i did not make those cookies.... but i want to!
hopefully, when i get off my butt, and get into the groove of baking (which kind of takes a lot of effort on my part), then i'll attempt to make them. but until then - you can try! Cinco De Mayo is coming up, and if you're not out boozing with your friends, you can try to make these pinata cookies. they even have goodies inside when you bust them open! clever! the recipe, and instructions can be found here: PINATA COOKIES
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that's right, and entire head of garlic! check out this video from Saveur...... here in Hawaii, Japanese restaurants are abundant. Izakaya's are also gaining popularity as well, probably due to the fact that everyone loves booze and shared dishes.... after all, that is exactly what an izakaya is all about. trying to find something decent to eat, a few friends and i were attempting to figure out what was in the area. i hopped on my phone and scoured my Yelp app..... out of the handful of restaurants we all were ok with, Gazen came up. one friend had been there frequently and suggested we all go..... SHOOTS DEN. the parking lot is SMALL here, but luckily we found parking right in front. entering the restaurant, there is an up-scale kind of feel because everything around you is handsome wood furnishings. we were seated immediately, and our waitress was very prompt in coming by and attempting to take our order when we had browsed the menu for exactly 9.43 seconds. eventually we settled on the following dishes..... first up, the tofu sampler (up there, looking delicious). it consisted of all fresh tofu, one in a soy milk broth, the next plain (you can season yourself with black pepper and salt flakes), and the last was a black sesame flavor. all were very good. i LOVE fresh tofu. here is the beef tongue. this must have been hand sliced b/c i noticed that each piece had a different thickness. these were very nice quality, and the seasoning was delicious. when it coats the bed of onions underneath, and you eat everything together, the flavors are superb. unfortunately, i could not eat this dish: the beef tataki. i was told however that it was very good. try it yourself, and let me know what i'm missing.... haha :) small simple dishes i find are usually the best. this is the black peppered pork with white garlic sauce. the pork itself is a simple peppered pork cutlet. well seasoned and fine on its own, but the sauce is what really makes this dish stand out. the white garlic sauce is something that everyone at our table was trying to figure out.... is it cream? onion? chili pepper flakes? what else is in there? whatever it was.... it was a hit. this blurry, overly orange picture is the mushroom miso risotto. i did a bad job at judging the lighting in the restaurant, that is why some pictures look clear, and some look like this. this dish, while it had a nice flavor, did not have a good texture. risotto to me is supposed to be a smooth kind of dish. this however was made with brown rice instead of Arborio rice, or short grain white. the brown rice created a texture that was too chewy, and one of my friends remarked that it was very "toothy". indeed... fried chicken is one of my weaknesses. i don't know what it is, but i'm always searching for good fried chicken. at Gazen, theirs are expertly fried and drizzled with "home-made sauce".... it was a teriyaki type sauce with a light vinegar flavor. very nice! this incredibly blurry picture is their Omelette noodle with simmered beef dish. it is fried noodles wrapped in an egg, topped with okonomiyaki style toppings (japanese mayo, seaweed laver, and unagi sauce... it was supposed to have bonito shavings on top, but i guess they forgot those). cutting into it, the beef pieces were not really distributed very well, and i only got one tiny piece of beef - but other than that, this dish was delicious. it is something i would order just for myself! i'm not a huge dessert fan, but, being that this was a new restaurant to me, i figured i should try some..... here is the fried sweet potato mochi with vanilla ice cream and Earl Grey sauce. the mochi was fried up perfect, and paired with the smooth vanilla ice cream, it was definitely a party in my mouth. the Earl Grey sauce was so good, one of my friends picked up the bowl, and drank it down. yeah, its that good. last was the warabi mochi and green tea ice cream. the green tea ice cream was good and smooth too, and if you're not familiar with Warabi mochi, it has a different texture than regular mochi. it is more like Kanten, Yokan or Turkish Delight. they are coated in kinako (yay!) and served with some mashed azuki bean on the side. chewy, sweet and delicious, especially if you put them all up in your mouth at the same time. man..... i'm full. how bout you?
