mmm-yoso!!!

Recently Consumed and it's that Time Again!

So here's some stuffs that I made recently........

A cumin and five spice crusted halibut...with that Purple Cabbage Slaw.

A Garlic Shrimp Po' Boy.

This one went to the reject pile. It was totally "ma-la" - numbing hot. But the Missus rejected it because it wasn't "red" enough. So it's back to the drawing board with the Chili Oil Won Tons.

Still, it was really spicy....

I still get embarrassed when the Missus requests "spicy tuna". So I sheepishly submit this Spicy Ahi Salad.

If you decide to make this, don't forget the tobiko and the avocado. I served this on mizuna, which added a nice mildly bitter counter-point to the dish.

And finally........

Tommy from Catalina Offshore recommended some fresh sardines, which had just come in that morning. The timing of which is excellent. It's that time again. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the Missus and I will be on our way to our next destination(s). So where are we going? Well, the photo leaves a clue.

I'll try to post once in a while while we're gone, but until then, everything is in the fine hands of Cathy!

Thanks for reading!

Saturday Stuffs: Moby Dick gets harpooned, what's up with Viet Bakery and Pho, and Paris Bakery and Thanh Son Tofu do the shuffle

Haven't done one of these for a while, so I thought the time was right.

Moby Dick is now "70 Bobcha  - Taste of Korea?:

Whatever that is.....

From the day I first saw the sign to actually eating there, I just had a feeling this incarnation was doomed. The owner seemed to have a thing about creating and opening places. The menu was all over the place, the quality of the seafood was decent during my visits....it should be, the guy who owned the place also owns Ocean Harvest, a seafood wholesaler. The spot was humongous and rather difficult to maintain, even with Kazumi manning a sushi bar in the back.

I have no idea what's up with this place now....I'll have to find out soon.

As for Kazumi. He was last sighted at the Snooty Asian, per Eater San Diego.

4805 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

What's up with Viet Bakery and Pho?:

It's actually kind of spooky. I first mentioned noticing this place in the same post as Moby Dick.And just like Moby Dick, this place just didn't do it for me. The dishes were uneven, as was the service, by the time I actually had a chance to try the pho the entire menu had changed. Everything that made the place seem special was gone.

The place isn't "officially closed" though, as you can see by the sign. I know for a fact that at least one offer was made to take over the spot, but it seems that the owners want to try again. They are currently using the kitchen for catering and such. As for the "we'll be opening soon", I wish them the best, but we know that this is often the kiss of death.

3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Paris Bakery and Thanh Son Tofu does the shuffle:

So I'm having a really lousy bowl of Bun Mang Vit and notice that Kien Giang has been replaced by Thanh Son Tofu?

5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Which got me wondering.....what's going on with the (former) Thanh Son Tofu spot. So I actually drive all the way down there to see. And to my surprise......

I see the Paris Bakery coming soon sign. So either Paris Bakery is moving here, or this will be a second location. There's a good deal of space in this place, so I'm sure they'll be cranking out banh mi and baguettes like crazy. The parking kind of sucks though......

4616 El Cajon Blvd Ste 15
San Diego, CA 92115

Surf and Turf Thursday.......

I think I've mentioned that the one really big change in the last year was that the Missus really enjoys shopping for food now....She has no problem heading over to Catalina Offshore during the week, or Bristol Farm, or Whole Paycheck. It makes life kind of interesting. Especially when I'm given a bunch of ingredients to fold into a meal. Tonight is a good example..........

So here's a bunch of stuff to make a week (work) night dinner.

So what do we have? From top to bottom, horseradish, duck fat, sunchokes, and a piece of Wagyu New York steak.

So what to make? I took the easy way out......I roasted off root vegetables, including the sunchokes, along with purple potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and whole cloves of garlic, in a combo duck fat-grapeseed oil, and made a duck fat vinaigrette to top it off. Sort of like the Roasted Parsnips and Kabocha with Caper Dressing.

Cook time I estimated about 40-45 minutes, so first thing I did was clean some shrimp. We always have shrimp on hand, it can make for a nice meal just about anytime.

