Sausalicious!

So I know I recently posted about eating less meat, but I can't hold back on my recent, incredible, sausalicious experience.



Oyama Sausage Co. in Granville Market. We walked through the entrance and saw this:



Charcuterie heaven!! (that's right, they make their own serrano ham!). This picture doesn't even include their vast array of refrigerated products...

They make (among many other things) prosciutto (many, many kinds - including duck and wild boar), pates, and sausages. We tried a Portuguese salami, finocchiona (fennel salami), and a prosciutto salami. Incredibly good. And very reasonably priced. My favorite, the finocchiona, was very thinly sliced, unctuous yet with a slight meaty chewiness, and with the fragrance of fennel. Can you tell that I want to eat some more right now? If food porn does it for you, you must check out the product list on their website.

Other samplings from Granville Market:


The bright yellow berries in the foreground are gooseberries - we had to pay $0.25 for a taste of these tangy berries with just a little touch of sweetness.



They called this barbecued salmon - which turned out to be the best hot smoked salmon I've ever had. Just the right amount of salty smokiness without overwhelming the salmon flavor. And very tender, perfectly cooked pieces that retained the fattyness of salmon without turning into a brick of protein.


A perfectly good slice of pepperoni pizza









Followed by a delicious Blueberry Colada - a combination of blueberries, coconut, and raspberry juice. Take that Jamba Juice!


I'm going to devote an entire day to meandering through and snacking at Granville Market the next time I'm in Vancouver. Hopefully soon!

Carb Coma

Sooo delicioussssssss..... Pizza for dinner last night. Pancakes for breakfast. A Churro for a snack. And linguini for dinner. With some focaccia.

Holy crap this weekend has blown my dietary plans to smithereens. Smithereens! I was surprised by the results of the recent NEJM study which compared low fat, Mediterranean, and low carb diets head to head. Having previously done low carb, I found it very effective but was also suspicious about it's effect on cholesterol. But guess what? The study shows that low carb is actually the best of these diets for cholesterol.

Another thought that's been buzzing around in my head for a while is one planted by Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma." It makes some very good arguments about considering the carbon footprint of your food when making choices. I highly recommend this book for everyone - I think it's interesting even to the non-foodies out there.

So tentatively (after this weekend, haha!), I think I'm going to revise my diet thusly:
1. Low carb
2. More locally grown veggies
3. Cutting back to eating meat only once a day (writing this I realize I'm such a carnivore) with a long term goal of eating meat only 3x a week.
4. Less processed food - maybe one item every few days?
We'll see how it goes!

Poochi Poochi!

A few months ago I had the good fortune of my friend Christina and my brother visiting, coincidentally at the same time. It was the perfect excuse for us to try out izakaya. Other than sushi, we were all pretty much brand spankin' new to Japanese food, and our sushi experiences are more along the lines of everything stuffed into a roll rather than uni or ankimo.

We went to Honda Ya Izakaya and got a table in the tatami room. Izakaya is like Japanese small dishes to have with sake. At least that's my impression. And that's what Christina and I did, while the boys chugged their Kirin. Both of us being a sucker for names, we chose the Poochi Poochi for that reason alone. It turned out to be a sparkling, unfiltered sake which was too easy to drink - very refreshing with a fruity nose. And with a cutesy illustration of a pooch cuddling a little bottle on the label. It's like drinking the Hello Kitty of sake.

The food was pretty good. Miso eggplant was my favorite, and the pork belly and lamb chop yakitori are worth getting.

So now that I've tried izakaya, I'm stuck with wanting to go again. Very soon. Anyone up for some poochi poochi?

Delicious Wine - how I love thee

Our new every day table wine - under $15 and tasty. Not the typical California Cab - no over the top tannins or fruit explosion, but a really smooth, full body cabernet that goes well with most everything we eat. So far that would be Moroccan beef stew, grilled sausages, and lamb.
Obviously, we're carnivores. But it's also a nice mellow wine to drink after a long day, while watching movies, or settling in for a nice long soak in the tub. I'm indebted to my co-worker for introducing me to this wine, as well as the San Dimas Wine Shop where I purchase said wine. The tasting area may be tiny, but the tasting flights are filled with lots of lesser known California wineries, and all of good quality. The proprietress is a very knowledgeable lady who has guided me to lots of enjoyable wines and given good tips for our upcoming trip to Healdsburg. Definitely better than any experience I've ever had at BevMo.

