every time I think of that photo of you as the embodiment of Saskatechan in that grain elevator bra, I get this huge happy grin on my face!). But its location right in the heart of San Diego's North Park neighborhood puts it at ground zero for a host of cheep eatz possibilities, so my intention is to share with you where I wind up dining.

Busy day! So I'll pause here to get my ducks in a row (har har) and then check in one more time before I head out.

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ooh, sounds like fun! We ate at Big Kitchen in North Park - that IS North Park, right?

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Actually, I think that would probably count as more in South Park--also a terrific neighborhood. North Park proper is in and around the intersection of University and 30th, and as the name indicates due north, by about a mile or so.

[mizducky]

Okay, I'm off again, like a herd of turtles--see you all later (possibly way later) today ...

[MarketStEl]

[re: Englishtown, N.J.]

There are lots of horse farms, places where George Washington slept, orchards and Dixie flags . I am singular here, of course.   Come visit me, and we'll visit the horses together, and go junking. Now you all know why I roadtrip (Philadelphia ) so often! MizDucky, wake up, I miss you!

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Re: Dixie flags:

Have you ever driven US 40 across the state's southern reaches from Atlantic City to the Delaware Memorial Bridge?

About halfway across the state, you will encounter a small crossroads where the highway makes a 90-degree turn (to the right westbound). That town, whose name I forget, looks like it had been pulled up from the Mississippi soil and plunked down intact in the Middle of Nowhere, Cumberland County.

As for Philly road trips: Howzabout a heads up?

[Kouign Aman]

Hot Dog! I cant quite believe it. I've been working my way thru the food blogs the past two months, and am halfway thru 2005, when I decide to check realtime.

MizDucky, I lived 12 years behind the 7-11 east of the stadium - a flyball from Allied Gardens. Now I'm back in Clairemont Mesa (where I also lived for 7 years, some 15 years ago).

Its such a hoot hearing about infinitely familiar things from your perspective. In fact, you inspired me to register meself with the eGullet powers-that-be. I routinely bought my produce and fun stuff at the produce market. Is Frank's Happy Chef still operating in the same mall as the Soup Plantation on Mission Gorge? That's cheap eats. I'm a cheap-sushi glutton, and Osaka (on Camino Del Rio North, at the Mission Gorge intersection behind Body Beautiful and next to Chili's) is competent. I like that it is run by Vietnamese immigrants who decided there was insufficient market for their food, but a strong market for Japanese. (Of course, Mira Mesa is full of successful Vietnamese joints which proved them partially wrong).

In Clairemont Mesa: Sorrentinos, World Sushi, Panda Country, and Troys (for breakfast. Biscuits with goooooooood gravy.)

Oh me oh my, I am so damned excited by your unique perspective on 'old hat', that I cant quite believe this is cynical me! Thank you for the fun.

<editted for speedbumps>

Edited January 21, 2006 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Toliver]

In fact, you inspired me to register meself with the eGullet powers-that-be...

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Welcome to eGullet, Kouign Aman! Make sure you also check out the "California" forum for any San Diego discussions like mizducky's "San Diego Cheep Eatz mini-reviews...".

[Zucchini Mama]

Oh, I'm sure you've written some food-related spoken word at some point--or, wait I see some gastronomic poetry in the near future in my amazing crystal ball...!

Break a leg, merde, and all that, sister. Ya gotta come up to Vancouver sometime and perform. Maybe I'll have to curate a foodapalooza poetry festival.

Zuke

[racheld]

Though I've never been to California (I have two tickets in the china cabinet---Chris bought them from a charity event, awaiting our trip to SF to visit DS#4 in the Spring), I'm enjoying the heck out of all this.

Ducky Dear, I'd give a pot a grits to be there tonight for your event---sounds like a great time. But get yourself right home and get to the keyboard!!!

Welcome, Kouign Aman!!! You picked a perfect reason to debut.

Hijack: Zuke, I looked at that picture, read the poem, and lured Chris away from Stargate with the post. How'd I miss that blog???

I might like your Haggis---the ones we had in Scotland tasted like Chitlins smell. And what does one stuff a Vegetarian Haggis INTO?

Edited cause I typoed the Kid#, and that's just not RIGHT.

Edited January 21, 2006 by racheld (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

^...vegetarians!

Zuke

[racheld]

Five sons, and I step into that one!!!

[Susan in FL]

I just discovered this! I've got some catching up to do! I am so glad to see you're blogging -- I was hoping you would.

[IrishCream]

Ok, misducky. This is absolutely NOT a crisp pork belly recipe but it's the best pork belly I have ever tasted and I adore belly. This is Pim's recipe. I was lucky enough to taste her version, and an entire dinner table of people swooned. And it's fairly easy. Here is a link to the recipe on Chez Pim: Scroll down to Caramelized Pork Belly recipe If this is not the right time to try it I encourage all to try it at a later date.

[Kouign Aman]

Thank you, Toliver and racheld.

In the absence of mizducky herself, I shall hie me to her thread.

[kalypso]

Is Frank's Happy Chef still operating in the same mall as the Soup Plantation on Mission Gorge? 

