Birthday dinner at Chez TJ

Tonight, my boyfriend took me out for a dinner at Chez TJ in Mountain View, CA. It's a French restaurant in a old Victorian house. It was pricy, but I must say, I really enjoyed it. The service was pleasant, and the food was really really good. I had seared foie gras, steamed fluke, kobe beef shortrib, and "carrot cake" which was thinly-baked carrot cake sheet with mascarpone cheese and sorbet. Each dish comes in small portion, but it was just right for me. I was able to enjoy every dish without feeling stuffed and trying to stuff some more! I liked how, while sauce on each dish was pretty rich, main ingredient, whether fish, meat, or vegetable, itself didn't have much seasoning taste so that the sauce really accentuated the real flavor of the main ingredient. I think overall I was actually most impressed by their consomme. They served us matsutake mushroom consomme at the beginning as chef's compliment, which I thought was really good. The fluke dish I had also had kind of like consomme jelly in it, and both consomme was very flavorful. It made me want to try and make consomme at home!

---

Technorati Tags:chez tj

Afternoon snack at Cafe Borrone

Cafe Borrone is a very popular cafe in Menlo Park, CA. It has a number of tables outside so you can enjoy the California sun on a nice weekend afternoon. They have good pastry and a good variety of espresso drinks. It's also a big "dog spot." A lot of people come sit outside with their dogs, which is nice for someone like me who loves dogs but doesn't have one. I love seeing different kinds of dogs.
I had a berry tart, and my boyfriend had a cinnamon roll. I wasn't too crazy about the cinnamon roll, but the berry tart was very good. It had ice-cream in the middle, and berries on top were nice and fresh.

---

Technorati Tags:cafe borrone

This Week's Menu and Shopping List

Another week has passed. Here in Bay Area, it's been so warm (almost hot!).

Monday: Ginger pork, daikon radish rice
Tuesday: Mushroom and bean pot pie
Wednesday: Steamed fish in parchment paper
Thursday: Chicken with black vinegar sauce
Friday: Tuna gumbo

Shopping list:
Pork (10 oz) - ginger pork
Lima beans (2 cups cooked) - mushroom and bean pot pie
Fish fillet (2 pieces) - steamed fish in parchment paper
Chicken thigh (4 pieces) - chicken with black vinegar sauce
Tuna, solid albacore in water (1 6oz can) - tuna gumbo
Ginger (1 medium piece) - ginger pork
Ground sesame (1 Tbsp) - ginger pork
Daikon radish (about 1/2 cup of sliced white part - about 2-3 inches - and 1/2 cup of chopped leaves) - daikon radish rice
Pie crust (one sheet) - mushroom and bean pot pie
Crimini mushrooms (1/2 pack) - mushroom and bean pot pie
Onion (2 medium size) - mushroom and bean pot pie, tuna gumbo
Milk (2 cups) - mushroom and bean pot pie
Asparagus (12) - steamed fish in parchment paper, tuna gumbo
Spinach (1/4 cups) - steamed fish in parchment paper, (salad)
Greens (pak choy, spinach, or string beans) - chicken with black vinegar sauce
Carrot (1) - tuna gumbo
Celery (2 stalks) - tuna gumbo
Red pepper (2 small or 1 large) - tuna gumbo
Canned tomato, whole or diced (1 cup) - tuna gumbo
Fish stock (3 cups) - tuna gumbo

Suggestions for sides:
Spinach salad (pot pie)
Wild rice cooked with shallots and mushrooms (steamed fish in parchment paper)
Salad or steamed vegetables with Asian dressing (chicken with black vinegar dressing)

Things that may or may not be in your pantry/fridge:
Soy sauce
Mirin
Cooking wine
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Sticky Korean/Japanese rice
Margarine or butter
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Parchment paper
Sugar
Chili pepper
Dried oregano - optional
Fresh parsley - optional

Friday Dinner: Tuna gumbo

Tonight, I made gumbo using canned tuna and fish stock that I made the other day from fish bones. I get whole fish from the market every weekend, so I decided to make fish stock one weekend and kept in the freezer.