********************************************************* Izakaya Gazen 2840 Kapiolani Boulevard Honolulu, HI 96826 808-737-0230 Operating Hours: SUN - THURS: 5p - 11p FRI - SAT: 5p - 1a http://www.e-k-c.co.jp/tenpo/honolulu-e/ yes... this would be my fourth attempt at chili. why 4? i don't quite know. when i'm cooking chili, i tend to stick to a few main, unchanging ingredients, but - i also seem to add in stuff that i think might make it taste good, every time i make it.
hmph..... this makes really remembering recipes difficult. luckily, this time around, i think i've now created a "master" recipe that i'll use from now on! and guess what?.... i actually wrote it down! CHILI - Round 4 Ingredients: 10 oz. Portuguese sausage (Hawaiian Sausage Company brand), chopped 8 rashers of thick cut bacon, chopped 2 lbs. ground beef 1 yellow onion, medium dice 1/2 red bell pepper, small dice 1/2 green bell pepper, small dice 8 garlic cloves, minced 3 large tomatoes, peeled and diced 1/2 bottle of Modelo Negro beer 1 can, 14oz chicken broth 1/2 cup - 1 cup Pace Salsa (HOT) 2 bay leaves 1 Tbsp. each: - celery salt - smoked paprika - garlic powder - chili pepper flakes 1/2 tsp. of each: - salt - pepper 3 Tbsp. flour, mixed with 1-2 Tbsp. warm water Optional: - 2 cans, 15oz each, black beans, drained (or 4 cups dried beans, soaked overnight) - 1 can, 15 oz, corn, drained Directions: on medium/medium high heat = cook bacon in large stock pot until cooked/crispy. remove with slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. reserve about 2 Tbsp. of the bacon grease, and discard the remaining. cook the Portuguese sausage in the stock pot until done. remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. reserve 1 Tbsp. of grease, and discard remaining. on medium heat = take reserved grease and use this to cook the onion, bell peppers, and garlic in the same pot. cook until onions are translucent, then remove and set aside. cook hamburger in the same pot with any grease that remains. cook until done, drain as much liquid as you can from the hamburger. add back in the portugese sausage, bacon, onion, bell pepper, garlic. add in tomatoes, salsa and seasonings. (do not add in flour water mixture yet). add in liquids - beer and chicken stock. let simmer for 3 - 4 hours. at the end, stir in flour water mixture to thicken slightly - try to avoid lumps. also add in beans and corn, and let cook another 15 - 20 minutes. Eat up and enjoy! Hawaii is a place known for many things. the beaches. hula. sunburned tourists. and plate lunches. plate lunches are heavy. plate lunches are quick (usually). plate lunches are belly filling, home-cooked quality meals that everyone in Hawaii is familiar with. "2 scoops rice, mac salad, gravy all over, and followed by a kanak attack" is what enters my mind when thinking of our "plate lunch". there are TONS of places here to grab this type of meal. the long lasting ones from the "old days" are usually the best ones. after all.... if they've been there for years upon years, they must be doing something right. these days, i'm rarely in the Leeward area of Oahu. because of this, i have no idea what the eats are like on that side of the island. scouring YELP for some help, i stumbled upon Leeward Drive Inn. people raved about the noodles there, and other dishes as well. i thought, why not? a couple of friends and i decided to check it out. the outside is your typical take out window set up. there are no tables or chairs around, thus, no loitering! haha. they are strictly about getting you in and out of there. as you can see, their menu is EXTENSIVE. they have breakfast, lunch, dinner, burgers, noodles, ALL KINDS of food. there is literally something for everyone here. AND..... they have GREEN RIVER! and melon flavored Icee! this makes me wish i was on this side of the island more often...... browsing the menu, their Ultimate Mix caught my eye. i decided to share this with one of my friends, b/c it looked like a ton of food listed there. AND IT IS! there is rice, mac salad, noodles, fried chicken, kalbi, hamburger steak AND spare ribs. geez! everything was pretty good. my friend said that the noodles at Sato's is better, so i guess i'll have to try it there. i thought this place was pretty good considering the amount of food you get! wow! check them out if you happen to be in Waipahu.....
