Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

One of the fun things about living in a rented apartment is that you get old junk mail from the old tenant. I'm sure I didn't sign up for the Trader Joe's newsletter but sometimes I flip through it because it has some good ideas for recipes. In this year's "Thanksgiving" edition, they had a bunch of ideas for brussels sprouts. I have to be honest (Mom, please don't be mad at me.), I never liked brussels sprouts... Until! I started cooking it myself. I got tired of the usual broccoli, green beans... or (if I was really lazy, I'll just make) frozen peas.

The other day I was at Nugget Market (my favorite overpriced "organic" market), and I bought a huge block of Gruyere cheese. I do not even know why... maybe I was tempted to make onion soup (so much work--I need a good cheese grater, Santa.) Anyways, I found this brussels sprouts recipe.

Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin
Ingredients:
shallots
cream
beef stock
Gruyere cheese (or any melty cheese)
brussels sprouts, quartered

Wash and cut the brussels sprouts. Pan roast the shallots. (I used a 12-inch type skillet.) Add the brussels sprouts, cream and beef stock. I also threw in some crushed (or minced) garlic. I like to cover it because it makes it cook faster. After it's done, remove from heat and top with Gruyere cheese.

If you must know, C and I had this with pork chops and mashed potatoes. Yum!

Halloween: Witches' Hats

For the record, my potluck at work for Halloween happened to be on the same night as Game 5 of the World Series. Like any Giants fan, I only had enough energy and attention to make something simple. Therefore, I went browsing around the internet for the recipe that was the easiest.

Witches' Hats

Ingredients:
red or orange frosting
1 package (11.5 oz.) fudge-striped shortbread cookies (about 32 cookies)
1/2 package (13 oz.) milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Pipe a small mound of frosting in the center of each chocolate covered cookie bottom. Press a chocolate kiss on frosting. Pipe a frosting band and bow around base of each kiss.

Uber-easy! and I thought they looked super cute!

International Beer Taste Test: Chang Beer vs. Singha Beer

Which do you prefer of the Thai beers?

Honestly, I don't think Thai people drink a lot of beer with their food. But sometimes, on a "nice" humid summer day, you might be sitting on the beach, about to enjoy a freshly made meal and you are looking for that "ice cold one". And no, I did not fly all the way to Thailand to taste the beers!

There was one day in Trang (Thailand) when I was thinking about Chang beer versus Singha beer. I think at first I found myself liking the Chang beer better. It had a little bit of a sweetness to it. The Singha beer tastes more heavier and has more bite. (I apologize to the beer drinkers--I don't have nearly the beer-describing-vocabulary.)

In the end, I went home with a Singha shirt... so I think my choice is clear.

Frittata and Cupcakes, oh my!

I cannot get over how easy these cupcakes are (refer to 6/25/10 post for recipe)... also... they're like so fun to make--however, I have hella excess hugs that I've started to give away because if I end up eating them all by myself... err, I'll have more problems! hahaha.

So, it's been a while back since I've made frittata. And you all know I've been lagging about posting my frittata recipe. I've made it twice now for work, and have yet to make it for myself. Anyways, lately I was thinking what a yummy dish this is to have in the morning on the weekend after sleeping in and all you want is a fancy omelette and something better than a quiche!!

Here's the recipe for Spinach Frittata
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spinach_frittata/

I've pretty much always stuck with the recipe--only altering the ingredients to appeal to who I am feeding. This last time I was cooking specifically for my friend who doesn't eat meat. This is why I've stuck closely to the spinach. However, I believe the first time I made it I threw some ground sausage in to it... I'm thinking ham steak would be soooo yummy in this--my brother would love that! Also, I love cheese--so I would throw all sorts of varieties of cheese in there--anything that melts works. And there's one key breakfast ingredient that I believe this spinach frittata recipe lacks--it's bell peppers. I think along the lines of what's in a denver omelette and pretty much throw that in there and you'll have a wonderful breakfast to wake up to.