<editted for speedbumps>

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Yes, and still worth a stop every now and then. Definitely cheap eatz.

[mizducky]

Greetings, all! A very exhausted duckling greets you after a good eight hours worth of wanderings here and there across the San Diego landscape. I'm going to apply myself to getting the day's photos sorted and put together in a post, and then I'll catch up on all your comments while I was out. So hang tight, I'll be back with you shortly ...

[mizducky]

Tiger Lily: "UGH!"

Indians: "UGH!"

Tiger Lily: "WAH!"

Indians: "WAH!"

Tiger Lily: "UGGA-WUGGA-MEATBALL!"

Indians: "UGGA-WUGGA-MEATBALL!"

--The first Indians scene from the musical "Peter Pan," original cast album starring Mary Martin (I swear that's what it sounded like Tiger Lily and the Indians were yelling--at least, that's what I thought when I was a kid, though my little brother used to annoy me by insisting the last line was actually "I don't want a meatball." )

Let's see ... what the hell was I doing all during that time?!? Oh yeah, right--first off, I went to my new abode to take precise measurements of my bedroom, the better to figure out how I was going to fit my stuff in there. And while I was there, I snapped a few shots of my new kitchen--which was considerably more disarrayed than it was when I first came to check it, and my prospective new roommate out:

Sigh. Bachelor living at its finest. But hey, all it takes is soap and water to set it aright. The important thing is that, although small, this galley kitchen looks pretty workably laid out. I especially appreciate the wall full of pantry at the far end. Oh yeah, and the dishwasher. This will do okay for me.

But one of the best features of this apartment is my new roommate's cat:

I am embarrassed to admit that I cannot remember kitty's name for the life of me. That's okay, he was happy to come and play for your entertainment when I presented him with my shoe. That's a Crocs clog, by the way; as I was raving in another topic earlier today, I first got turned on to Crocs from reading the Mario Batali interview here on eGullet. They are fabulously comfortable--and I am so tickled to own purple shoes!

After persuading kitty to reluctantly part with my shoe, I departed with my tape measure and sheet of scribbled numbers, and hied me to IKEA, which happens to be just a short ways west on Friar's Road from my new digs:

Ah, IKEA: the Disneyland of home furnishings stores. Especially when one borrows one of the little electric carts for the disabled to travel the trail through the store. I was almost expecting little Swedish animatronic elves to pop up out of the sofas and start singing "It's a Small World After All."

There ensued much non-food-related inspecting of and deciding about furniture, at the end of which I realized I was hungry enough to eat one of their sofas. But I decided instead to hit Ye Olde IKEA Restaurant ...

...where I indulged in that iconic IKEA meal, the Swedish Meatball Manager's Special:

Heh. Methinks the chef needs a little brush-up course on his presentation skills.

Hey, it's hardly haute cuisine, but those meatballs are pretty decent, and $5.99 for the entree plus a cup of soup and a beverage is nothing to sneeze at. The soup was chicken gumbo--no doubt from a can, but there were goodly-sized hunks of chicken in it and it was piping hot and wholesome. The lingonberry drink, however, tasted like berry-flavored Koolaid. Oh well ...

My cruise through the rest of the store was pretty cursory, but I did poke my head into the kitchenwares department briefly:

Behold: the Great Wall of Cheapo Cookware!

By now it was closing in on 5pm, and the I-8 was beginning to bog down in serious rush-hour traffic. However, since my food exploits so far this day hadn't been all that impressive, I decided to see if I could sneak through the jams and get a peek at that Vine Ripe Market kalypso recommended. With a bit of creeping and beeping, I succeeded in taking the I-8 the few exits eastward to Fletcher Parkway, made it past all the Babies 'R' Us and other suburban shopping experiences, and arrived at Vine Ripe only a little the worse for wear.

I was still majorly full from my IKEA meal, and it appeared that the restaurant part of this operation was closed anyway, but I still had fun making the rounds of this joint. The emphasis here seems to be on ethnic foods from Southeastern Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc.), and even though I did notice that some of the vegetables were a little dodgy, the collection of grocery and deli items definitely had me excited:

Produce, mass quantities of jarred items--pickled things, saucy things, all kinds of yummy things ...

The olive bar...

A humongous aisleful of imported sweets ...

They also had spices, cheeses, yogurts, kefirs, smoked fish, baked goods ... I contented myself with picking up a package of kashkavel sheep's cheese, just under $5 for a pound.

The I-8 still looked miserable, and I had to make my way back in-town to North Park for the spoken word event, so I decided to pull out my trusty Thomas Guide and plot my way through surface streets ... heh. After getting turned around a couple times, and taking an unplanned detour through La Mesa's Village Center (incredibly cute old-timey downtown, but not exactly where I wanted to be at that moment), I straightened out and flew right, westward all the way down University Ave. back to North Park.

Alas, parking seemed to be much more difficult than usual even for that area--by the time I finally found a spot, it was pretty close to showtime, and the joint where I had wanted to grab a quick bite had a line almost out the door. So I decided to just coast on the remains of my IKEA lunch, and plan to pick up some takeout on my way home after the event (which went quite well, by the way--though inwardly I was seriously beginning to lose steam...)