****************************************************** Leeward Drive Inn94 209 Pupukahi St Waipahu, HI 96797 (808) 671-7323 http://www.leewarddriveinn.com/ if you're just visiting my website, and don't know what "Eat The Street" is.... i'm here to explain. Eat The Street is a monthly event here in Hawaii. it features different food trucks from around the island. they all gather in one location. it is so popular now, it has turned into a twice a month event (happening usually on the second saturday and last friday of each month). see my other posts (click here!) from ETS! below is what i had at the most recent ETS in May.... :D i've been to ETS about 3 or 4 times now, and this truck is usually there.... but for some reason, we always pass it by. UNTIL NOW! we finally decided to check it out. why? b/c of the "Gyrami" sandwich..... i like gyros. i like pastrami. so why not try whatever this was, right? it is pastrami meat, gyro meats, tzatziki sauce, mustard and a pickle all in a warm pita bread. this, while weird sounding.... was actually really good! try one if you ever get the chance! i also hear that their Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs are good here. maybe i'll try at the next ETS! here is "Five-O Ribs". a newish company featuring smoked ribs and meats. i read up on them a little bit.... apparently the owner wanted a change from his current job, and decided that cooking ribs would be a part of that change. currently, i don't think they have any standard locations for their truck, so i think the only place you can find them right now, is at the ETS events..... here is the ribs plate. i personally liked the ribs. they had that smokey, sweet flavor. one friend who tried it did not like the sweetness, and another friend said "i've had better", but then failed to follow up on where the better ribs were from..... either way, i thought the ribs here were good. try it, and judge for yourself! Next stop - Camille's on Wheels. i've had some of the other dishes here before, and they were good. we had to stop here to check out what they had this time..... this is the beef and cheese empanada from Camille's. it was..... ok. not amazing. perhaps we should have gotten the fish tacos? oh well, there is always next time! here is "Hawaii's Fried Musubi". the line was CRAZY LONG. thats supposed to mean they're good right?........... see that? that is their 3 fried chicken wings and 1/2 of a fried spam musubi. what to know what it cost? $8. EIGHT DOLLARS FOR THAT. O_O while the chicken wings were really delicious, the fried spam musubi was kinda junk. Da Kitchen has a better fried spam musubi, AND at Da Kitchen they give you a whole one. not a half of one. this was their spicy ahi musubi with chicken wings.... my friend who had this was not impressed. by the way.... this one was $9 for a HALF of a musubi, a small portion of ahi, and 3 chicken wings. in short, Hawaii's Fried Musubi was a RIP-OFF and entirely not worth the wait in line. we ended the night with Ono Pops again. this time, i tried the azuki bean pop (on the left), and the Tamarind pop (on the right). i didn't like the mealy texture of the azuki bean, but my friends liked it. my tamarind was sweet, salty and tangy. another interesting treat :)
if you're in Hawaii, come down to ETS! the next 2 events will be: Saturday, April 14. Kapolei High School 3pm - 8pm AND Friday, April 27. 555 South Street 4pm - 9pm the theme is BACON! website: http://www.streetgrindz.com/ if you haven't heard already..... we're in the middle of GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME.
that's right. if you haven't gotten your fix yet, you better hurry up.... b/c the end is near. those Girl Scouts will be packing up soon, and then you'll have to wait an entire year before they start selling again. go. go now. grab any cash you can find and get them cookies! p.s. - i tried the Savannah Smiles.... and they're good! :D i know, i know..... it sounds weird, it looks weird, and it might even taste weird... but how will you know unless you try it? i really want to try this product, and i have no idea why. i saw it on GEEKOLOGIE and thought - i must have it. the only problem is... i have no idea where to find it. c'mon - just admit it. you're curious too! it kind of looks good - you know it.
