eG Foodblog: jkonick - Mild Mannered Student By Day...

[jkonick]

Hi! Welcome to my life for the next week! Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

I've got to keep this short, because it's 1 am and I have to work at 9 tomorrow morning.

I live in Seattle, Washington, and I've lived here basically my whole life. I'm a sophomore at the University of Washington where I'm studying French and comparative literature. I also write a weekly food column for the UW's paper, which if you're interested, you can find here: www.thedaily.washington.edu (click on "Intermission).

In addition to being a student full time, I also work as a cook at Mioposto, a pizza place in Seattle (where I will be at 9 tomorrow morning...) Over the week you'll get to see me in action and get a look at the restaurant, as I spend a fair amount of time there.

In addition to that, I spend a good chunk of my time at home cooking as well. I've always been really interested in food. When I was a kid, my favorite shows were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Frugal Gourmet. My foodblog "preview" pictures never ended up getting posted (I don't think anyway) but they were of chopped liver which I made, and chicken's feet at dim sum. These two things are very representative of my food background: I'm Jewish, and although I think I make some pretty mean chopped liver, I don't particularly like Jewish food. The chicken feet on the other hand have nothing to do with my cultural background, but are far more representative of my food interests. Since I was about 15 or 16 I've had a great interest in Asian food, particularly in Japanese cuisine, almost to the point of obsession

I don't have any special event that this blog is based around, but I'm out of school for the next three weeks and thus will have a lot of time to do a lot of cooking and eating. I'll post some pictures tomorrow so you can get a better view of my food filled world.

[sazji]

Seattle....Asian....I was just back for a couple weeks, and my greatest regret is that I went out for Dim Sum only once! I'll be looking forward to pictures of what I miss(ed)!

[Shalmanese]

Wow, cool! I always wanted to know more about you since we seem to share a lot in common (young, male, go to the same college). I'm interested in seeing what parts of Seattle you can show me that I haven't yet discovered.

PM me if you want to do something together this week. I'm also out of school and in the mood to do some serious cooking.

[MarketStEl]

I know hhlodesign showed us bits of Seattle in his foodblog, but I for one am eager to see more. If it's possible for you to do a bit of the Chamber-of-Commercey shtick you see in my blogs, I'd appreciate it.

Besides, I need to know what I can expect when I visit. And I will visit: My only sibling (brother, nine years younger than me) lives there with his wife and my newborn (October 2006) niece, Stella Rose Smith. (Her first name is my mother's; her middle name was Mom's favorite flower.) I'd like to see her soon.

[Swisskaese]

Welcome to blogland. When you say you don't like Jewish food, can I assume that you mean Ashkenazi food? I also do not like most Ashkenazi food, but I love Sephardic cuisine. I would suggest exploring it.

[Hiroyuki]

Since I was about 15 or 16 I've had a great interest in Asian food, particularly in Japanese cuisine, almost to the point of obsession 

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Obsession... I can see that because you were the one who made akashiyaki "from scratch"!

Looking forward to reading your blog.

[CaliPoutine]

When you say you don't like Jewish food, can I assume that you mean Ashkenazi food? I also do not like most Ashkenazi food

Hey, Hey, now whats with everyone's dislike of Ashkenazi food. I'm Jewish too, and thats the kind of Jewish cuisine I grew up with. I do hate chopped liver though. I'd love to see your recipe as I put it on the menu where I work for New Year's Day Brunch. I was going to ask my mom for a recipe, but I'd like to see yours too.

[BryanZ]

My chalenge to you for this blog is to consume more food than I did in mine. I wish you luck in this endeavour. And if you get around to making some of the unagi we were talking about please take pictures.

As an aside, we need to start a global eG Facebook group. There's me, you, Shal, s_sevilla, tupac (but I haven't seen him around), chianti_glace, Rocklobster. Anyone else? Where are the ladies?

[lexy]

Ooh, a student blog - yay! Do you normally eat much at your school's cafeteria/dining hall - and what's the food like there? I'm guessing that you don't go for the stereotypical student diet of pot noodle, pizza, beer, and take-away, so what sorts of things do you normally make when you're busy during term?

[Pam R]

I'm Jewish, and although I think I make some pretty mean chopped liver, I don't particularly like Jewish food. The chicken feet on the other hand have nothing to do with my cultural background, but are far more representative of my food interests. Since I was about 15 or 16 I've had a great interest in Asian food, particularly in Japanese cuisine, almost to the point of obsession 

Hey now! (I'll jump on you for this one too ). Chicken feet were also once very popular in the Jewish kitchen (probably still are in places where you can get them).