I then made a horseradish sauce, which I thought could be used for both the shrimp and the steak.

Mince shallots, grate garlic, add shrimp, salt, pepper, Smoked Spanish Paprika, Thyme, Oregano, and a touch of Grapeseed oil and marinate the shrimp for a bit.

Season the steak, sear off.......let rest......

Vegetables finished roasting, turn off the heat, add vinaigrette, mix, and leave in warm oven.....

Saute shrimp using the Big Kahuna, which takes literally two minutes. Total time, just north of an hour.

Plate up and eat. It's surf and turf Thursday....

And I've survived to cook another day........

I hope everyone is having a great week!

COMC: The you sure eat a lot of guts edition.....

I recently got an interesting email from "JB".......who basically said, "you sure eat a lot of guts"..... Really? I didn't think so, until I looedk in my COMC (Clearing out the memory card) folder and it became all too clear.......

Sigh....I guess I do. Think I'll go get a cold one....and maybe some guts now.....

I hope you're having a great week!

COMC Calorie Bomb Edition: Carmen's Mexican Food, Harry D'z BBQ, a Caliente Burger, and one repeat

I know that my timing tends to suck......I have a tendency to do these posts right after the New Year. It's really not on purpose...really. What happens is that I try to close out the previous year and always seem to have some of these "one-off" type photos, so I basically have stuff for a "COMC" (Clearing Out the Memory Card) type of post. So anyway, here's some "stuffs" from the last quarter, of last year.

Carmen's Mexican Food:

A couple of folks have mentioned Carmen's to me and I tell them that I had eaten at Carmen's back when they were located in Linda Vista, across from what is now K Sandwich. I really wasn't impressed with the food, which seemed more Am-Mex, then Mexican. Eventually that whole area was razed and Carmen's was gone. I did feel a twinge of sadness, because even if I didn't care for the place, a lot of folks did. Then a couple of years ago, Babylon Cafe closed down, and Carmen's reopened in that location.

I was still not really motivated to eat there, but more than one person mentioned how good their Carne Asada Fries were. After my post on Yesenia's, I actually received two recommendations for Carmen's. So after a short CAF recovery period, I decided to drop by for lunch.

The crew here was friendly and all the customers seemed to be regulars, talking about kids, vacations to Disney, Disney cruises, relatives, not seeing "so and so" for a while....you know, that kind of stuff. I actually kind of felt like an outsider, but this gave me an understanding of how the place has cultivated a customer base over the years.

Everything was cooked to order so it took a couple of minutes before my Carne Asada Fries were ready.

This really wasn't my cup of tea. First, thought I love my dinner fries, I'm not fond of them in my CAF. Since there's always some guac-crema-salsa action going on, I prefer a higher ration of crispness. Second the guacamole was kind of pasty with no flavor. Third, the carne asada was a lot more tender then it appeared, but was rather tasteless. I'm sure they make their own salsa here, but for some reason it reminded me of Pace Picante. Nothing against Pace, but several decades ago I had a coworker whose second favorite hobby was....how shall I say it...partaking of the "cash crop". We'd go over for beers and would instantly know when he was enjoying himself....he'd be having this concoction of melted Philadelphia Cream Cheese mixed with Pace Picante and chips. Ick......

The rather substantial pool of oil at the bottom of the plate could either be an added treat or not...depending on your point of view.

Still, like I've said many times...there's a big difference between "favorite" and "best" and I understand that. There are many reasons why folks hold a place close to their hearts and the food may not be the main reason(hey, I'm just as guilty). Based on the rapport between the two guys working on this day and the regulars, I'm thinking this is one of those places.

Carmen's Mexican Food
4937 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Harry D'z BBQ:

During one of the early days of the Morena's Farmer's Market.....having not been back in a while, I'm wondering if it still running? I passed a couple of weeks ago and na-da?? Anyway, it was getting close to evening and I hadn't had lunch and this little stand looked interesting.

Actually, there should be some kind of law against sticking pork in front of a starving man's face.....

So I decided on the pulled pork sandwich, which was a reasonable $6.50.

