The Happy Tastebud

the seafood of summer

2010-07-14T19:35:50Z

every summer, my family gathers in Nantucket and eats a ridiculous amount of seafood. this side of the family is Chinese, so eating in general is pretty much the activity of choice, and when it comes to seafood, they can hoover up enormous quantities. with the exception of the traditional Lobster Of Enormousness, we catch all our own. now, i had no idea that Nantucket was somewhat of a high-flutin' sort of vacation spot until i was in college, because it was simply the name of the place that my uncle & aunt had since before i was born.... Continue reading "the seafood of summer" »

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A Lovely Marinade for Pork Shoulder Butt

2010-03-04T07:01:52Z

1 pork shoulder butt or other 2-3 pound slightly fatty cut of pork roast 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper Grind in mortar with pestle 1 shallot sliced thinly 1/2 tsp thyme add to mortar, grind to paste 1 tsp good mustard 1 tsp apricot jam add to other ingredients in mortar, grind to paste Pull out pork butt, pat dry, put on a plate, lightly salt & pepper. Rub in marinade until thoroughly coating pork and a bit rubbed in - 2 mins. Stick back in fridge for 2-4 hours. Pull out about 15 mins before putting in oven.... Continue reading "A Lovely Marinade for Pork Shoulder Butt" »

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Spicy, Pickled, Crunchy Mexican Carrots

2009-12-07T00:45:05Z

Photo taken by Ms. Jen with a Nokia N900. Sun 12.06.09 - At many of the taquerías in SoCal there will be a salsa bar with a small container of pickled carrots and peppers to put on the side of your plate. My absolute favorite carrots are the ones at El Camino Real in Fullerton, as I love how crunchy and spicy they are. Many other places has over cooked carrots or they have very little flavor. Today, I decided to try to make my own. I searched the net for various recipes and the recipe over at About.com sounded... Continue reading "Spicy, Pickled, Crunchy Mexican Carrots" »

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Pea-a-Palooza Risotto

2009-11-08T04:39:02Z

Photo taken by Ms. Jen with a Nokia N97. Sat 11.07.09 - Hadashi and I met up at her and the Husbanator's house this evening and we made a delightfully large pot of Pea-a-Palooza Risotto. When she said she had peas - then a bag of Trader Joe's bag of frozen peas got opened and the whole of the bag poured into the pot at the end of the cooking, I was very surprised, as I would have used about 1/3rd of the bag, but Hadashi was in the right, a whole bag of peas was *Amazing* in the... Continue reading "Pea-a-Palooza Risotto" »

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Gluten-Free Seitan - Say What?!!

2009-10-25T06:52:16Z

Today I was looking through the recipes in the last issue of Gourmet Magazine (*shakes fist at Conde Nast*), when I read the recipe on Vegetarian Shepherds Pie which called for seitan as one of the main ingredients. Seitan is an Asian protein-rich, meat-free food stuff made of wheat gluten that is very popular for creating meat substitutes for vegetarian and vegan cooking. If you are gluten-free for health reasons, such as gluten-intolerance or celiacs disease, or for diet reasons, also very valid, then navigating the world of vegetarian and vegan cookery can be very tricky as it can be... Continue reading "Gluten-Free Seitan - Say What?!!" »

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i gigi is My New Favorite Brunch Place!

2009-10-11T04:53:16Z

Photos by Ms. Jen with a Nokia N86. Sun 10.04.09 - Today Jeremy and Jessica took me to brunch at i gigi's cafe on Western Rd on Hove, Josh Russell and Nik F met us there for a truly delightful brunch. The food was a fresh riff off the usual breakfast and brunch foods. Each dish was well considered and beautiful as well as tasty. The best part is that each of the servers prepared the dishes on the sideboard right next to us. Fresh. Tasty. Moderately DIY. Now when is i gigi going to open a Long Beach,... Continue reading "i gigi is My New Favorite Brunch Place!" »

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peach jam!

2009-09-04T21:10:41Z

div class="note"div class="note"click on the photos for larger images! hadashi's peach tree was very very productive this year, thanks to responsible watering and the judicious use of a bird net. what to do with all the bounty? enter Ms. Jen and her box o' Ball jars! she's great at research, so after consulting several sources -- including a canning savvy grandma (always the best source) -- all we needed were the right tools. a quick trip to cooking mecca Surfas yielded a cheery red-accented set of tongs, funnels, and more! between all the boiling, chopping, sterilizing, and funneling, we... Continue reading "peach jam!" »

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Lunch

2009-08-27T05:44:07Z

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My Pig Has Arrived, Making 'Da Bomb' Breakfast Sausage

2009-08-15T20:08:02Z

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Gluten-free / Yeast Free Homemade Pizza Success

2009-07-30T05:40:29Z

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kleine Imbisse

2009-06-14T05:59:53Z

(meaning "little snacks.") div class="note"please click on photos to enlarge! i've just returned from a family visit in Germany, where the asparagus & strawberries are in season. no photos of asparagus, but the first photo shows the berries...so luscious. so sweet. so addictive. next photo: this night shot is of the excellent late-night snack o' choice of drunk (okay, sober too) Germans all over. it's called currywurst, which is basically sausage covered in some kind of curry ketchup and eaten with a hard roll. this is from an infamous Imbiss shack called "The Curry Sau" (curry pig). it's right down... Continue reading "kleine Imbisse" »

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Shallot

2009-06-05T02:13:57Z

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The Amazing and Fabulous Twenty Salads at Itzik Hagadol

2009-05-26T05:35:59Z

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Hawaiian Mango, on its Way to Being Eaten Before Entering the Airport

2009-05-23T00:41:12Z

Fri 05.22.09 - Joe Hernandez purchased the above mango at a farm stand on Oahu's North Shore two days ago. A kindly USDA Agricultural inspector at the Honolulu Airport let me sit outside the security check point and eat my mango rather than throwing it away. He also told me that its varietal name was the 'haiti mango' and that in his opinion the best mango in Hawaii. Even though the mango was only half ripe, it was already full of mango flavor, quite sweet, and marvelously tangy with very few fibres. While it was half ripe, this Hawaiian... Continue reading "Hawaiian Mango, on its Way to Being Eaten Before Entering the Airport" »

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Tsukemono

2009-05-19T07:19:42Z

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