Hamachi

Aside from short period of time after consuming some bad supermarket sushi (big mistake, I know) I love eating sushi. One of my favorites is hamachi which has a buttery quality that I am addicted to. Luckily enough some extremely fresh hamachi was available from the Pasadena Farmer's Market's Fish Lady. The Fish Lady is awesome - not only does she supply a huge variety of very very fresh fish - she does her Saturday morning fishmongering in 4 inch heels, full on makeup and hair, and a cute outfit. And this on a morning that likely starts around 5AM.

After a fabulous week spent with Michael's good friends climbing in Joshua Tree, we were spent. They drove off to the airport this Sunday, and we basically did our best to laze around the house throughout the afternoon. So we decided on something really simple for dinner and Google yielded this recipe. Now I've never been a huge fan of Ming Tsai - nor have I disliked his show - he's just never been as interesting to me as some of the other celebrity chefs out there. But this preparation for Hamachi carpaccio was pretty good.



We had no problems gobbling this up.

A few changes I would make... As you can see, there was no pounding flat of this fish. I like the texture of slightly thicker slices rather than the paper thin, pounded pieces. You can also halve the soy syrup recipe, cuz that stuff is potent! And we still have a substantial amount left over. Also, I was sad that my curry oil was not as potent as I would have liked. Perhaps it was my curry powder? And maybe I should have toasted the powder prior to adding the oil.

In any case, it was a tasty and simple way to prepare our hamachi.

And it even smells good!

I don't typically love Pinot Noir. Light bodied, lighter colored, and not as wonderful to smell as wines I usually like to drink. Though maybe it was the fact I drank this after a very long day of activity in the hot sun, but I found this particular Pinot to be incredibly tasty. We purchased a few bottles of Cambria this summer while visiting Santa Ynez. And though Cambria Pinot is readily found in most wine stores everywhere, I had never tried this particular one from the Benchbreak Vineyard. Delicious! So much so that I woke up the next morning a little woozy. So much so that I need to get several more bottles.

Banh Mi Any Anytime

Banh mi on my mind
Banh mi, banh mi any anytime
Banh mi, my love I can eat it any day or night
Banh mi!

Personally I think Debbie Harry would have no problem with my version of the Blondie song - especially if she knew how obsessively I've been thinking about Banh mi. Though I'm sure some - err most - of you are cringing/puking at the cheesiness of my personal version of "Call Me," just be thankful you're not sharing karoke night with me.

Finally I've satisfied several months of craving for:
1. crispy baguette
2. smeared with rich pate
3. stuffed with vietnamese ham and "meatloaf"
4. topped with crunchy, pickled, sweet and tangy carrots and turnips
5. even better with a burning hot pepper (note all the ribs and seeds left in!)




While the largest Vietnamese community in LA lives in Orange County, thank God there's enough of a population in the San Gabriel Valley for some stellar Vietnamese food.









Walking into Banh Mi Che Cali, I knew we hit jackpot - we fought our way through the mostly Vietnamese crowd to get into line to order. And then had to fight our way through another line to pick up our food. I had the deli meats cuz I just had to have the pate and butter. M had the BBQ pork which was equally tasty.



You know that blissful feeling you get from scratching an itch? That's how good I feel now!


Now I just have to wait out the 90 degree weather to indulge in some pho...


Banh Mi Che Cali

8450 Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

(626) 288-5600

Bulgarini Gelato

I spent the day yesterday at a gelato tasting hosted by Bulgarini, in Altadena. A sunny day outdoors eating intensely flavored, cool sweets. Delicious! We had:
1. Golden Kiwi
2. Mango
3. Golden Plum and Chocolate orange
4. Coffee crema
5. Zabaglione - Marsala wine
6. Pistachio - the best of all

The best thing I discovered was that most of the fruit flavored ones are actually sorbets - despite their creamy luscious texture, they contain no dairy. HURRAH!

The owners of Bulgarini are dedicated to finding the best, seasonal ingredients. They treated us to a taste of their ground pistachio paste, imported from Sicily. It was ....decadent. Extremely nutty and rich, a super fatty nut butter that I want to spread on toast - or make a really expensive s'more. Thankfully, Bulgarini is less than 10 minute drive...

Bulgarini Gelato
749 E Altadena Dr.
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 441-2319