Gumbo is thick tasty soup from the Southern part of the U.S. Its base, mirepox, consists typically of onion, celery, and carrot and/or pepper. To thicken the soup, both okra and roux are used. I was going to put okra in my soup, thinking that I had frozen okra in my freezer, but it turned out that I had used it all, so this soup is missing okra. As thickening agent though, roux is a lot more powerful and also gives rich flavor, so that's what I usually use.

Tuna gumbo (for 4 people):
Tuna, solid albacore in water (1 6oz can) - I think I could have put in two, but I only had one can at home... I read on a magazine that that omega 3 (fish oil) that's really good for you start to melt away if the fish is in oil rather than water. That's why I always get tuna in water, and also tuna in oil is too greasy.
Onion (1 medium)
Carrot (1)
Celery (2 stalks)
Red pepper (2 small or 1 large)
Asparagus (6) - I had it in the fridge so used it
Canned tomato, whole or diced (1 cup)
Vegetable oil (1/2 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp)
Flour (2 Tbsp)
Fish stock (3 cups) - If you don't want to make your own fish stock and can't find one at a store, I think you can use chicken stock.
Salt
Pepper
Chili pepper (1/2 tsp)
Dried oregano (a pinch) - optional
Fresh parsley (about 2 Tbsp chopped) - optional

1. Dice onion roughly. Chop up carrot, celery, red pepper, and asparagus into bite size pieces.
2. Heat a dutch oven with 1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Saute onions until they're transparent. Add all the other vegetables except for asparagus.
3. Keep sauteeing for about 2 minutes. Then take the vegetables out and set them aside.
4. Turn the heat down to low to low medium. Add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and flour in the dutch oven. Saute the mixture, stirring, for at least 5 minutes. This is the roux, your thickening agent. After about 5 minutes, it will be nice and brown. If you have time, you can keep sauteeing for like 10 minutes.
5. Put the vegetable mixture back into the pot. Stir well and add fish stock. Turn the heat up to medium high. Stir well.
6. Once the soup boils, put canned tomatoes (if whole, mush them as you put them in), tuna, and asparagus. Put about 2 tsp of salt, pepper, and 1/2 tsp of chili pepper. Stir well. Turn the heat down to medium and put the lid on. Cook until all the vegetables are tender.
7. At the end, add oregano and fresh parsley.
8. Serve over rice!

I used tuna and fish stock for this recipe, but if you're not a big seafood person, you can use chicken breast and chicken stock. If you are a big seafood person, you can go crazy and add fresh pieces of fish, clams, shrimp, etc. If you want your gumbo to be thicker, don't put the lid on when you cook the soup and stir every few minutes.

I'll put a recipe for fish stock just in case...

Fish stock (makes about 1/2 gallon):
Fish bones and trimmings - I used bones and head from one fish.
Onion (1 small or half of medium)
Turnip (1 small)
Celery (1 large stalk or 2 small stalks)
Bouquet garni (1) - 1 small spring of thyme, 1 small bay leaf, 2 parsley stems, and 1 leek leave tied together with a string

1. Wash bones and trimmings really well. Pat dry. Cut all the vegetables into small pieces (turnip has to be peeled too).
2. Put them in a large pot with water (cool) covering them by about two inches.
3. Bring them slowly to a simmer. Skim the liquid consistently. After about 10 minutes, put all the vegetables in. After about 20 minutes, add the bouquet garni. Cook for 10 minutes more.

I froze this stock into about 2 batches.

---

Technorati Tags:tuna, fish stock, gumbo

Thursday Dinner: Chicken with black vinegar sauce

Tonight, I used Chinese black vinegar to cook chicken. This recipe was taken from a recipe in a book, Le Creuset de oishii washoku (Cooking delicious Japanese food with le Creuset), by Yukiko Hirano with some adjustments.

