The Land of Thai, Part 2

It's been too long since my last post, but I must blog about the rest of my culinary adventures in the motherland. One of the things I miss for breakfast in Thailand is kao tom or rice porridge. The thing I most enjoy about it is that you have a variety of side dishes, or kub kao, to eat with the porridge. My personal favorite must be my grandma's steamed minced pork with broth, or moo nuung. Eating it was so nostalgic; I was reminiscing about my childhood in Bangkok when my grandma used to have to run around and feed me, or distract me to eat while I pretend to do the dishes. Anyway, this time around I willingly sat down to have porridge breakfast with moo nuung, and a variety of small sides--salted egg, soy fermented tofu (tasty stuff!), preserved Chinese cabbage, and pork sung.

Side note: I have a random story about pork sung. On my flight back from Bangkok, one the meals that was served on the plane was breakfast and I had chosen the Chinese-style option, which was with porridge. One of the things that came with the meal was a packet of pork sung; however, on the packaging, it said that it was "pork floss"! I wouldn't necessarily associate pork and floss together, but it's just funny when some Chinese items are translated into English.

Anyway, back to Thailand. My mom, as usual, drove me around every where. Ironically, I don't particularly enjoy the offerings of McDonald's stateside, but one of the things that I always have to eat when I'm back in Thailand is the Pineapple Pie! The pie "crust" is ultra crispy and always piping hot; the filling has small chunks of sweet pineapple. On another excursion, my mom and I went to a bustling shopping spot of Soi Lalaisup, which literally means the street to dissolve your wealth. Also know as Khang Bank (because it is physically next to the Bangkok Bank), it is always busy with various food, clothing and miscellaneous vendors.

By the food court area, there is a lady whose vendor has a large selection of various Thai desserts. From coconut kanom, or sweets, like tah koh (right corner of the picture), and sweet sticky rice with banana and black beans wrapped in banana leaves, to the large pot full of diamond-shaped sweet bean dessert. But my all time favorite has to be kanom quey, or literally green sweets (they're in the tray closest to the vendor's hands). A couple of vendors away was the banana lady who had all sorts of, what else, bananas! She had peeled, grilled banana, barbecued banana, and, of course, banana with coconut milk. The Thai bananas are slightly smaller and more stubby than the ones we see in American supermarkets, but they are equally if not more tasty.

Since I had such a limited time in Thailand, my mom (always the tour guide) arranged for she, my dad and I to travel to Trung for a few days. After a one-hour flight from Bangkok, we arrived to the southern province. A local tour guide picked us up from the Trung Airport and was kind enough to make a short detour downtown for us to pick up the province's famous moo yang, or grilled pork. We stopped at a corner shop, which looked like an old coffee shop. The moo yang vendor faced the street, luring in customers by the hunks of meat!

Check out the killer knife and the ginormous piece of pork! The meat is liberally seasoned with a sort of sweet and sticky marinade and grilled until the generous amount of fat has formed into a nice crust. After picking up more than a kilo of moo yang (my dad was greedy!), we finally made our way over to a pier to take a boat over to the island. Koh Sukorn, which means Pig Island in Thai, is located off the shores of Trung about a 30-minute boat ride with a handful of surrounding smaller islands.


Since it wasn't during the peak, tourist season, my mom, dad and I were the only ones at the small resort on the north side of Koh Sukorn. We stayed in a bungalow (a couple of pillows, sleeping cushions, basic amenities, running water, and electricity from 7pm to 7am), which was barely 20 steps from the beach. We had an amazing snorkeling tour guide, and probably the best snorkeling I have ever experienced in Thailand. The folks running the resort were locals on the island, and they made every single meal just for the three of us! Our last dinner on the island was a seafood feast--crabs, steamed whole fish, grilled squid, seafood Poh Tak (hot and sour seafood soup, similar to Tom Yum Koong) and seafood fried rice.

In Bangkok, it is not easy to find roti vendors so whenever we travel out of town, like this trip to Trung, I always have to cure my cravings of roti. Roti is essentially very thinly hand-rolled dough, fried in a large skillet with oil AND margarine to a crisp brown, then removed from the heat and dressed with drizzles of sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Does that sound indulgent enough for you? It's probably one of my favorite sweets ever since childhood. Most roti are simply rolled up in paper and eaten on the go; some people like it with banana or even eggs cooked inside the roti. I usually enjoy mine plain or with banana. I would kill for a roti right now.

And I shall leave you with a few more random photographs of the rest of my trip to the motherland.

Kao soi, a Nothern Thai speciality, consists of egg noodles and coconut curry and either minced pork or beef, topped with a variety of toppings such as crispy noodles, diced red onion, preserved Chinese cabbage, ground chili, and lime juice.

Some Thai instant noodles at the Taipei International Airport on my transit back to San Francisco. The lady at the restaurant inside the terminal was nice enough not only to fill my cup of noodles with hot water but also gave me a bowl and chopsticks.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of my meals on the plane. This one wasn't as bad as it looks. Steamed rice with minced pork and gravy, along with the usual dinner roll and fruit. The calamari and rice vermicelli salad was actually decent and the mochi was not bad of a dessert at all. Although I still mostly avoid airplane food and stick to my Thai instant noodles or whatever I manage to sneak in my carry-on luggage.

Coming soon: Little Miss Contrary & Mr. Tall's culinary adventures in and out of the kitchen!

