Well, it IS very red!
Last night, I looked around and saw beets. I microwaved them in some water until soft to the touch, and cut the smaller one into crescents which I placed on tender salad greens with tomato chunks, small pieces of blood orange and slivers of red onion, and I served this with balsamic vinaigrette.
That left the big beet, which I cut into chunks - this wasn't big enough for soup on its own. I chopped a small onion, and a small carrot as well. I chopped the carrot into 1/2-inch dice and microwaved this in some beet liquid.
I sauteed the onion in butter until soft, then added the drained carrots and beets. I added a cup and a half of chicken broth, a thumb's worth of peeled, chopped ginger and about a cup of canned diced tomatoes. I seasoned it all with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, turmeric and garlic salt as well, as I've run out of fresh garlic.
At this point, I had the DH taste the very-red soup. I fully planned to add half a packet of coconut milk powder and use my immersion blender to pulverize all and make it smooth and sexy, but the DH said, "No need!" I may still do this to the leftovers!
I served the soup and salad with young, fresh corn on the cob, and slices of La Tour kalamata olive bread toasted and topped with havarti.
Lots of fiber, and very warming on a cool night, this was a bright red soup for the one I love.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Lunch at Work: Part Two, or When the Custodians Cook, It IS Good!
The maintenance crew where I work usually cook lunch on Saturday. Is it a coincidence that no one from admin works that day? They set a pot of rice cooking and sometimes plan to make pork or chicken. Here's an example of what they've cooked previously. When they cook adobo, the aromas get into the elevator, then permeate the library!
What's new is that I now PLAN to eat with them! Why? Well, the food is good, but so is the company! I choose to sit with them because - shhh, don't tell - they're more fun than the librarians and other staffers! We usually talk about what we do and don't like to eat, and new things we're learning to cook.
When it's my turn to do storytime, I have DH join me for the crafts, so we pick up lunch from Gulick delicatessen that morning, then he joins us all for lunch in the lunchroom. The DH always eats the Gulick fried rice and short ribs, I always have the shiso musubi and eggplant.
Yesterday, the custodians cooked up onions with sardines in tomato sauce, and fried Spam with scrambled eggs, and one of them brought adobo from home. Of course, they always have their condiment of vinegar with hot bird chilis. My contribution to the potluck was cucumber namasu and California roll from Gulick. The custodians like the DH because he's an eater who enjoys!
Other times, it will just be fried rice or fried saimin. Some of it is very humble local food, indeed - but delicious!
I can't wait for them to make my favorite: pork or chicken soup with taro or green papaya, both with lots of garlic! I have to stop at one bowl, or risk sleeping at the reference desk!
What's new is that I now PLAN to eat with them! Why? Well, the food is good, but so is the company! I choose to sit with them because - shhh, don't tell - they're more fun than the librarians and other staffers! We usually talk about what we do and don't like to eat, and new things we're learning to cook.
When it's my turn to do storytime, I have DH join me for the crafts, so we pick up lunch from Gulick delicatessen that morning, then he joins us all for lunch in the lunchroom. The DH always eats the Gulick fried rice and short ribs, I always have the shiso musubi and eggplant.
Yesterday, the custodians cooked up onions with sardines in tomato sauce, and fried Spam with scrambled eggs, and one of them brought adobo from home. Of course, they always have their condiment of vinegar with hot bird chilis. My contribution to the potluck was cucumber namasu and California roll from Gulick. The custodians like the DH because he's an eater who enjoys!
Other times, it will just be fried rice or fried saimin. Some of it is very humble local food, indeed - but delicious!
I can't wait for them to make my favorite: pork or chicken soup with taro or green papaya, both with lots of garlic! I have to stop at one bowl, or risk sleeping at the reference desk!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Spanish Rice/Public School Lunch Update
The DH reported that just the other day, he had something called "Spanish Green Beans" for school lunch.
I asked him, "What happened to the RICE?"
He said, "Oh, it was served separately."
I can't imagine that tasted as good as the REAL Spanish Rice! It couldn't have!
We talked about school lunch in the lunchroom at work, and one remembered how good the apple crisp was, another said the cafeteria manager at her elementary school was SUCH a good cook, and made everything from scratch. So intermediate and high school lunches were a rude and disappointing surprise, as she said it, the food was, "Junk!"