I don't have a le creuset (although I do want one!), but I have an all-clad deep pan which should have the same kind of quality in terms of distributing heat and retaining it. I got my all-clad pan several months ago, but I still don't feel like I have really come to appreciate it. There must be recipes that all-clad pans/pots do wonderfully at, and I keep looking for recipes specialized for all-clad, but I can't seem to find any. According to the author of this book, cooking with le creuset requires far less liquid than other cookware and brings out the flavor of foods more. Theoretically speaking then, any type of "good quality" pots/pans with layers of steel and excellent heat distribution should have similar characteristics. So, I decided to try these recipes for le creuset with my all-clad and see what happens. I actually made broiled fish with all-clad and really could see the difference. Fish pieces stayed nice and firm as opposed to when I cook with my t-fal pan and they just fall apart after cooking for like few minutes.

Anyway, here is the recipe..

Chicken with black vinegar sauce (for 4 people - one chicken thigh piece each):
Chicken thigh (4 pieces)
Black vinegar (1/4 cup) - I found this at a Chinese store. You can use balsamic vinegar too.
Water (1/4 cup)
Sugar (1 Tbsp)
Soy sauce (2 Tbsp)
Mirin (1 Tbsp)
Salt
Pepper
Sesame oil (1 Tbsp)
Greens - I used Chinese broccoli. You can use pak choy, spinach, string beans, etc.

1. Pat dry chicken pieces. Put salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Heat a pan with sesame oil on medium high heat.
3. Grill chicken pieces on the pan until both sides are brown.
4. Add black vinegar. Once it boils, put water, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin.
5. Turn the heat down to low and put the lid on. After about 10 minutes, throw in greens (washed and cut as necessary). Cook until chicken pieces are completely cooked while steaming the vegetables.
6. Take chicken pieces and greens out, and turn the heat up to medium. Keep stirring until sauce thickens.

Although the sauce has vinegar in it, it doesn't taste sour at all. I served it with sekihan which means red rice in Japanese. Basically it's sweet rice (even more sticky than regular sticky rice - it's used for making rice cakes) cooked with red beans. My mom sent me this pre-packaged one where you just throw everything in a rice cooker and cook. Very easy and delicious.

---

Technorati Tags:chicken, black vinegar

Wednesday Dinner: Steamed fish in parchment paper

Tonight, I made a very simple fish dish using parchment paper. It's a very healthy way to cook food because you don't use any oil and every nutrition stays inside.




Steamed fish in parchment paper (for 2 people):
Fish fillet (2 pieces) - I used sea bass, but you can use any white fish.
Asparagus (6)
Spinach (1/4 cups)
Salt
Pepper
Parchment paper

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.
2. Place spinach and fish on parchment paper. Peel off about 3 inches of the ends of asparagus and cut it up into three pieces. Put asparagus pieces next to fish pieces.
3. Salt and pepper well.
4. Fold ends to wrap up the content. I think it doesn't really mater how you do it as long as no steam escapes.
5. Bake on a cookie sheet or oven-safe plate for about 18 minutes or until paper puffs up.

I cooked wild rice with diced shallot, fish stock, and garlic, and served it with the fish. You can put a variety of things with fish like lemon, herbs, and other vegetables. I just wanted to cook asparagus since it's in season now. If you're not too crazy about fish, you can try chicken.

Today was my birthday, so my boyfriend got me a tiramisu cake:)

---

Technorati Tags:papillote, asparagus, fish recipe

Tuesday Dinner: Mushroom and bean pot pie

Few weeks ago, we were taking a walk, and I saw this fast food restaurant that specializes in pot pies. Since then, I had been determined to make a pot pie at home, and so I did tonight. I was originally planning to make a chicken pot pie, but I had roast chicken on Sunday and will be having another chicken dish this week, so I decided to go with beans.