The pork was quite moist, but I had a hard time believing it was really smoked based on the mild flavor. The sauce was too sticky sweet and what seemed molasses heavy for me......

The Caliente Burger at Tommy's:

I'm not sure what it is about San Diego's Tommy's, but it just doesn't seem to be the same as the Tommy's back in LA...even the one in our old neighborhood. But there I was, standing in line at Sprouts and the two customers in front of me were going on and on about this "new" burger at Tommy's that was "oh so good, but so spicy". Now what kind of bonehead would actually go visit Tommy's after overhearing two women talking about something "oh so good"??? Hello, I'm bonehead, nice to meet you......

The young lady at the counter was really friendly and told me that they top the chili burger with pickled cascabel chilies and chipotle cheddar. She was very nice and even gave me a little tray with some extra chilies in them. Funny, these reminded me of the bottled Del Monte Chilies I used to eat when I was a kid.

The burger was actually better then I had during my last visit, maybe five or so years ago now. The chilies weren't really that hot. I've kind of noticed that the chili at this location is heading into two divergent directions....as it becomes more and more like refried bean glue in texture, the flavor becomes more watered down. Right now it just seems like heartburn fuel.....though I've only had heartburn once in my life(a funny story) and it wasn't from Tommy's

Serves me right to eavesdropping on folks in the grocery line......

Original Tommy's
7415 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go....man, that's more then enough calories and saturated fat...sheesh.

I think I'll go and quietly have my plate lunch in the corner now.

 

Memorable Meals of 2012

Wow, man, another year has just flown by.

I usually don't do these end of year round-up type of posts....well, because we've usually done quite a bit during the year, and yes, it can be quite a bit of work. This year however, FOY (friend of yoso) Candice asked me to contribute something for end of the year round-up. This in turn made me take a look back.

I did come to the conclusion that I really didn't have a "best" meal, but several memorable experiences....and that's kind of what it's about for me. It can be the simplest of things, a great bowl of noodle soup, at just the right moment. It could be doing something new and different, or trying something new and different.

Eating something different, tasting something you haven't tried before, having a dish be your window into a different culture, place, or time.....that to me is priceless.

Or like dealing with Mr Piggy above, you have to overcome things in your attempt to succeed. In the end, it wasn't about the destination, but the journey....and of course proving to my friends that I'm willing to spontaneously com-bust for some pork.

The setting can be a backyard, graciously donated by a friend's mom, knowing that the potential exists of being totally decimated by flaming pork. Or something as wonderful as a stand by the roadside, grill smoking, pelts of sheep slaughtered that day proudly hanging, a sign of freshness and of popularity.....who needs 10,000,000 served? We've slaughtered and grilled three whole sheep today and have sold out!

I'm still thinking that once one of those television travel/dining personalities bites into the tender olive wood grilled lamb from these stands in Tunisia, it's going to blow up.

Well, maybe not......

It's also about learning things....like the "other white meat" seems like filet mignon compared to "dromidaire".

Anyway, I did have a couple of very memorable meals during the past year........

But strangely, I haven't posted on any of them yet!!!

Two of them are from our long trip this year.

We enjoyed the first meal at Le Golfe in La Marsa, a suburb of Tunis, that we returned the next day!

In between beach side homes on the Mediterranean, you couldn't beat the scenery.

 

Except for maybe the food!

Like th seches grille - baby cuttlefish grilled over olive wood.

Or freshly caught Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Carpaccio!

We also finally found our favorite little restaurant in Istanbul.......we ate there three times! We escaped the clutches of Kumkapi and found this place.....

On our first visit, all the customers were men.....everyone was a regular it seems.

Items were served in the style of meyhanes.....giant trays of mezes brought forth and you selected. You could still order off the menu too. I saw something that every table had and decided we needed it too. The Missus was a bit apprehensive....but after one taste was sold. One of our new "desert island dishes" Çiğ köfte.

It's raw ground lamb mixed with bulghur and herbs....you wrap it in lettuce with a couple of mint leaves.....oh man!

The third occurred at the end of the year, when I finally managed to get into one of the more enigmatic sushi shops in San Diego. If you know your sushi here in San Diego, you know of this place.