One last great thing about public school food: the cinnamon toast! The cafeteria ladies would save stale bread in the freezer, then, when they had enough, they would butter it (or who knows, it may very well have been OLEO, aka margarine!?), throw on a ton of cinnamon sugar, and bake until crisp.
THE BEST cinnamon toast!
NOW I'm hungry!
I asked him, "What happened to the RICE?"
He said, "Oh, it was served separately."
I can't imagine that tasted as good as the REAL Spanish Rice! It couldn't have!
We talked about school lunch in the lunchroom at work, and one remembered how good the apple crisp was, another said the cafeteria manager at her elementary school was SUCH a good cook, and made everything from scratch. So intermediate and high school lunches were a rude and disappointing surprise, as she said it, the food was, "Junk!"
One last great thing about public school food: the cinnamon toast! The cafeteria ladies would save stale bread in the freezer, then, when they had enough, they would butter it (or who knows, it may very well have been OLEO, aka margarine!?), throw on a ton of cinnamon sugar, and bake until crisp.
THE BEST cinnamon toast!
NOW I'm hungry!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Comfort Me with... Spanish Rice??? Comfort Food, Part Three
How coincidental is this? I made Spanish Rice two nights ago, tried to write a post about it last night, but the desire to sleep won out over the need to write! Then, I look at this morning's StarAdvertiser food section and see the article on the same dish! (If you're not a subscriber, there's a paywall and you won't be able to read it!) Or just check out the recipe below. We were talking about the food we grew up on - public school cafeteria lunches!
I'm not a sentimental person when it comes to the past, or about music, and I don't remember much that was good about school lunch - except the sloppy joes and SPANISH RICE! Every time I mention the latter, folks ooh and aah! It sure wasn't the healthiest lunch. Leftover white rice cooked with ground meat that was probably 25% fat? The DH remembers green beans in this, but I don't!
Making Spanish rice a couple nights ago took a bit of planning. The night before I made it, I soaked about 1-1/2 cups each white rice and long grain brown rice, then I cooked, cooled and refrigerated it. Yes, it made lots more rice than I needed for the recipe, and I refrigerated and froze the rest.
From the grocery store, I bought 90% lean ground beef. Growing up, my dad had to watch his cholesterol, so my mother ONLY bought lean beef, rarely pork, never hamburger. Instead she went to the butcher in Kaimuki (WHERE are all the butchers now?) where she chose a piece of round, had the butcher trim the fat and grind the meat! With the use of lean beef and brown rice, it was a conscious effort on my part to make this a healthier meal.
Yesterday, I bought yellow and green bell peppers at the farmer's market downtown. When I got home from work, I chopped a medium size onion and half each of green, red and yellow bell peppers. I cooked the beef, onions and peppers and seasoned them with black pepper, sweet paprika, ancho chile powder, garlic salt, some fresh thyme and sea salt. I added 1-1/2 cans of diced tomatoes, and finally, 3 cups of cooked rice. Cooked through until heated, and adjusted salt and pepper.
I served this with mixed baby greens, slivers of red onion and a sliced tomato with balsamic vinaigrette.
Oh, were we comforted! And there were enough leftovers for lunch for one and two for dinner!
There WERE other good things about public school cafeteria lunch: ice cake when you worked cafeteria, the shortbread, and almond cookies (remember the latter with the big Red Dye #2 splotch!?), and the cream puffs (Manoa School, and I only had 2 or 3 in my entire time there!)
BTW: PUBLIC SCHOOL RULES!
What school YOU went?
I'm not a sentimental person when it comes to the past, or about music, and I don't remember much that was good about school lunch - except the sloppy joes and SPANISH RICE! Every time I mention the latter, folks ooh and aah! It sure wasn't the healthiest lunch. Leftover white rice cooked with ground meat that was probably 25% fat? The DH remembers green beans in this, but I don't!
Making Spanish rice a couple nights ago took a bit of planning. The night before I made it, I soaked about 1-1/2 cups each white rice and long grain brown rice, then I cooked, cooled and refrigerated it. Yes, it made lots more rice than I needed for the recipe, and I refrigerated and froze the rest.
From the grocery store, I bought 90% lean ground beef. Growing up, my dad had to watch his cholesterol, so my mother ONLY bought lean beef, rarely pork, never hamburger. Instead she went to the butcher in Kaimuki (WHERE are all the butchers now?) where she chose a piece of round, had the butcher trim the fat and grind the meat! With the use of lean beef and brown rice, it was a conscious effort on my part to make this a healthier meal.