Mushroom and bean pot pie (for 2 people):
Pie crust (one sheet) - I made it myself, but I don't see why you can't use a frozen one.
Mushrooms (2-1/2 cups sliced) - I used crimini mushrooms which are baby portabella mushrooms. You can use button mushrooms too.
Beans (2 cups cooked) - I used lima beans, but you can use any kind of your favorite beans.
Onion (2 cups sliced - about 1 medium size)
Milk (2 cups) - I used 2%.
Margarine or butter (4 Tbsp) - I used margarine, and it worked just fine.
Flour (2 Tbsp)
Salt
Pepper

1. Cook beans until they are tender if you are using dry beans. Slice the onion and mushrooms.
2. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Melt 2 Tbsp of margarine or butter in a pot on medium high heat. Saute onion slice until they're tender.
3. Add mushrooms and incorporate well. Take the mixture out. The vegetables don't need to be cooked completely at this point.
4. Turn the heat down to low and add 2 Tbsp of margarine or butter and flour. Keep stirring until there is no lump and the mixture is very smooth.
5. Add the milk in and turn the heat up to medium. Wait until it starts to thicken little bit and stir well. It might take some time, but it will thicken so just be patient...
6. Put mushrooms and onion mixture into the pot again, and add cooked beans too. Stir well, and add salt and pepper for desired taste.
7. Roll out and cut the pie sheet into circles that are little bigger than the oven-safe bowls you are using.
8. Fill the bowls with filling about 80% full. Cover the bowls with pie sheet and press the edge.
9. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

I served it with salad. I know it's not the most healthy food you can have, but a big bowl of pot pie won't hurt once in a while, right? With the filling, you can really be creative. I'm thinking about making seafood pot pie next time. Although making pie dough sounds like a lot of work, it's really easy if you have a food processor. I just made it on Sunday and let it sit in the fridge until today.

---

Technorati Tags:pot pie, vegetarian pot pie

Monday Dinner: Ginger pork

Tonight, I grilled ginger-marinaded pork and cooked rice with daikon radish. Rice cooked with vegetables and sometimes meat or fish, called takikomi gohan, is a very popular rice dish in Japan.



Ginger pork (for 3 people):
Pork (10 oz) - I used pork butt, but you can use leaner cut if you want.
Ginger (1 medium piece)
Ground sesame (1 Tbsp) - Use a food processor to grind sesame seeds.
Soy sauce (3 Tbsp)
Mirin (2 Tbsp)
Cooking wine (2 Tbsp)
Vegetable oil (1 Tbsp)

1. Slice pork as thinly as you can. Using half-frozen meat makes it easier to do.
2. Combine all the other ingredients and create marinade.
3. Put pork in the marinade and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a pan on high heat. Grill pork until all sides are brown.

I served it with broiled Chinese broccoli that I found at the farmer's market. You can use any greens, like pak choy, spinach, and broccoli. It looks kind of dry in the picture, but meat actually stays pretty moist and juicy. You should definitely try this Asian marinade.

Daikon rice (for 3-4 people):
Sticky Korean/Japanese rice (1.5 cup)
Daikon radish (about 1/2 cup of sliced white part - about 2-3 inches - and 1/2 cup of chopped leaves)
Sesame oil (1/2 Tbsp)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)
Cooking wine (1 Tbsp)

1. Peel and slice daikon radish (little bigger than bite size). Chop up the leaves.
2. Heat a pan with sesame oil on high heat and stir-fry daikon pieces and chopped leaves.
3. When they are tender, put soy sauce in, but not directly on daikon. Let soy sauce heat up for a second or two until it smells nice, then mix everything together.
4. Put cooking wine and mix everything together. Turn the heat off and set it aside.
5. Wash rice and put water in as you would normally cook rice. Add daikon in the rice.
6. Cook as you would normally cook rice.

It's kind of hard to get daikon with nice green leaves, so it's OK if you only have the white part.

---

Technorati Tags:pork, daikon, ginger

Vegetable garden

One of my dreams is to have a large garden where I can grow vegetables and herbs for cooking. Since I live in an apartment, my only choice at this point is to grow something in containers. I've tried to grow vegetables in containers before when I was in St. Louis, but squirrels destroyed them all... Hopefully, squirrels in Bay area are not as malicious...

I planted arugula and lettuce, so when I harvest, I'll be able to eat fresh salad. I'm also planning to plant herbs because when I buy herbs they come in a big package and I can never finish them all.

I used regular potting soil and added plant food, but I have a feeling that the containers are too small. I'll probably have to buy bigger onces once they grow more.

---

Technorati Tags:grow vegetables, vegetable garden