It's not quite like what most folks think.

I'll get to these three posts in the New Year I'm sure!

The fourth meal has a special place in my heart. In September of this past year, Candice and I received emails inviting us to dinner in remembrance of Naomi Wise, who sadly, and suddenly passed away on December 15, 2011. Though I had only met her once, she did have an unforgettable effect on me.

 I did have some reservations about attending because I'd never really been a part of her "posse" and didn't want to intrude on such an intimate moment.  But I also knew that Sang ("Sam"), who really worked hard to put together this dinner, was such a warm and friendly individual. When I attended it became clear; this was a small intimate dinner of folks who have been touched by Naomi Wise, whether in person, or through her years of writing the dining column for the Reader.

The meal was an excellent, unpretentious, but well put together family style meal at AR Valentien. Chef Kara Snyder did a great job.

 There was one particular moment during that evening that I recall clearly. We were eating on the balcony and the fog had moved in. We were seated as the first course started to arrive. Distracted by the menu card, a drop of condensation hit me, getting my attention, in the background the "Hawaiian Lullabye" by the Brother Cazimero started playing.... at A R Valentien!

"Where I live there are rainbows
With life in laughter of morning
And starry nights
Where I live there are rainbows
With flowers full of color
And birds filled with song
I can smile when it's raining
Touch the warmth of the sun
I hear children laughing
In this place that I love"

It was a wonderful evening of conversation and memories! It was great meeting all the folks who attended, some of them members of Naomi's posse:

The Lynnester
Scottish Sue
Sheila
Sam
Cheryl
Robin
"pre-Raphaelite" Jennifer
Teresa

And the other folks who I got to meet:

Ed
Lisa
Katy
Mary
Marcie
Greg
Marcie
Greg (yes, two Gregs and Marcies!)

And of course my buddy Candice.

Sang, I don't know if you read our blog, but I'd just like to say thanks! I was honored to be invited.....you did such a great job!

So I guess that's it, this year is wrapped up. See you next year..........

Merry Christmas

Well, it's another Christmas almost in the books folks.......

Where does time go? I recently received an email from someone who had started reading our little blog as a sophomore in high school.......he's now a college senior! I don't know what to say......

The whole gang here at mmm-yoso would like to wish each and everyone of you a happy, healthy, and delicious holiday season!

And now for some gratuitous food photos. The Missus has to work this Christmas Eve so I was on my own.......

Thanks for dropping by!

Sometimes it just doesn't work out: Ottolenghi's Marinated Sweet & Sour Fish

Not everything we make, even if it's made exactly as the recipe is written works out, or is even to our taste. Of course, I've mentioned how much we enjoy Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks as evidenced in previous posts. The dude has some great vegetarian recipes and also seems to have a serious egg fetish. And you know me....I love my drippy eggs, right?

On the other hand, I've been a bit leary of the meat and especially fish recipes in his latest book, Jerusalem. But the Missus was taken with the Marinated Sweet & Sour Fish recipe from the book.. It had all the great ingredients we enjoy...the peppers, the harissa, coriander seeds, garlic, tomatoes......

And I took the Missus to Catalina Offshore getting some really nice halibut.....

I did think the recipe bit odd. You basically saute all the vegetables. Then fry the fish in an egg batter, then place the fish in the ragout to finish in the oven. For me, it really got odd when the book recommended you eat this the next day.....at room temperature. I mean, you've created a pretty hard barrier, via the egg batter....would any of the flavor permeate the fish which is simply seasoned with salt? It was strange enough that I followed the recipe to the letter....even doing the steps I usually change around from the book, like not blooming, in this case, the curry powder in oil for more flavor. I even held off and used only two cloves of garlic, crushed. I will say that the dish really did look like the photo in the book.

With nothing to really do the next day; I just made a simple tomato-lettuce salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette and roasted some baby eggplant and small white potatoes in the oven.

The dish was nothing if not bright and vibrant looking.

Man....compared to other dishes I've made from the book; this was pretty bland. The batter from the fish had become mushy....really not a great texture. The flavor of the vegetables was all over the map....a combo sour-curry-coriander, not bad, but just kind of weak.