International Edition of Tasty Travels: Thailand--Part 1 Bangkok

8.30.10

Restaurant: Pola Pola

You're not reading or seeing it wrong--it's definitely an Italian Thai style restaurant. We had pizza and angel hair pasta. But it was like we never like we had before. The pizza was good--but in no way comparable to say authentic Italian North Beach pizza (native San Franciscan--holla!). I mean, it was thin crust and we just ordered a cheese pizza--it was really nothing fancy. The sauce on the pizza was a little bit sweeter and they went light on the sauce. MMM... I do remember how instead of the usual parmasean and red pepper chili flakes to season your pizza, this restaurant puts a rosemary and italian seasonings shaker on the table. A good authentic touch for this restaurant was that they used a brick oven. You will see it as you're walking in to the restaurant!

They're take on a linguini dish was what I would like to describe as chow fun with seafood. They modernized this dish by making crispy cubes of chow fun, threw in some shrimp and calamari, and used a sweetened sauce with soy sauce.

And what's italian thai food without... young coconut juice?! It was my first time having it. And after you've drained it of its juice, you're supposed to open it up and scoop out the coconut meat with a spoon. That was the fun part! I enjoyed it very much--but I was expecting it to be sweeter.

9.2.10
Restaurant: Somboon Seafood
Website: http://www.somboonseafood.com/ourmenu.html

This seafood restaurant was amazing!! The specific branch we went to in Bangkok was six levels of about 10 tables, and as we're walking up the stairs to the 4th Floor where our table was, you see those tables also filled with people and good food and drink. They have chalkboard on each floor identifying the parties/reservations on each floor.

And what's even more amazing is that we didn't even order their specialty--the curry crab. We did however, have some thai-styled crab. (You'll hear more about this later.) It was really more about the fish--we ordered four fish cooked about four different ways. My favorite--and if you've heard this story already, I apologize--was the lemongrass fish. If you've never had steamed fish before, you're missing out. If for the rest of my life I have to eat steamed fish, I would only hope to eat it this way. It was a fish stuffed in the inside with slivers of lemongrass. It was rubbed on the outside with rock salt. And I cannot describe to you what it tasted like... but the taste the lemongrass infused in the fish is so refreshing and tasty.

9.3.10
Tawandang German Brewery

I was really excited and curious about going to the "German brewery" in Bangkok. I had the Dunkel Beer, "Black Bear", the description read "roasted malt (scent), Fermentation: 28 days, 4.5% alcohol." It was sweeter than I expected and I was told it did not have a rice barley origin.

















One of the dishes that I was surprised about was the Pork knuckle. My first instinct would have been, "No thank you." But I think it may have been on my plate before I had a say in it. After I tried it, I really liked it. It was cooked really tender and went well with a little crab fried rice.

Next there were the Southern Thai oysters. Word to the wise to those first time international travelers, when the nurse/doctor tells you to "stay away" from the raw food, they mean "Stay away from the raw food!"

They mean look out for delicious sounding dishes such as this. This was the presentation of the raw oysters.











And here's how I dressed it up, with yummy tasting chili sauces.












The ending was not so good. In the end, it was these oysters that got half the group sick:o/

I can't end this entry on a bad note. So lastly, I'll talk about the "black noodles" with prawns. I think it's what asian people call "glass noodles" because it's the skinny clear kind. And it's not really black, just dark. The sauce wasn't really salty like a soy sauce, but really flavorful.

For the Ambience

How come when I go to google Ambience in Carmichael, I just get RAVE reviews?! This eating experience was beyond my expectations.

4 piggies out of 5






Prix Fixe Menu to prefix yourself:
http://www.ambiencerestaurantsac.com/ambience_prixfixe.html

My choices:
1st course: Spinach and Gorgonzola Cream Gratin with Oaxaca Cheese
2nd course: Natural Tenderloin Beef Tartare, topped with Quail Egg, garnished with Truffle Oil Vinegarette, Organic Watercress, Sliced Pear, Pinenuts
3rd course: Asparagus Puree Garnished with Lemon Creme Fraiche
4th course: Seared Buffalo (Marinated w/Molasses, Garlic and Herbs), Hangar Steak on Golden Yukon Potato Gratin, Asparagus finished with White Truffle Oil
Save #5 Dessert

We'll start with...