I enjoy your posts and I'm really looking forward to your blog. Can you try to perfect a recipe for lemonana this week please?

[lexy]

As an aside, we need to start a global eG Facebook group.  There's me, you, Shal, s_sevilla, tupac (but I haven't seen him around), chianti_glace, Rocklobster.  Anyone else?  Where are the ladies?

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*waves*

[little ms foodie]

so glad to see you blogging!! since you are a student around here and I'm assuming on a bit of a budget I'm hoping to find out about some hidden deals that you may be familar with!!

Edited December 17, 2006 by little ms foodie (log)

[Pan]

Have fun, J! I'll be watching and enjoying.

[jkonick]

  Can you try to perfect a recipe for lemonana this week please? 

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I have some limes and mint at home right now. I'll be making that later tonight

I am Ashkenazi, and that's the food I don't like. Sephardic food is a little better... although like I said, I'm something of an Asianophile, so that's where my real passion is. I will admit though that I'm looking forward to the leftover brisket in my fridge right now from my family's Hanukkah party yesterday. I do like Israeli food a lot though - I went there earlier this summer and fell in love with shawarma. As part of this blog I'm hoping to recreate the shawarma I had in Israel.

Bryan - good call on the facebook group. If you make it, I'll join... Also, I'm planning on going to get another eel today, so I'm going to try for the unagi again. I recently got the book "Kaiseki," which has a good recipe for eel in it that I"m going to try later.

I'll also tell you about the neighborhood I live in, as there are lots of different kinds of restaurants and stores nearby. About half a mile away from me is Little Saigon, Seattle's Vietnamese/Southeast Asian neighborhood, and just west of there is Chinatown/International district. There are also a lot of East African restaurants and stores in my immediate neighborhood, which is (at least by a few people) known as little Addis Abbaba. I love East African food, and I think it's pretty underrated, so hopefully I'll be able to eat out at a few restaurants there this week.

[jkonick]

Ooh, a student blog - yay! Do you normally eat much at your school's cafeteria/dining hall - and what's the food like there? I'm guessing that you don't go for the stereotypical student diet of pot noodle, pizza, beer, and take-away, so what sorts of things do you normally make when you're busy during term?

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I lived in the dorms last year, so I did eat a lot of food from the cafeteria, although I did a lot of cooking in my room. I think I was probably the first person ever to deep fry in a rice cooker. Now I eat a lot at work, because I get free pizza every time I work. I also do a lot of shopping in Chinatown and make a lot of Asian food. One of my favorite things is Okonomiyaki, a sort of Japanese cabbage pancake... thing. Basically you can put anything you want in it. I'll probably make some this week.

[Hiroyuki]

I think I was probably the first person ever to deep fry in a rice cooker.

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Don't tell me it was teflon-coated!

Looking forward to your okonomiyaki!

[MarketStEl]

My chalenge to you for this blog is to consume more food than I did in mine.  I wish you luck in this endeavour.  And if you get around to making some of the unagi we were talking about please take pictures.

As an aside, we need to start a global eG Facebook group.  There's me, you, Shal, s_sevilla, tupac (but I haven't seen him around), chianti_glace, Rocklobster.  Anyone else?  Where are the ladies?

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It's not just students on Facebook anymore. Several members of the administrative staff at Widener University have Facebook profiles.

--Sandy ("Sandy"), who falls into this category

[jkonick]

I suppose I should also mention what I ate today: so far, just a pizza at work and a four shot espresso, along with lots of iced tea which I can drink as much as I want to at work. The pizza was one of my favorite pizzas we have, apple, gorgonzola, carmelized onion and pancetta.

It's pretty rare though that I eat stuff off the menu - I like to experiment a lot. For instance, once I made a "biscuits and gravy" pizza, using sausage fat leftover from cooking a big batch of sausage as the base for the gravy, which was the pizza base, along with some of the sausage and some potatoes.

So here are some pictures of my kitchen, so you can get an idea of where the action happens.

