Just Because It Has Peanuts in It Doesn't Mean It's Thai

Last Friday night, David and I grabbed some dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. We had wanted to go to BJ’s but as expected, there was a long wait, and we didn’t want to deal with that. So, we proceeded to CPK; there was a bit of a wait but we utilized our time wisely and made a quick trip to Tower Records, which, by the way, is having a going-out-of-business sale. Good time to stock up on CDs, DVDs, and even magazines. Anyway, I’m sure most people have seen if not been to CPK. I was never really a big fan, but I had nothing against the restaurant chain. In other words, I wasn’t expecting much. Mr. Tall ordered a cup of tortilla soup and a Sicilian Pizza, which was topped with Italian sausage, Capicola ham, julienne salami, Fontina, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Being the pizza fiend he is, he was pretty satisfied with the pizza except noting that it could have been left in the over for a little longer so the dough and the crust would be, you know, crustier. Surprisingly, their tortilla soup was pretty good. If I do go back to CPK, I’d probably stick with their tortilla soup and variety of pizzas. I made the mistake of ordering the Jambalaya pasta. I was craving a Jambalaya dish because my co-workers had ordered them during lunch—bad choice. Not only was the pasta over-peppered and way too oily, there was no good balance of flavor. There was plenty of crawfish, sausage, and chicken in the dish, but I had to throw a lot of hot sauce on to make the dish tolerable. By the way: people, just because you throw some peanut sauce or peanuts on something, it doesn’t mean that it’s Thai. One good thing was that at least our service was pretty good. I didn’t really care to take any pictures (because I didn’t have my camera) and I don’t think I’d be going to back to CPK any time soon.

Mr. Tall had a work field-trip up in the Inland Empire all day Saturday. So, I finally got the time to make the test round of the Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake. I had made cheesecake twice before, and it is quiet a process. The recipe was from a cookbook, The Best 125 Cheesecake Recipes, that Mr. Tall had gotten as a part of my Christmas gift. More like a ploy for me to make him cheesecakes. I will share the recipe and pictures of the cheesecake in my next post.

Later that day, after Emily, Jess, and I played a round of tennis, Jess and I ventured to this Thai restaurant I had read about on a food blog. Thai Village is located on Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach. It is a quaint place with cheesy, beach-scene décor, but it reminded me just a little bit of Thailand. The restaurant was actually quite busy because there was a big party of a couple of parents and a bunch of 10-year-olds—seemed sort of a random location for a birthday party or something. Anyway, our poor waitress was the only one working and after I retrieved the menu myself, she brought us some ice water. There were some interesting items on the menu such as green curry with avocado and fried rice with mango among others. I decided to stick to the more traditional offerings. I asked the waitress if she was Thai, and, of course, she was. I started asking her about some of the food selections, particularly the papaya salad, som tum in Thai, because I had been craving that for ages. Som tum is a very popular dish originating from the Eastern region of Thailand. Shredded papaya is the main ingredient; sliced tomatoes and string beans are added along with palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and chili. It is traditionally made in a larger stone or wooden mortar, in which all the ingredients are pounded and mixed together. The versions of the som tum that I’ve seen here are generally tossed like a salad.

Our waitress told me that the som tum was Americanized, but I decided to go for it anyway since Jess had never had it before. Since Jess hadn’t had Thai food for a long time, I decided that we should go with more familiar dishes. In addition to a small papaya salad, we ordered the Panang Curry with beef and Pad Thai with chicken. A must-have addition to the meal was the Thai iced tea. The som tum quickly arrived. It was very simple, with shredded papaya, some shredded carrots, small wedges of tomatoes, and peanuts sprinkled on top. The salad was not as flavorful and complex in ingredients as the ones I’m used to in Thailand, but it had a really good kick to it. Warning, the som tum will give you mad garlic breath until the next day. But, I personally, thought it was worth it. Next time, when I order it I would just tell them to maybe omit the garlic or maybe put just a sliver of a clove. The Thai iced tea was nothing spectacular. I suspect that they might be packaged Thai iced tea, but I don’t particularly care too much.