Yesterday, I bought yellow and green bell peppers at the farmer's market downtown. When I got home from work, I chopped a medium size onion and half each of green, red and yellow bell peppers. I cooked the beef, onions and peppers and seasoned them with black pepper, sweet paprika, ancho chile powder, garlic salt, some fresh thyme and sea salt. I added 1-1/2 cans of diced tomatoes, and finally, 3 cups of cooked rice. Cooked through until heated, and adjusted salt and pepper.
I served this with mixed baby greens, slivers of red onion and a sliced tomato with balsamic vinaigrette.
Oh, were we comforted! And there were enough leftovers for lunch for one and two for dinner!
There WERE other good things about public school cafeteria lunch: ice cake when you worked cafeteria, the shortbread, and almond cookies (remember the latter with the big Red Dye #2 splotch!?), and the cream puffs (Manoa School, and I only had 2 or 3 in my entire time there!)
BTW: PUBLIC SCHOOL RULES!
What school YOU went?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Last-minute Dinner Party on a Work Night
Lots of the Usual Cigar-Smoking Suspects said the dinner invitation was delivered on too short notice. They got the invite at 2 pm, and couldn't get wine or spirits, cigars or food together by 6 pm.
They missed out! When Chef Jeff, an ER doctor (NOT the sushi chef!) who loves to cook, calls - if you come, you WILL be fed!
It was Wednesday, and as usual, we planned to head to the Honolulu Farmers' Market at the Blaisdell Center. We needed bananas and pickled mango, as well as our usual The Pig and the Lady fix!
The 2 pm phone call changed things a bit. I put the wine in the refrigerator, got out 2 medium-sized and one large container, bought some disposable soup bowls and grabbed some disposable chopsticks
At the Farmers' Market we picked up the fruit we needed, then headed for The Pig and the Lady. Word is spreading about how good the food is, because every seat was taken! But we ordered our food to go. Andrew worried about the soup in our to-go container, but Ted got it home safely by driving like a granny. (No offense to grannies!)
Back at home, we grabbed the wine, bowls and chopsticks, and headed to the Doc's house. We met his friend Gary from SoCal, cracked open the Bonterra organic cab we'd brought, and looked at the poke. Before we could even try to eat it, the Doc handed us paper plates of scallops with capers on air-popped fingerling potatoes. Very good!
At this point, the guys swapped or shared cigars and lit up. Gary asked me if I smoked - maybe something small and vanilla? No way! No flavored cigars for me, and I told him I need to be on vacation and on a nice beach. Then there was foie gras on naan bread or nigiri rice with secret sauce. Excellent. Fresh Kauai prawns with garlic followed - so ono you gotta suck the heads!
I have no photos of this food - I just tucked in and ATE it!
Everyone loved the Bonterra, finished it much too fast, and moved on to other red wines. There was steak with another secret sauce. We needed a rest after that!
The doc said The Pig and the Lady Pho Bo Tai Nam would be our dessert! I headed to the kitchen to heat up the broth, portioned out the rice noodles, onions, herbs, meat and tendon. Ladled out the soup and served it.
Result? Six very happy diners! Gary said he wished he'd had that fragrant, warming soup a couple of weeks ago, when he was sick with the flu. I'm sure it would've helped to heal him!
They missed out! When Chef Jeff, an ER doctor (NOT the sushi chef!) who loves to cook, calls - if you come, you WILL be fed!
It was Wednesday, and as usual, we planned to head to the Honolulu Farmers' Market at the Blaisdell Center. We needed bananas and pickled mango, as well as our usual The Pig and the Lady fix!
The 2 pm phone call changed things a bit. I put the wine in the refrigerator, got out 2 medium-sized and one large container, bought some disposable soup bowls and grabbed some disposable chopsticks
At the Farmers' Market we picked up the fruit we needed, then headed for The Pig and the Lady. Word is spreading about how good the food is, because every seat was taken! But we ordered our food to go. Andrew worried about the soup in our to-go container, but Ted got it home safely by driving like a granny. (No offense to grannies!)
Back at home, we grabbed the wine, bowls and chopsticks, and headed to the Doc's house. We met his friend Gary from SoCal, cracked open the Bonterra organic cab we'd brought, and looked at the poke. Before we could even try to eat it, the Doc handed us paper plates of scallops with capers on air-popped fingerling potatoes. Very good!