So no recipe on this one......

I do always say to adjust recipes to your taste, his time I didn't. Get the book though....try out the recipe, just because we didn't care for the flavors doesn't mean you won't like it. I will say, that I found this to be a bit fussy, with maybe too many steps.

The one great thing.....I managed to show the Missus what I like when buying fish...the sheen, etc.... Catalina Offshore has often been problematic because of their hours. But now, the Missus enjoys dropping by and picking up fish for dinner.

Remember that shakshuka recipe from the same book (adjusted a bit of course)? Well, I made the peppers and tomato portion as before. Then seasoned some nice halibut with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, oregano, granulated garlic, then finally some cumin powder to tie it to the vegetable concoction and used it as a relish or salsa if you will. I'm thinking the recipe above might have been great done this way.

This was a really nice dinner........

Pan fried halibut on spicy red bell pepper-tomato relish, with some shaved kale and purple cabbage salad and oven roasted potatoes and eggplant. It's amazing what you can make on a weeknight if you have a plan!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

What we did this past weekend - Porcine Party

In case you were wondering why the blog was so quiet on Friday and Saturday.....first I was kinda fried, then there was the pig. As noted in other posts on this blog, I've got a great group of friends who are pretty much up for anything. We'd been joking about trying to do a whole hog for a while. Finally, a couple of months ago, FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice got involved and things atartedrolling. First, the twin's mom allowed us to use her back yard, second Candice put the twins in contact with a pig farmer who slaughtered said piggy.....meanwhile, I provided a marinade recipe.....I was out of town until just before the said swine was toast.

So on Saturday morning at 5am, there we were.........

There were a bunch of glitches.....but that's what makes things interesting. First the pig had been butterflied instead of prepped for the rotisserie.....so that meant extra sewing. Candice gave the hog a rubdown, while the guys got the pig on the rotisserie.

I got the hardwood charcoal started....a lot of charcoal. 30 pounds to start with refueling as necessary. All told about 120-130 pounds of charcoal.

We were delayed when we figured out that the darn rotisserie just wouldn't cut it....the kept skipping, it just wouldn't work....so after trying a whole bunch of things we just pretty much did it by hand. The sun had risen by the time things got started.......things looked grim.

We ended up doing 1/8 to 1/4 turns manually....it wasn't easy, the pig was over 80 pounds, then propping it up with one of several garden implements.

Things were going swimmingly until our next bump in the road. John thought we needed to lowerthe hog. Well, the heat had caused the metal stands to swell making movement pretty tough...it was also hot as heck and John didn't do too well with it. So we got a step stool thingy, I climbed up placing one leg on the edge of the pan and basically did a modified deadlift while Candice and John pounded the stand with a hammer to loosen it. First side wasn't too bad...the second side we'll be talking about for a long time. I was up on the edge of the pan....John and Candice were trying their darnest to get the thing loose while I held the hog up. I actually watched the hair on my leg (I wore shorts) burn off, but there wasn't anything I could do. Then my shirt caught on fire......so what to do? Third degree burns or drop the hog into the charcoal??? Luckily, just as I was thinking about skin grafts, they got everything adjusted correctly....and I had brought along a spare shirt. Don't ask me why, for some reason I just did. Of course all the vibrations had loosen one of the retaining rods and the pig almost fell face forward...back to the pig lift while the rod was pounded back into place. This was when I popped open my first Beer Lao of the day....

It was already 10am....time had really flown by. Guests had been told to come at 3pm by Peter. The pig had started developing a nice tan....and John was getting into the habit of peeling the skin off the pig and eating it! Sheesh..... Of course the middle of the pig started getting too brown, so the twin's mom suggesting wrapping those parts in aluminum foil.

The pig was doing nicely...Candice was doing a great job of first basting with coconut oil, then coconut water. At right before 11 Peter returned and Candice and I left....we had to prep some of the other dishes.

The Missus dropped me back off at just before 2 pm and this is what the pig looked like.