Fast forward to 10pm, and I'm on my way home trying to figure out what's still open at this hour that might be of even slight interest to my fellow eGulleteers. I finally decide on El Cotixan, the 24-hour taqueria nearest my current home--this is the place where I got the fish taco meal that appeared as one of the teaser photos for this blog. Alas, when I arrived the joint was awash in teenagers, apparently hanging out after some high school sporting event or other. I just didn't feel like I had the energy to bluff my way into taking photos with that kind of rambunctious crowd looking over my shoulder, so sorry, no photos of El Cotixan itself tonight. But I can show you a photo of the carnitas plate I brought home from there:

Alas, this meal was not quite as good as it looks--recently, El Cotixan seems to be confusing crispy carnitas with dried-out carnitas.

So--all in all, a rather less than totally spectacular blogging day this time around. But at least I got some food-joy out of my visit to Vine Ripe Market. Hey, ya win some, you lose some, you call some a draw.

[Pan]

[...]Hey, ya win some, you lose some, you call some a draw.

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I thought it was "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get rained out," but I guess not in southern California. (Except when the monsoon comes and it floods!)

But there's always tomorrow! Any plans for tomorrow, or will you surprise us?

[mizducky]

Now for some responses to various comments:

MizDucky,  I lived 12 years behind the 7-11 east of the stadium - a flyball from Allied Gardens. Now I'm back in Clairemont Mesa (where I also lived for 7 years, some 15 years ago). 

... In Clairemont Mesa: Sorrentinos, World Sushi, Panda Country, and Troys (for breakfast. Biscuits with goooooooood gravy.)

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Welcome to official membership in eGullet, Kouign Aman, glad to have you aboard! My current housemate and I get delivery from Sorrentinos all the time--good solid red-gravy Eye-talian comfort food. We've also gotten takeout from Panda Country a couple of times--standard Americanized Chinese cuisine, but they do it very well.

Oh, I'm sure you've written some food-related spoken word at some point--or, wait I see some gastronomic poetry in the near future in my amazing crystal ball...!

Break a leg, merde, and all that, sister. Ya gotta come up to Vancouver sometime and perform. Maybe I'll have to curate a foodapalooza poetry festival.

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Thanks, Madame Zuke. Yeah, I don't know how I managed to miss out on writing any food-themed performance pieces--definitely gotta fix that. And hey, I could use a good excuse to come back up to Vancouver, and I can think of no better excuse than a chance to be pure ham-in-a-can (so to speak) in front of a live audience.

Ok, misducky.  This is absolutely NOT a crisp pork belly recipe but it's the best pork belly I have ever tasted and I adore belly.  This is Pim's recipe. I was lucky enough to taste her version, and an entire dinner table of people swooned. And it's fairly easy.  Here is a link to the recipe on Chez Pim: Scroll down to Caramelized Pork Belly recipe  If this is not the right time to try it I encourage all to try it at a later date.

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Oooh, another tempting recipe! Yeah, even if this winds up not being my choice for tomorrow, it definitely looks like a keeper for some other occasion.

And finally, a general comment to you all: once again, I totally appreciate all the encouragement and positive feedback you all are giving me. Thanks again!

[mizducky]

[...]Hey, ya win some, you lose some, you call some a draw.

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I thought it was "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get rained out," but I guess not in southern California. (Except when the monsoon comes and it floods!)

But there's always tomorrow! Any plans for tomorrow, or will you surprise us?

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Yeah, well, when you're as tired as I'm feeling right at this point, aphorisms tend to morph a little bit, y'know? And as for tomorrow: I think I need to take it easy a little bit, so rather than another major tour around town, I'll probably keep things pretty low-key. I'll make some final decision as to which recipe I'll be inflicting on the pork belly, possibly do a quick trip out to 99 Ranch or similar nearby shop to get any ingredients I'm currently lacking, and then I'll enact and document the pork belly project in detail for your blog-reading pleasure ... plus a couple of other little cooking projects as the spirit moves me. (Remember, I still have those tomatoes and cucumbers I picked up at the OB Farmer's Market to do something with--not the ingredients one usually thinks of as a side dish for pork belly, but hey, who sez I have to play by the rules? )

[mizducky]

Okay, I go fall down go boom now. See you all tomorrow.

[Pan]

[...](Remember, I still have those tomatoes and cucumbers I picked up at the OB Farmer's Market to do something with--not the ingredients one usually thinks of as a side dish for pork belly, but hey, who sez I have to play by the rules? )

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I could easily imagine a Cantonese dish that includes both sliced-up cucumbers and pork belly. It wouldn't surprise me if hzrt8w makes or at least knows of such a recipe.

Of course, you could instead use those vegetables in a salad...

Anyway, sleep well (which I wish I was doing at the moment...)

[Chufi]

...where I indulged in that iconic IKEA meal, the Swedish Meatball Manager's Special:

Heh. Methinks the chef needs a little brush-up course on his presentation skills.

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I love how that picture makes you believe that that dinner cost you 999,- dollars

Thanks for taking me to Ikea. I love their kitchenware department.. I can never leave it without buying something.