Category Archives: food

Rich Table

Porcini Donuts with Raclette. These were amazing. Light fluffy chunks of fried dough dusted with powdered porcinis, served alongside whipped raclette. Super rich, but not as heavy as it sounds.

Sardine chips & Horseradish. I’d read about these sardine chips, but wasn’t sure what a “sardine” chip would be… Turns out to be a potato chip with a sardine tucked into it. Personally, I liked the porcini donuts more and I’m not sure how these get written up more… But they were also pretty interesting. The horseradish is great at offsetting the greasy, rich flavor of the sardine chip.

Here is a closeup of a sardine chip. I wonder if I can make bacon chips.

Next up was lamb tartare, with biryani spices and fried pita bread. The seasoning was great, and I was very happy to find that the pita were fried, and not toasted. I’m not a big fan of pita. Also, raw onionssss. I usually hate onions, but these were sliced thinly enough that they were a nice clean taste to offset the richness of the lamb and the grease of the pita.

Chicken lasagna with popped sorghum, wheatgrass puree and spring onions. The waiter suggested we get the chicken lasagna, mentioning that the chefs were particularly strong with pasta. Sadly, I found this dish underwhelming. It wasn’t bad, but it paled in comparison with the previous dishes. I thought it was a little mushy and, while the popped sorghum was really neat (probably my favorite part of the dish), it didn’t feel like a cohesive dish.

Poached rabbit with mole. The mole sauce was delicious. Strong, but in small dabs, delicious on all the bits and pieces of this dish. The poached rabbit was moist, and not too gamey, pairing well with the strong mole. My one complaint about this dish was that the chunks of rabbit were wrapped in rabbit skin, which I found rubbery… But I’m not a big fan of chicken/fish skin either.

Dessert! Sourdough bread pudding with pomelo curd, pistachio tuile. The bread pudding itself (the light brown goop in the middle) was nice, but I found the curd a bit too sweet. I tried a couple bites with a little bit of everything, then found that I liked just the bread pudding and chunks of pomelo together the most.

And our check! $89 for all that food was more than worth it. I want to go back and try more of the pastas… And just stuff myself with the porcini donuts.

I forgot to take a picture of the bread… But it’s worth mentioning. Unlike most restaurants that serve complimentary bread, Rich Table charges $4 for two hefty slices of their Douglas Fir Levain bread and house cultured butter. The bread is served toasted, and is delicious. The aroma of fir is pretty mild, but it goes well with the toasty bread and rich butter.

I’ve got another reservation to take my parents at the end of the month!

Egg Cupcake Science

While reading 7×7’s The Big Eat 2013, I stumbled upon this particularly interesting listing — Rebel Within, from Craftsman & Wolves. I love putting edible things inside other edible things, and the idea of an egg, yolk still running inside a savory biscuit or muffin is just… awesome.

Try as I might, I haven’t been able to find a recipe online, so it’s science time…

Shamiq and I tried boiling eggs for 2, 3 and 4 minutes, and then putting them in chocolate cupcake batter (just out of laziness, I wanted to figure out the eggs before tackling a savory biscuit/muffin). This is what we found.

2 minute boiled eggs are too raw. Also, torching egg shells can cause exploding egg shells.

3 minutes seemed about right, if you’re willing to lose some of the white.

We baked two cupcakes with 4 minute eggs (easy to peel) and six with three minute eggs (harder to peel, but much less done).

And the results?

Slicing open a three minute egg cupcake…

Dangit, the yolk was cooked through. But not overcooked.

The yolks in the four minute eggs were definitely overcooked.

Oh well. And, in case it’s at all questionable, hard boiled eggs don’t go well with chocolate.

Le Papillon

Tis the season for fancy food, apparently. Shamiq invited me to join him and some of the SJ Redditors to try out Le Papillon. Because what’s the point in waiting for special occasions?

Salmon Roe & Creme fraiche

Keeping my priorities straight, I got a picture of the dessert menu, but not the dinner menu. Good job me.

Chestnut dumplings with oats, and roasted squash. Delicious and very hearty.

Quail over some sort of grain, topped with a quail egg. I love quail.

Salsify soup with duck royale & truffle. Shamiq’s appetizer. He let me steal his truffle pieces.

Hamachi tartar with avocado, lemon and peasprout emulsion.

Noisettes of red deer with huckleberries, oyster mushrooms and a parsnip tart over in the back.

Sturgeon Wellington with Chanterelles and a potato mille-feuille over in the back. And some turnips in front, but they didn’t fit in the picture.

Carrot cake with sasin molasses, walnut streusel, and cream cheese ice cream.

Chocolate-coconut terrine with chocolate and crisp caramel. I found this dessert tasty, but too rich. Also, the chocolate completely dominated the coconut.

The last treat — raisin and almond… I’m not sure what. I think toffee is the right term.

Cheesecake Brownie Science

I tried to make cheesecake brownies following the idea of black bottom cupcakes. I went for Smitten Kitchen’s “Favorite Brownies” and doubled the cheesecake section of her Black Bottom Cupcakes.