The Spinach and Gorgonzola Gratin: It was good... it reminded me of this Chinese steamed egg dish that I do not know the name of. It tasted like maybe it needed a little more gorgonzola for my taste--also maybe something more bready or something to really capture a crisp on top that will make the gratin. Also, on the menu was a Salmon/Scallop Brioche served with Tomato Casino de Paris and Smoked Mozzarella. (I was sad when I found out M didn't know what a brioche was... I have no further comments.) This seemed like a great dish--and was going to be my choice but M ordered it so I could have a bite. The tomato was overpowering but the puff pastry of the brioche was yummy! The smoked mozza was a good touch--it tasted like smoked bacon!

The Beef tartare was very well made. It was of a slightly different style then I'm used to. When I think of a tartare, I usually think of cubed meat the size of jelly beans. Chef chose to mince the rare beef, almost like you would mince garlic. The quail egg was a good touch, but my favorite surprise in this dish was the sliced pear. I remember it having a good balancing effect on the dish, because when you're eating a tartare it's like eating a raw meat salad. It's comparable to a pear walnut salad. There's always something about the sweetness that balances out a combination of rich tastes. I wouldn't think to pair pear (haha) with raw meat.

All I have to say is WOW! about the Poached Boat Scallop with Cambozola and Spinach Agnolotti w/Creamy Saffron-Dill Sauce. In order for me to taste everything, I pretty much had M order everything that I wanted (haha) and ate a bite off of his plate while also eating mine! When I stole a bite of the boat scallop, my first reaction was that it was cooked PERFECTLY! It was soft and not chewy at all--and I think I've been eating scallops since I was 10. And, I am always a fan of dill sauce (with seafood especially--this probably isn't the best place to mention it, but have you ever had the Salmon with Dill Butter from Costco?! Try it. You'll like it.) I'm inspired to cook with dill--if you have any good recipes, please feel free to share.

Mmm, now for the third course, I could tell that the Chef put a lot of thought in to this menu when he chose the Asparagus Puree Garnished with Lemon Creme Fraiche. I'll be honest, when I first read that off the menu, I thought, it's such a simple dish when I was expecting such fine dining. It turned out to be the perfect palette cleanser (that's two perfects--I hope you're starting to see why I had given this restaurant four piggies). It's not too heavy and not too fancy. The lemon creme fraiche was refreshing and great in preparation fo the main course.

When I was first deciding on my fourth course, I was trying to decide between the lamb and the buffalo. I ended up taking our waiter's, Kent's recommendation and chose to be bold and different and went for the buffalo! Kent prepped me by telling me, "It's tender and not as gamey as you think." I'm still trying to figure out if I know what "gamey" tastes like... The first bite was more tender than I had expected. And I was pleasantly surprised the way it melt in my mouth (as good meat should). I was comforted with the fact that my waiter had taken care of me by making sure I ordered it rare. And I was thankful. I was also surprised when the port reduction was included in the presentation but no in the description of the dish. Honestly, I didn't even taste the "molasses, garlic and herb" marinade.

And now... there's always room for dessert...
I almost cried when Kent told me that they didn't have the Baked Alaska with Fresh Berries. I was thinking in my head that I'm going with the "If they're out of it, you know it's good" rule and I'm pretty sure I missed out (this time). I opted for the Apricot Creme Brulee with Apricot Brandy and Fresh Berries. It was great. Again, it wasn't too heavy and it tied the whole meal together.

Overall, I enjoyed my dining experience, and the layout of the restaurant provides for a great "ambience". There are multiple rooms that are still connected through the cute windows at each booth.

Oh no! I almost forgot about the wine! Recently, I have a curiosity about the unknown. I'm fresh from my brief stopovers in Seattle, and I'm starting to really wonder about Northwestern wines. M and I tried a Viognier by Walnut City Wineworks from Columbia Valley (2006), and also a Carneros Pinot Noir by Robert Stemmler (2007) from Sonoma in Napa Valley. Both were under the direction of our wonderful waiter, Kent. I was surprised that I liked the Viognier because those are usually too sweet for me. The bottle even had this extensive description including "white peach, green apple peel, star anise... dried pineapple layer ginger, coconut, angelica... nectarine acidity". When I read those descriptions, I just think about how sweet it must have been but I remember it being not as syrupy as a moscato and actually really nice. The pinot I loved. There's really nothing like pairing a hunk of meat with a good red wine. Pinots are really starting to grow on me too. After letting it breathe for about 15-20 minutes (Kent persists it's really better after it breathes), I remember tasting it and the black cherry taste was apparent and appreciated.

I recommend this joint.