I had to get an extra bookshelf just for sauces, wouldn't all fit in the cupboard

And for Pam R, here's my lemon(lime?)ana:

It's basically just limes, sugar, water and mint. I'm going to let it sit for a few hours then strain out the mint. For those who don't know, lemonana is an Israeli drink with mint and lemon or lime juice. It's basically a virgin mojito. I drank probably more of this stuff than is even healthy when I was in Israel, and brought back ten bottles with me. Only had five by the time the plane landed Hopefully this will work... might also try making a simple syrup using mint too. We shall see.

Edited December 18, 2006 by jkonick (log)

[Sergio]

Being done with finals will be so liberating. I will do nothing these next few weeks but cook. Good luck with doing the same.

[jkonick]

Went over to my parents' house tonight for a very mixed up holiday dinner. We had latkes, then lit the menorah and decorated our Christmas tree (my dad's not Jewish, so we celebrate both holidays). There's just something weird about listening to Christmas carols while playing dreidel.

As is customary with playing dreidel, I also ate a lot of gelt, which are chocolate coins usually used (and won by me) when playing dreidel.

I'll upload more pictures tomorrow, and I also hope to work on some eel and har gow tomorrow, as I have the day off and will be doing some serious cooking.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I also ate a lot of gelt, which are chocolate coins usually used (and won by me) when playing dreidel.

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Ah, jkonick, have you read this discussion on the taste testing of chocolate Hanukkah gelt? Yes, son, there is a distinct difference in the quality and taste of those ersatz coins ... See's and Godiva being at the top of their list ...

[MarketStEl]

I suppose I should also mention what I ate today: so far, just a pizza at work and a four shot espresso, along with lots of iced tea which I can drink as much as I want to at work. The pizza was one of my favorite pizzas we have, apple, gorgonzola, carmelized onion and pancetta.

It's pretty rare though that I eat stuff off the menu - I like to experiment a lot. For instance, once I made a "biscuits and gravy" pizza, using sausage fat leftover from cooking a big batch of sausage as the base for the gravy, which was the pizza base, along with some of the sausage and some potatoes. 

So here are some pictures of my kitchen, so you can get an idea of where the action happens.

I had to get an extra bookshelf just for sauces, wouldn't all fit in the cupboard

And for Pam R, here's my lemon(lime?)ana:

It's basically just limes, sugar, water and mint. I'm going to let it sit for a few hours then strain out the mint. For those who don't know, lemonana is an Israeli drink with mint and lemon or lime juice. It's basically a virgin mojito. I drank probably more of this stuff than is even healthy when I was in Israel, and brought back ten bottles with me. Only had five by the time the plane landed Hopefully this will work... might also try making a simple syrup using mint too. We shall see.

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1) the last two pictures didn't load when I viewed this post;

2) don't forget to open that fridge and show us what's inside...

[SheenaGreena]

don't forget to make lots and lots of korean food!

[Daniel]

Hey I have that bottle on the top right there.. Is that Chinese Vinegar.. I love that stuff.. Put that on some cold lo mein, its really good.. Looking forward to reading your blog, I was very impressed with your late night entries some time back.. I am not overly familiar with cooking Japanese food so I would like a little help.. Have a good week..

Edited December 18, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[jkonick]

Man, I never knew there was such a wide variety of gelt. I thought that turning-white-around-the-edges chalky stuff my grandma always gives me was as good as it got.

Speaking of Jewish related things, I tried the lemonana today. It turned out fairly well - the mint permeated it pretty well, but something's still not right and I'm not sure what it is. It sort of tastes like tabouleh I think it could have to do with the type of mint. I'm not really familiar with the mint family, anyone? The lemonana in Israel had a very "herby" mint flavor. I also get all of my mint from Vietnamese grocery stores, where I do most of my shopping, so since everything's in Vietnamese I usually just go by smell.

As was requested, here are some more kitchen pictures. The fridge is probably not that exciting - it's shared between four people so everything is really jammed in there. See if you can guess which shelf is mine (although I've started invading other shelves so that might be hard). I do have a monopoly on the door though.

And the cupboard, just for the hell of it...

Playing dreidel in front of the Christmas tree, which you can't see (my sister, my brother and me with said crappy gelt in center)

And the lemonana

Not pictured is a couple pieces of leftover brisket that I had for breakfast (or lunch... does breakfast at one still count, if that's when you woke up?).

I'm headed off pretty soon to Viet-Wah, one of my favorite grocery stores in Seattle, then a seafood place to pick up an eel. Expect pictures, and lots of experimentation later this evening.