of course this product is Japanese: http://www.cupnoodle.jp/product/tacos/index.html if anyone spots this around, LET ME KNOW ASAP! i'm totally buying some to try! if i find some, you know i'm going to let you know about it..... p.s. - here's the origina http://www.geekologie.com/2012/03/the-pinnacle-of-man-taco-flavored-ramen.php#more i'm not chinese. its funny because lots of korean people get mistaken for chinese people.... i'm not sure why, but hey, it happens. my second favorite genre of food is Chinese food. the other day, i got a craving for cold ginger chicken - a dish that i've found, many people don't like. mainly because it is served cold. i like it because its kind of refreshing, and really tasty. something about that cold ginger chicken sauce mixed with some hot rice is really, really good. i figured...... it can't possibly be that hard to make.... right? i scoured my cookbook collection AND the internet until i found something that sounded pretty good. what i came up with was a combination of 2 recipes (i actually do this quite often). so how do you make it? ...... FIRST: - grab 4 chicken breasts (you can also use 1 whole, cleaned chicken) and boil them until cooked through. - chill the chicken in the fridge! MEANWHILE...... take the following ingredients..... - about 2 stalks of green onion (enough to make 1 cup) - 6 cloves of garlic - 2 big ol' knobs of ginger (enough to make 1 cup) THEN: destroy them in a food processor. you CAN mince them up by hand with a knife and chopping board.... but this is much faster and easier. if you don't have a food processor, i suggest you get one b/c it will only make your life easier. place this mixture on the side for now........ remember the oil you saw in the first picture? well, grab again..... - 1/2 cup vegetable oil (you can also use peanut oil if you like) - 3 Tablespoons of sesame seed oil now.... you must be wondering, what is that in the picture? while i was doing other things with my hands, i wanted to make sure all the oil dripped off of the measuring cups. i didn't want to stand there and hold them, so i grabbed this little contraption to do that work for me..... this is actually used to hold your spoon while cooking. my cousin got it for me from Crate and Barrel. we don't have one in Hawaii :( but if you're looking to get this product, you can either order it from the company, OR i'm pretty sure i've seen the same thing in Williams Sonoma too...... its SUPER HANDY!! ok, back to cooking! NOW: - heat the oil on the stove over medium. after it gets hot, but not too hot..... - take the ginger, green onion, and garlic mixture and mix it into the oil. - add 1 Tablespoon of salt to the mix.... or less, depending on your preference. taste as you go! also, a tip ::: TEST THE OIL FIRST! if you drop a little in there, and it sizzles, the oil is too hot!!! you want the oil only hot enough to draw out the flavors of the ginger/green onion/garlic...... let this cool for about a half hour. When the oil mix has cooled, take out your chilled chicken and chop it up. Pour the oil-ginger-green onion-garlic mixture on it. grab some hot rice and EAT! surprisingly.... this dish is not greasy. i know it looks like a lot of oil, but when you're eating it, you barely notice.
This dish was way more simple than i thought! Try it yourself :) what is Flashback Friday? click here! ********************************************* Original post date: September 23, 2009 Original post link: http://umami-quest.blogspot.com/2009/09/project-eggs-sous-vide.html ********************************************* Did i mention how much i love CHOW.com ? they have awesome recipes, fun contests, tips and tricks and all kinds of info for foodies all over. browsing the site one day, i came across a video titled "How to sous vide an egg at home". my first reaction was "wtf is 'sous vide'?" how very uncultured of me. (Description from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sous-vide.htm) "Sous vide is a French style of cooking developed by George Pralus in the 1970s. The term, (pronounced 'sue veed'), translates to 'under vacuum.' Sous vide is a method of slow cooking food in vacuum sealed bags placed in warm water at low temperature. Foods cooked in the sous vide style tend to retain more shape and flavor than do foods cooked in slow cookers because of the absence of oxygen and the less than boiling water temperatures used." i watched the video, and what i saw was pretty genius..... so of course i had to try it for myself. "Sous Vide" is basically the technique of cooking things in plastic bags. i know it sounds weird, but it is actually a common technique in cooking - especially french cooking - that is used for many applications, for example foie gras. its best used for dishes that are poached or stewed, but its more recent applications have been for quick foods such as military MRE's, ready made curry, and some of Marie Calendar's frozen meals (which by the way, are actually pretty damn tasty). here is my attempt at Eggs, using the Sous Vide technique. take a piece of saran wrap and spread around a little bit of olive oil in the center. then, loosely drape it over a bowl. add herbs and seasonings. i used dried parsley flakes, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. crack open an egg and drop it gently in the center of the seasonings. tie up the little pouches with kitchen string, or, if you're out, use some sturdy sewing thread. try and get as much air out of the pouch as you possbily can. simmer some water on the stove - do not boil - boiling is too intense. simmer the pouches until you get the done-ness you'd like. these are supposed to be like poached eggs, and usually are runny, but i cooked mine longer b/c i can't have runny eggs :( after they're done cooking, CAREFULLY take them out of the hot water, and CAREFULLY open them up. i used a knife to cut off the plastic wrap. what results is an almost dumpling shaped egg - it reminds me of dim sum, which i love :) yes, mine look like fancy hard boiled eggs.... when YOU do them, do not cook them as long b/c they are best when runny.... but b/c i can't have them that way :( these would have to do. i was still very satisfied with the result. this was easy, and the eggs tasted great!! try yourself, and you won't be disappointed. so good!
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