By this time reinforcements had already arrived.....Ange had worked getting the tables and everything else set-up, TFD and MrC, YY and MrQ (and "Kyle"), Xianjiang...the whole gang. Everyone took their photo with the pig....then it was covered back up.

It was starting to get darker and the internal temp of the hog was still just over110, we weren't going to make it.

Luckily there was back-up. YY and MrQ brought a bunch of food from Mien Trung...Banh Bot Loc and Hen Xuc Banh Trang.

I set about to fry up about 15 pounds of chicken wings....I loved this set-up.

YY told me that the twin's mom knew that we'd need a "plan B" from the beginning and requested the legs. I've previously mentioned what a great cook she is. So I'll let the photos do the talking.

It was some great stuff. Xianjiang appeared with Fanny Bay oysters.......

It became clear the the pig wouldn't make it. So they did what they could.....and left to cook it further.

I had two slots for guests, so I invited Kirbie and DH. I feel bad that I was so busy behind the fryer that I couldn't spend time with them....my apologies!

Of course, eventually the karaoke started up......and etc....... It was an epic night, something we'll always talk about. Thanks to John and Peter for taking ownership and Candice for keeping things on schedule, YY and MrQ  for making sure we had some contingencies, Ange for making sure the area got set-up and decorated, TFD and MrC for always being there for support and help.....and especially the twin's sister Van and their wonderful Mother (thanks for sneaking me all those special dishes!). It was great meeting those folks I knew and those that I met for the first time.

In the end, it wasn't about the destination, but the journey. In the end (no pun intended) we have a heck of a tail,ummm tale, don't we!

Thanks again guys......this was quite an effort......I have heard Ange's request for a goat....but we'll have to get a rotisserie that actually works. And I need some time to recover.

 

Recently Consumed: Ostrich Patties with Bacon and Poached Egg, Merguez, Sriracha-Honey-Garlic Wings, and other stuff

Here's some of the stuff we've been cooking over the last week.

Ostrich Patties with Bacon and Poached Egg:

We stopped by Seisel's and while I was buying calves liver for Da' Boyz, the Missus brought me a package from Seisel's "Frozen Protein Zoo". This time it was ostrich..... this one was going to be fairly straight forward, the Missus wanted simple pan fried "burgers" to have with bacon and poached eggs. I told Her that my one previous experience with Ostrich was that it was D-R-Y. But the Missus doesn't mind dry....so I went ahead and made some ostrich patties. Red onions, a bit of panko, roasted garlic olive oil, granulated garlic, fresh ground pepper, and sea salt. I pan fried these in bacon fat, trying to save every little bit of moisture. I turned out to be dead wrong....man this was moist and tender. And the Missus loved it! I had mine on rice, loco moco style with a light pan sauce......man, this was really good.

The flavor wasn't very exotic....think clean-beefy without a bovine aftertaste.

The Missus had Hers paradoxical new age style.......on quinoa, but with bacon and poached eggs (cage free vegetarian of course...sheesh!).

She actually ate the leftover patty, making a sort of "dirty rice" with kale and quinoa......

Merguez Sandwich:

I went to Whole Paycheck with the Missus and was checking out the meat department, when I noticed they had Merguez! I guess it's one of the standard items they carry. Merguez was one of my favorite items from our trip to Tunisia and I was excited to see these. The price wasn't too bad, $6.99 a pound and the really nice woman behind the meat counter even checked on the ingredients.....100% lamb! My favorite preparation of these sausages were fried....which is what I did. Ate it in a roll, with harissa (of course).....this was really nice.

 These were actually pretty good, even more spicy than Tunisia. The sausages there were a bit more dense, less moist, thinner, and more gamey. The seasoning was pretty close and the casing was thin, which was perfect.

I was really happy eating these as it brought back some nice memories.

I'll definitely have these again.

The Missus even made a shaved kale and brussel sprout salad with pomegranate dressing.

Sriracha-Honey-Garlic Wings:

I bought some chicken wings......and decided to just grab some items out of the pantry.

A bit too sweet, so it needs a bit of work. Nice and sticky-crunchy though!

So there you go.....

What have you made at home recently?