]]> http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/boo-photo-of-the-day-wednesday-3/feed/ 0 michelle IMG_1183 http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/butter-and-the-food-blog-forum/ http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/butter-and-the-food-blog-forum/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:15:50 +0000 michelle http://meechiko.wordpress.com/?p=1371 ]]> I’m not of Facebook or MySpace or Twitter or LinkedIn or any other networking sites.  But very recently, like yesterday, I joined the Food Blog Forum, which is a community for food bloggers.  Spiffy.

So, as a thanks to Steamy Kitchen and White on Rice Couple for creating this community where bloggers can help each other, I dedicate to them Elizabeth Alexander’s Butter.

“Butter”

My mother loves butter more than I do,
more than anyone. She pulls chunks off
the stick and eats it plain, explaining
cream spun around into butter! Growing up
we ate turkey cutlets sauteed in lemon
and butter, butter and cheese on green noodles,
butter meting in small pools in the hearts
of Yorkshire puddings, butter better
than gravy staining white rice yellow,
butter glazing corn in slipping squares,
butter the lava in white volcanoes
of hominy grits, butter softening
in a white bowl to be creamed with white
sugar, butter disappearing into
whipped sweet potatoes, with pineapple,
butter melted and curdy to pour
over pancakes, butter licked off the plate
with warm Alaga syrup. When I picture
the good old days I am grinning greasy
with my brother, having watched the tiger
chase his tail and turn to butter. We are
Mumbo and Jumbo’s children despite
historical revision, despite
our parent’s efforts, glowing from the inside
out, one hundred megawatts of butter.

“Butter” by Elizabeth Alexander, published 1996 in Body of Life by Tia Chucha Press, San Fernando, CA. All Rights Reserved.

…and pizza, and crumpets, and Greek food, and salumi, and brioche breakfast buns, and coffee.  Did I mention the coffee?  Ya, it’s cliché, but they make outrageously good coffee in Seattle.  Maybe overcast weather is conducive to good coffee.

The afternoon we arrived, cousin Roxy and her fiancé Joe took us for lunch to Dick’s.  Dick’s, they described, is Seattle’s version of In-n-Out.  The menu is pretty purist – burgers, burgers with cheese, fries and drinks.  Dick’s was pretty good, but it ain’t no In-n-Out!  I’m biased, sue me.

Trying to get some sightseeing in before meeting up with the rest of the family that evening, they took us to a park in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle which had a spectacular view of downtown.

Roxy and Joe!

We went and paid respects to the master and his son.  The buried at Lakeview cemetery have the most rockin’ view evah!  Visit sometime, you’ll see.

They took us to the Pike Place Public Market.  I vaguely remember visiting this place when I was younger.  This time around, we came with a laundry list of food to try.

I wish we had something like this close to home.  And looking at the photo above, I wish I had more of an upper lip, but I digress.  Back to the food.

Beechers.  Great cheese.  That is all.

Piroshky, Piroshky… I was not impressed.  But maybe it was because we ordered the wrong thing or was just too full from breakfast at the Crumpet Shop.

Speaking of…   They are sort of like English Muffins, with nooks and crannies, but are made with a batter instead of a dough.  The crumpet-maker dude at The Crumpet Shop was so awesome.

Behold, the first Starbucks.  This is the first one – of 16,635 stores in 49 countries.

Brioche buns and a Caffé Vita soy latte at Belle Epicurean just a block down and over from our hotel.  The best breakfast known to mankind.

We spent most of our money on food at Tom Douglas’ restaurants.  We ate at…

Lola.  Greek food.  Late night menu is awesome.  I ache for their pork honey-harissa kebabs.

Dahlia Bakery.  Things to try:  house-made donuts, fried to order with dipping sauces and the triple coconut cream pie.  That pie will make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

And Serious Pie.  And they are exactly that.  Seriously.  Good.  Pie.  That there is a guanciale, soft egg and arugula pie and their cherry bomb peppers and sweet fennel sausage pie. Excuse me while I wipe the drivel from my chin.

Over at Pioneer Square, we made a pilgrimage to Salumi.  People, believe me when I say that you’ve never tasted salumi until you’ve tasted Armandino’s salumi.

The made us a Moffo.

And it made our tummies happy.

Then we went to Zeitgeist and had another latte.

A trip to Seattle would be incomplete if you don’t stop by the Space Needle.

And you should definitely visit the Experience Music Project.  That there is a tornado of geetars.  And I guess a keyboard accidentally got sucked in.

And since Jimi Hendrix was a Seattle native, they had a bunch of his stuff.  This is his address book.  Crazy.  Jimi had pretty good penmanship.

We had an absolutely wonderful time there.  More [non-food-related] photos here and a video here.  Now off to find a good latte in LA.  Ta ta for now.