At this point, the guys swapped or shared cigars and lit up. Gary asked me if I smoked - maybe something small and vanilla? No way! No flavored cigars for me, and I told him I need to be on vacation and on a nice beach. Then there was foie gras on naan bread or nigiri rice with secret sauce. Excellent. Fresh Kauai prawns with garlic followed - so ono you gotta suck the heads!
I have no photos of this food - I just tucked in and ATE it!
Everyone loved the Bonterra, finished it much too fast, and moved on to other red wines. There was steak with another secret sauce. We needed a rest after that!
The doc said The Pig and the Lady Pho Bo Tai Nam would be our dessert! I headed to the kitchen to heat up the broth, portioned out the rice noodles, onions, herbs, meat and tendon. Ladled out the soup and served it.
Result? Six very happy diners! Gary said he wished he'd had that fragrant, warming soup a couple of weeks ago, when he was sick with the flu. I'm sure it would've helped to heal him!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Last Supper: Plancha Honolulu, and now: Whole Ox
I thought I'd have time to write this before the New Year, but I thought wrong. Life and living it, working and enjoying life got in the way.
I know it takes me a long time to digest things before I can write about them, but this is ridiculous. That second and final supper at Plancha was almost 3 months ago!
Everything was cooked on a plancha - a large metal plate. Plancha was a popup - a short-term restaurant with limited life, hours and seating. We had enjoyed our first dinner there so much, when one of our tablemates offered 2 of his seats for the final seating, we had to return. Once again, it was communal seating, and we said hello to old and new tablemates.
The menu was:
Opihi with papaya seed dressing
Ahi with heirloom beans and salsa verde
Prawns with kochu jang butter and cucumbers
Onaga with peppadew and small tomatoes
Pavlova with fruit
I love opihi, and so does the DH. We shared stories of opihi famine and bounty and of eating them so fresh they might crawl back up your throat, if not chewed well! These were yummy. My favorite was the ahi -along with the beans and olive oil that were so delicious, I could have eaten more of that for the rest of the night! The kochu jang with the prawns was very restrained and just right. DH's favorite was the onaga, which was cooked perfectly. The pavlova came with a raspberry/pomegranate sauce, as there were no lilikoi (passionfruit) to be found.
But I've since found a vine growing in my mother's yard, and have been enjoying lilikoi on toast with The Pig and the Lady kaya, and on ice cream. Even on my oatmeal!
What I liked so much about Chef Bob McGee's cooking at Plancha was that it was NOT sweet. So many local dishes come with such sweet sauces that put me off! Instead, the flavors are restrained, the ingredients locally sourced, and the lamb, seafood and produce just shine!
Which brings us to Chef Bob's latest project, the Whole Ox Deli. As our friend at V Lounge tells us, the name refers to eating the whole animal, nose to tail. There will be smoked meats, charcuterie - bacon, ham, sausage, pate, confit maybe?, sandwiches, butchery classes, whole pig, as well - it all sounds "nokaoink"!
The eating community - as well as the cooking and drinking ones! - have become a part of this project by contributing toward the purchase of a smoker for Whole Ox which could enable USDA inspection. This, via alt online fundraising site indiegogo.com
This is a chef with a big dream, and the communities have embraced it. I'm always fascinated with people with an obsession, or at least a passion for something. And by watching all of this unfold, I've become much more aware of who cares about the food we eat.
Too, Whole Ox will be part of the growing #Kakaako community of places to eat, meet, shop, live and plan for the future!
I know it takes me a long time to digest things before I can write about them, but this is ridiculous. That second and final supper at Plancha was almost 3 months ago!
Everything was cooked on a plancha - a large metal plate. Plancha was a popup - a short-term restaurant with limited life, hours and seating. We had enjoyed our first dinner there so much, when one of our tablemates offered 2 of his seats for the final seating, we had to return. Once again, it was communal seating, and we said hello to old and new tablemates.
The menu was:
Opihi with papaya seed dressing
Ahi with heirloom beans and salsa verde
Prawns with kochu jang butter and cucumbers
Onaga with peppadew and small tomatoes
Pavlova with fruit
I love opihi, and so does the DH. We shared stories of opihi famine and bounty and of eating them so fresh they might crawl back up your throat, if not chewed well! These were yummy. My favorite was the ahi -along with the beans and olive oil that were so delicious, I could have eaten more of that for the rest of the night! The kochu jang with the prawns was very restrained and just right. DH's favorite was the onaga, which was cooked perfectly. The pavlova came with a raspberry/pomegranate sauce, as there were no lilikoi (passionfruit) to be found.