Our entrees soon arrived. Along with the curry, we got a side of Jasmine rice, which was served in a large bowl with a big plastic spoon for scooping. The mismatched plates and bowls and other small quirky details of the place really reminded me of small restaurants in Thailand. Because I had been conversing with the waitress in Thai, the waitress asked if I wanted a spoon because if you’re Thai, you eat with a fork and a spoon—one in each hand, ready to tackle the meal. The curry was quite flavorful, although a little too watery for the panang consistency but the bell peppers really spruced up the dish. The Pad Thai was simple and tasted like a dish off the street vendors in Bangkok, which was quite reminiscent for me. The food was simple with no frills. The dishes all tasted as if your grandma in Thailand had made them. Don’t expect anything grand because Thai Village is really just about reasonably priced and delicious Thai food. I am definitely taking Mr. Tall there next time.

Enjoy,
Little Miss

The 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club

One of my really good friends and former roommate, Mai, is currently pursuing a nomadic lifestyle in Uganda. But before her departure I was able to bond with my current roommate Emily and one of Mai’s fantastic friends from high school. The three of us, Emily, Jess, and I, have been able to get together on a weekly basis to form what we call The 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club—well, that’s what I’ve dubbed us anyway. The 7, 8, and 9 originated from each of our lucky numbers, which coincidentally happened to be consecutive (only Jess was initially observant of this).

So, every Tuesday, Jess comes over to our apartment and we just cook up a feast. Our first dinner date, Mr. Tall joined us. We shared some edemame, and I cooked up an easy chicken and vegetables stir-fry with sweet Chili Thai teriyaki sauce, and brown rice. I personally prefer brown rice to white rice not only for its superior nutritional value but its textural appeal as well. Brown Jasmine rice is the best. Okay, enough about rice. [That's Jess and Emily with their stir-fry.]

Our second dinner date, I cooked up a simple homemade Bolognese sauce with whole wheat spaghetti. Emily put together a lovely salad tossed with her Grandma’s recipe of balsamic vinaigrette. And you can’t forget some super-garlic butter on whole wheat French bread. Good, simple comfort food. (Sorry, no pictures from this date.) The week after that Jess was craving some Chinese take-out, so we went to this place down the street from our apartment on 4th called Hong Kong Restaurant. We ordered some fried wontons as appetizers, chow mein with pork, sweet and sour pork, Schezuan tofu. I am personally not big fans of the typical chow mein and sweet and sour pork dishes so I was really hoping that the tofu dish would do it for me. Although the sauce complimenting the tofu was flavorful, I was disappointed that they used friend tofu instead of the firm or silken tofu. My favorite part of the meals was the green tea mochis (yes, I know they’re Japanese but they are so delightful)—so good!

The following week, we were still in a take-out mood, so we called up Bronx Pizza and ordered for a pick-up. After about half an hour, we walked down to Washington and picked up our entire pie for a mere $15, and it was plenty for us three gals. The New York-style pizza was thin and slightly crusty. We ordered half eggplant and red roasted pepper, and half artichokes and sausage—very good choices, indeed. My personal recommendations for pizza places around San Diego would be Bronx in Hillcrest and Hoboken in Pacific Beach. Both are New York-style so if next time you’re in the mood for some pizza I would suggest trying those instead of the more familiar, usual delivery places. Mr. Tall is a pizza enthusiast. We like to call in and order an entire pie for pick-up. We had traveled to NYC last spring and there is definitely no comparison to the real thing, but Bronx and Hoboken get pretty damn close.

Anyway, back to the dinner club: on our next date, we decided to make it a fiesta! Literally. Emily cooked up some chicken soft tacos with all the fixin’s. Ever since Sun God, my guacamole has gotten some rave reviews even though it’s the easiest thing to throw together—no cooking involved. My secret ingredient is Tapatio and lots of fresh lime juice. If you know me, you know that I pretty much pour hot sauce and chili on practically every savory dishes. But definitely the best part was Jess’s green alligator piñata filled with candy goodness. Our predicament was that we had nowhere to hang up the piñata. But being the smart cookies that we all are, we improvised, and decided to the just toss the damn thing and hit it like a huge baseball. It turned out to be so much fun! We had some awesome pictures from that night, but Emily’s camera got screwed up and lost all of the pictures. That was a big disappointment.