]]> http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/se%c2%b7at%e2%80%b2%c2%b7%c9%99l/feed/ 2 michelle Seattle_Day1_ 7 Seattle_Day1_ 10 Seattle_Day1_ 20 Seattle_Day1_ 97 Seattle_Day1_ 104 Seattle_Day1_ 53 Seattle_Day1_ 55 Seattle_Day1_ 62 Seattle_Day4_ 44 Seattle_Day1_ 65 Seattle_Day4_ 55 Seattle_Day4_ 27 Seattle_Day1_ 73 Seattle_Day1_ 107 Seattle_Day1_ 109 Seattle_Day2_ 69 Seattle_Day3_ 17 Seattle_Day3_ 287 Seattle_Day4_ 108 Seattle_Day4_ 114 Seattle_Day4_ 111 Seattle_Day4_ 118 Seattle_Day1_ 30 Seattle_Day3_ 168 Seattle_Day3_ 172 Seattle_Day3_ 217 Seattle_Day3_ 223 Seattle_Day2_ 33 - Version 2 http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/boo-photo-of-the-day-bradley-and-wednesday/ http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/boo-photo-of-the-day-bradley-and-wednesday/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:09:05 +0000 michelle http://meechiko.wordpress.com/?p=1336 ]]> This is why I love falling asleep on the couch.

Being that it was such a very small group, we decided to up the ante and make three kinds of wings, just to make it feel more celebratory.  That’s right, people.  Three freakin’ kinds of chicken wings.  It’s was like we were at Wing Stop, but we were at home.  Troy Aikman would’ve been proud.

On the menu was old-reliable – buffalo wings made with buttah and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.  We also made Honey Mustard chicken wings because, well it’s delicious.  And of course, how could we not make Chicken Wings with Adobo Sauce?!?  That would be a sacrilege, and I’d for sure have my Filipino revoked.

Crispy Chicken Wings with Sweet and Spicy Adobo Glaze

adapted from Burnt Lumpia

Makes 2 pounds of wings (about 15-20 pieces)

The sauce in this recipe makes just enough glaze for 2 pounds of chicken wings. If you’d like more sauce for dipping, double the glaze recipe.

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 siling labuyo (bird’s eye thai chilies), finely minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup Sukang Iloco (or apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Freshly ground black pepper

For the wings:
2 pounds wings, cut into drumettes and flats, wingtips removed
vegetable oil for frying

For the glaze:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, chilies, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf and sauté for 1-2 minutes until the garlic just starts to brown.

Add the vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper and stir to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens a bit.

For the wings:
Add vegetable oil to a large skillet to reach depth of 1 inch. Heat over medium-high heat until oil reaches 350-375°. Add wings to skillet. Cook for 8-10 minutes until wings are golden. Transfer wings to paper towels to drain.

When all wings are cooked, place them into a large bowl. Pour the glaze over the chicken wings and toss to coat. Discard the bay leaf. Serve immediately. This dish goes especially well with some Filipino pickled green papaya and carrots–Atchara.

If you could see the portion of the photo that John cropped in to, you’d see a huge drool puddle on the floor where he’s sitting.  Feed me, mama.

Seriously, how long does a beagle have to wait?  That’s his best impression of a patient dog.  You can’t tell from the picture but he was whining quite a bit.

Dear God, when my time comes, I wish to be reincarnated as a dog with a loving family.  A family that feeds me steak and cake on my birthday.  That lifts up the comforter to let me in to bed at night.  That thinks my feet smell like corn chips and likes it.  Amen.

What the Pho.  Ap-Pho-tizing.  Pho King.  Fee fi Pho fum.  Okay that’s enough I’ll start already.

Since I’m on hiatus and income is short, I’ve been cooking a lot.  Home cooking saves a lot of money and for me is very challenging.  Sometimes I cry, sometimes I scream, sometimes I cheat, but in the end I’ve created something from a bunch of stuff and it’s edible.  Recently I made Pho for the first time.  Growing up, my parents made it all the time but I never bothered to learn how.  I’m an eater not a cooker, lover not a fighter, driver not a walker.  I just knew it took a long ass time and I had to skim the fat off the top of the broth.  That was my job, I was good at it.  We never had oily Pho in my house.  Never.  Instead of asking them how to make it, I looked up a recipe online.  I figure I would take a shot at it first and perfect it based on their suggestions.  Here’s how I did it.

First you have to get all your spices ready.  I used cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, star anise, and cloves.  I couldn’t find any cardamom so I excluded it.  You can also get a Pho packet that has all the spices you need.  That’s easier.

Second, I started to broil the onion and ginger.  Add a little olive oil to it and put it on the top rack of the oven and watch the magic happen, it’ll take about 10-15 minutes for that magic to happen.

Third, you have to start making the stock.  I used oxtail for this.  Why did I use oxtail?  Because I like oxtail.  I am sure you can use other parts of the cow if you want. I boiled it first for 10 minutes, threw out the water, and put it back in a pot with new water.

Fourth, add the spices, onion, ginger, and beef into that pot of new water and let it simmer for about 3 hours.  You can add some sugar and fish sauce to taste.

Once it’s done, boil some Pho noodles, add mint, basil, bean sprouts, rare steak (sliced thin) and enjoy.  Add hoisin sauce and Sriracha to taste.

My first attempt at Pho wasn’t even close to how good my parents made it.  Next time I’ll probably use a few more pieces of oxtail, keep the original water, and let it simmer with the ginger and onion for a couple hours and ad the spices in the last hour.  I hope your mouths are watering now, oh it’s so good.

an oldie but goodie

He’s so talented he was featured in this here TV segment

Check out his work by clicking the image above or by visiting the Downtown Art Center Gallery in LA.

Dew it.  Dew it NOW!

]]> http://meechiko.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/david-phillips/feed/ 2 michelle wino_strut