But I've since found a vine growing in my mother's yard, and have been enjoying lilikoi on toast with The Pig and the Lady kaya, and on ice cream. Even on my oatmeal!
What I liked so much about Chef Bob McGee's cooking at Plancha was that it was NOT sweet. So many local dishes come with such sweet sauces that put me off! Instead, the flavors are restrained, the ingredients locally sourced, and the lamb, seafood and produce just shine!
Which brings us to Chef Bob's latest project, the Whole Ox Deli. As our friend at V Lounge tells us, the name refers to eating the whole animal, nose to tail. There will be smoked meats, charcuterie - bacon, ham, sausage, pate, confit maybe?, sandwiches, butchery classes, whole pig, as well - it all sounds "nokaoink"!
The eating community - as well as the cooking and drinking ones! - have become a part of this project by contributing toward the purchase of a smoker for Whole Ox which could enable USDA inspection. This, via alt online fundraising site indiegogo.com
This is a chef with a big dream, and the communities have embraced it. I'm always fascinated with people with an obsession, or at least a passion for something. And by watching all of this unfold, I've become much more aware of who cares about the food we eat.
Too, Whole Ox will be part of the growing #Kakaako community of places to eat, meet, shop, live and plan for the future!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Pig and the Lady's Hu Tieu Nam Vang: Two Ways to Know Something is Good to Eat
The first way: when you're eating it, you can't stop. You have to tell yourself to pause and BREATHE!
The second way: thoughts of it come to mind, both when you're hungry and when you're not. And this can be DAYS or MONTHS after you've eaten it.
The other night, I was eating ramen that my husband had picked up from a nearby Japanese restaurant. The husband has passed on his chest cold to me, and I needed something hot, salty and wet.
But, it wasn't the soup I'd been daydreaming about.
That soup is The Pig and the Lady's Hu Tieu NamVong Vang, Cambodian-style pork and chicken broth with pork, chicken, egg, noodles and herbs. I tasted it for the first time at the Blaisdell Farmers' market last week, and hope they serve it again this Wednesday. It's THAT good. Hot, fragrant and satisfying.
And the people, the Le family, are super-nice. Andrew, Alex, Allison, Mama and Papa and friends.
Next week, they may very well have a new soup, as they've served turkey, chicken and beef soups so far. Also super-ono la lot - pork or beef wrapped in betelnut leaves and grilled. And recently, delicious turmeric rice cooked in chicken broth and served with chicken, onions and herbs with lime.
I'm drooling, and I just ate lunch. (Albeit, the lunch of person at home from work. Translation: leftovers.)
Hungry? Feed your stomach and your soul at The Pig and the Lady!
BTW: The DH is bringing his own spoon, the better to eat more noodles and broth at once. Alex says to bring your own bowl. Think saimin bowl size, not mixing bowl!
See you there!
_____
Edited to correct spelling. Sorry, I was under the weather!
The second way: thoughts of it come to mind, both when you're hungry and when you're not. And this can be DAYS or MONTHS after you've eaten it.
The other night, I was eating ramen that my husband had picked up from a nearby Japanese restaurant. The husband has passed on his chest cold to me, and I needed something hot, salty and wet.
But, it wasn't the soup I'd been daydreaming about.
That soup is The Pig and the Lady's Hu Tieu Nam
And the people, the Le family, are super-nice. Andrew, Alex, Allison, Mama and Papa and friends.
Next week, they may very well have a new soup, as they've served turkey, chicken and beef soups so far. Also super-ono la lot - pork or beef wrapped in betelnut leaves and grilled. And recently, delicious turmeric rice cooked in chicken broth and served with chicken, onions and herbs with lime.
I'm drooling, and I just ate lunch. (Albeit, the lunch of person at home from work. Translation: leftovers.)
Hungry? Feed your stomach and your soul at The Pig and the Lady!
BTW: The DH is bringing his own spoon, the better to eat more noodles and broth at once. Alex says to bring your own bowl. Think saimin bowl size, not mixing bowl!
See you there!
_____
Edited to correct spelling. Sorry, I was under the weather!
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