Just as I thought things were going well for our dinner club, they just got even better! For the past Tuesday, Jess came up with the idea to make crepes! We found the recipe online:

4 eggs * 1 cup of flour * 1/2 cup of milk * 1/2 cup of water * 1/2 teaspoon of salt * 2 tablespoons of melted butter [recipe makes about 12-14 crepes]

We blended all the ingredients in a blender, which made for very easy pouring and clean-up. It was so simple and enjoyable. We didn't have a fancy crepe pan but our frying pan worked just fine. For our savory crepes, we filled them with sautéed button mushrooms with peppered smoked turkey and cheese.

For our sweet crepes, we had, what else, but Nutella! Well, aside from Nutella, we filled them with raspberries and sliced banana. Nutella is probably one of the best food inventions ever. I love it. Jess had brought over the film "The Triplets of Belleville," but we were not in the mood to watch it. The one thing we’re always in the mood for was "Sex & The City." We figured we’d watch the last season when Carrie is wooed to France to go with our Parisian dinner theme.

I must add that the best addition to our dinner dates is definitely the music. I love cooking with some really good background music. I really think music enhances the whole culinary experience. I have so many more good eats to share with you so I think I might have to start posting twice a week to catch up with the materials I’ve collected so far. More foodies to come later this week!

Enjoy,
Little Miss

Wedding Weekend

Apparently, sitting on my bum all day at the office is quite exhausting. I come home and cannot get myself to write a first real post. But I have mustered enough energy and motivation today to share some of my recent culinary activities.

This weekend Mr. Tall came up with the genius idea to make beer can chicken and mashed potatoes. Since we were only cooking for two, we got a young chicken (I know that might not sound to appetizing but it’s really just a small chicken). Slapped on some salt, pepper, and herbs, sat that baby down on a half-full can of PBR and popped it in the oven for over an hour. And voila, we had ourselves one of the juiciest roasted chicken I have ever had!

It was our second time cooking it and I must admit we most definitely did better. As our side dish, we made mashed potatoes with a potato ricer I had purchased from Crate&Barrel.

I don’t know if it’s just because I’m Asian, but this was the first time I had ever made mashed potatoes from scratch. Let’s just say the potatoes ricer made the process pretty fun … and would you like some butter with those potatoes?

On Saturday evening, Mr. Tall, against his will, and I met up with Andrea and Erika, and their plus ones to drive up to Pomona to attend a wedding. If you know me, you know that I was looking forward to the food and, more importantly, the cake. Both the ceremony and the reception were at a church. The ceremony was beyond spiritual to say the least. And the only thing I can say about the reception was that, to my disappointment, it was dry and there was no dancing. The cake was lovely but nothing spectacular. It was what Andrea and I called "Asian Cake." If you're Asian, you know what I'm talking about.

I blame "The Food Network Caters Your Wedding" for hyping up the culinary importance in nuptials for me. Mr. Tall knows that if and when I get married, my priority is to have a cake that not only looks but tastes to-die-for. And, of course, really good food, open bar, a rockin’ DJ/band—basically, a kickass party … How did this paragraph evolve into my wedding plans? Screw marriage, I’m just going to have a life partner, like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. I kid, I kid … Well, perhaps.

Nonetheless, the best part about the occasion was the Brown Eyed PEAS reunion. Parada, Erika, Andrea and Spencer (get it?) finally reunited and here is a picture from the reception for us all to reminisce … after our glory days at UCSD. One of my favorite restaurants in San Diego is undeniably Mama Testa in Hillcrest. Mr. Tall had discovered the restaurant while searching for an authentic Mexican joint while his dad was in town. Since then we have been devoted to Mama Testa for nearly a year now. They serve every sort of tacos in every way unimaginable by the average San Diego patrons. For most who are familiar with offerings at burrito shops or Mexi-Cali restaurants, Mama Testa is like no other. Here is their website if you’d like to check it out: www.mamatestataqueria.com. Mr. Tall and I stopped by there the past Sunday, but I was too starved to take any pictures. But, no worries, we will definitely make another trip there soon so look out for that in the near future.

Coming up: The 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club!

Enjoy,
Little Miss

First Taste

Testing ... One, two, three ... Little Miss Contrary's Culinary Adventures--coming soon!