Results: Cheesecake takes longer to cook than brownies. By the time the center of the cheesecake was set, the edges were cracking and the bottom of the brownies had overcooked to a crust.

Next up: Try this in a cupcake pan, where the heat is more distributed.

13 North

Filipino inspired food by Bayani Inclano.

Dinner was at the old Saison space. It was pretty cold.

And the menu.

Pinakbet jelly over squash puree.

Bread with cultured butter.

Coconut milk with bay leaf and palm sugar.

Banana hearts, coconut milk, monggo and a coconut curl of some sort. It looks like chicharon, but it’s not.

Sinigang with clams and turnips.

Kare kare.

Halo halo.

Sans Rival. Deconstructed.

Overall, the food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t Filipino food, just vaguely inspired by. As a meal, I found the food under seasoned. If it had been one course of this food, it would be okay, but taken as a meal, it left me a little hungry (thank god for the bread) and not quite satisfied.

Parmesan Cookies

I made these to accompany the appetizers we served on Christmas dinner. They’re delicious.

2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 lb grated Parmesan cheese (I grated mine freshly, I don’t know if it makes a difference)

1 3/4 flour

1. Heat the oven to 350F

2. Beat together the cheese and the butter

3. Add in the flour to form a stiff dough. (The second time I tried this recipe, I had to add in some melted butter. The cookies turned out just fine, but spread a little more)

4. Roll the dough into three logs, and slice the logs into cookies 1/4th in thick.

5. Bake for about 17 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Liholiho Yacht Club

Despite making it to Liholiho Yacht Club over a month and a half ago, I’ve been procrastinating writing this up. So here’s something quick. (Went on 1/20/2013)

Tombo on a nori chip. I love crunchy things and this was no exception.

Fried pig ears garnishing a papaya salad. Did I mention I love crunchy things?

Seasoned boiled peanuts. Not much difference from the boiled peanuts my mom buys in China town…

Salmon roe and fried potato skins, over potatoes. I liked the sauce and the garnishes, but the potatoes were too starchy so the dish was a bit bland.

Miso dressing on iceberg. If you like miso, delicious.

Baby octopus with kimchi radishes. I really liked both, but not particularly together.

Sticky rice in lotus leaves, cooked with mushrooms. I wish more places served it with mushrooms… It was a nice change from the traditional fatty pork.

Manila clams in tofu. Pretty solid, but nothing to write home about.

And the mains! Pork belly to the left and fried quail to the right. I’m honestly not a huge fan of pork belly… So it wasn’t bad, but not mind blowing. The quail, however, was absolutelyfreakingamazing. Crisp, moist and slightly honeyed. The second time I went, I found that I could order an extra serving for $12. It seems a bit steep… but oh SO worth it.

Bacon apple malasadas with coconut cream. Greasy & delicious. Just like malasadas should be.

Like the host restaurant, Liholiho serves things in small portions. It’s really cute and photogenic… But my one big complaint was that the food wasn’t served hot enough. I found myself eating faster than I’d like to in an attempt to eat all the food (especially the mains, the apps were fine cold) while still warm. Service aside, the food was varied, unique and (for the most part) well balanced. I’d go back.

Oh wait, I already did. This is what happens when you finally post pictures really, really late.

The Inside of a Turducken

Here are the layers of the turducken I’d previously posted about. Nom.

From the inside (left) to the outside (right) — chicken, duck, stuffing, turkey.

Chocolate Souffles

Before the supposed end of the world last December, I told some friends that my pre-apocalypse goal was to make a souffle. So make a souffle I did. I’ve followed the same recipe thrice now (once with my roommates for a pre-apocalypse snack, once for Christmas dinner, and once just because I was hungry) and it’s been consistently reliable.

I made a few changes to the recipe — first, I don’t add the lemon juice. I have nothing against lemons, but I’m lazy and haven’t had lemons. Second, I add spices — a few teaspoons between cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, allspice and ginger. And lastly, I whipped the egg whites ahead of time, they dried out a little, but the souffle was still fine.

It pairs great with Brandy Cream.

Coffee Cake

I’ve never understood coffee cakes. They contain no coffee and seem no different from any other cake except that they aren’t frosted. But Shamiq found Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake really interesting and asked me to make it. So I did. The result is amazing. The cake itself is moist and easy to eat (I usually find cakes too dry and crumbly). I’m excited to try the basic cake batter with different toppings. Perhaps candied orange peel or ginger. Or a hint of marmalade?

Coffee Cake Base (from Smitten Kitchen)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used a little less)
3 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt

I also added: 1/4 teaspoon of ginger powder, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and a pinch of allspice and black pepper

Coffee Cake Filling (also from the link above)

2 cups or 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

The recipe has you cream the butter, then add the eggs yolks, then the dry ingredients. Lastly, whip the egg whites to soft peaks and fold the yolks in. Pour half the batter into a buttered 9×13 pan, then spread half the topping/filling, then add the other half of the batter, then the remaining half of the filling/topping.

Maybe a candied bacon and chocolate coffee cake?

Pictures to come. They’re still on my camera.

raccoon*

adventures of a cosmic procyonid