Enjoy,
Little Miss Contrary

The Land of Thai, Part 1

Since I began working, gone are the days of winter and summer breaks. I finally accrued a week’s worth of paid vacation time, so it was time to head back to the motherland. For exactly 11 days, with the help of my dearest mother chauffeuring me around and planning an island trip, I was able to squeeze in as much I could, food and all. It was a good thing I usually do not have new years resolution because if I had made one about eating less and healthier, my resolutions would have already been broken. As soon as I arrived, to my very pleasant surprise, my sister was still in Bangkok! Although she was supposed to depart from Bangkok the afternoon I arrived, there were some glitches with her paperwork, which fortunately (or not) extended her stay. My first meal did not involve the usual papaya salad due to family obligation of attending my little cousin Naime’s 6^th birthday party; no pictures from the affair but I did enjoy some good chicken red curry with curds of pork’s blood and winter melon, which topped off kanom jean (hand form bundles of soft, round and white rice noodles served in Thailand usually with a variety of curries) and grilled cow’s tongue (I’m not quite sure why people are particularly fond of grilling those up but I guess it’s more for the texture than flavor).

My first dinner was a feast of royal Chinese traditions with my dad’s side of the family. After killing some time with light shopping at Siam Square with my mom and sister, we headed off to a family-owned and operated restaurant noted for its royal Chinese cuisine. One of my uncles took the liberty to order their set menu consisting of 7 courses. The dinner began on a disappointing note of some lackluster, cold appetizers. The next course got really interesting as they brought out stir-fried sea cucumbers with Thai basil, chili, garlic and minced pork. It was the first and only time I will ever try sea cucumber. The texture was jelly-like, and without the strong flavors of basil, chili and garlic, the sea cucumbers alone would have been tasteless.

The third course was the Chinese delicacy of the shark fin soup. The dish’s environmental and political correctness is debatable, but I still ate it anyway. My sister and I usually resist the dish because we don’t agree with shark fin hunting, but I took one for the food blog and had to try it to write about it. The soup was slightly thickened chicken broth, flavored with soy sauce, and had plenty of bits of shark fin. The protein came in a form of venison, Chinese-style, stir-fried with button mushroom, vegetable and chili. It basically just tasted like beef, nothing impressive. My favorite course of the entire meal was, of course, the Peking-style whole pig. The skin was crispy and beautifully brown, eaten on top of sliced white bread with sweet soy sauce. The remnants of the pig are cut up, and friend with some garlic. The other courses include steamed, whole fish with soy sauce and scallions, fried noodles, and sticky rice with taro and ginkgo nut for dessert. Last but not least, we polished off the meal with some very strong black tea to wash all the greasiness down.

The next day, my family and I made a trip to our old neighborhood for some papaya salad and grilled chicken. We ordered the usual Som Tum Thai, but it was unique because instead of plain peanuts, it was made with peanut brittle, which added to the sweetness of the palm sugar.


We also enjoyed Nua Namtok (spicy beef salad), Larb Moo (spicy minced pork salad), Tom Saab (spicy soup with pork tendons), and, my personal favorite, Ko Moo Yang. The grilled pig’s neck is known for its glorious fattiness, served with a delicious condiment of a sweet base with chili and fish sauce.

Here are some other offerings I enjoyed during my trip:

A breakfast in Bangkok--Jok, rice congee with minced pork, topped with ginger, cilantro, chili & vinegar and crispy Chinese donuts.

Green beef curry with Thai eggplant on top of crispy roti.

Nam Prik Ong--chili paste with tomato, garlic and minced pork, with pork rind and fresh vegetables.

Tom Yum Koong--hot and sour soup with shrimp and a splash of coconut milk.

That is all for this post, but there are many more pictures to come from my trip to the motherland!

Enjoy,
Little Miss Contrary

My Favorite Things of 2006

I'll admit it, I really like Oprah. I wish I had time to watch her show, but it’s unfortunate because it’s on way before I get off work. Anyway, once a year, she does a "favorites" show where she showcases (and gives away!) her favorite products. I guess this is my foodies take on Oprah's favorites show, minus the free stuff part. Sorry, folks.

In no particular order:

Raisin Nut Bran Cereal
I must credit Mr. Tall for this first item on my favorites list. I had never had Raisin Nut Bran cereal before in my life until a few months ago when he had it at his apartment. I was starvation central one morning so I just had a bowl of the cereal, and I was pretty much enamored. Crunchy bran flakes with slivered almonds, and the best part is the plump raisins covered with a sort of subtle nutty coating. I am a bargain shopper so most items I purchase at the grocery store are on sale. And Raisin Nut Bran never goes on sale! When they are ever on sale, I jump at the opportunity and buy at least 4 boxes at once. I always contemplate stocking up more, but I would not want to hog the cereal for other Raisin Nut Bran lovers.

Bristol Farms' Meat Department
If you want some fresh and high quality meat with very knowledgeable service to boot, check out Bristol Farms. Forget Ralph's, Vons or even Whole Foods, Bristol Farms has by far the best selections of all sorts of meat and poultry. Mr. Tall and I have explored some amazing choices from pork loins to Porterhouse steaks. The price may be slightly higher than Ralph's or Vons, but the extra bucks really come through in the quality of their products and selections.

Wine from Trader Joe's
Whether it’s the usual 2-buck-chug or other varieties, I can usually find wine from every continent at TJ's for more than reasonable prices. I love to drink wine; I’m not a wine connoisseur or anything, but I remember buying a bottle of Chilean white wine for a mere $3 and it was damn good.

Anything Mint Chocolate
I think that's pretty much self-explanatory because it is one of the best sweet flavor combinations ever.

Trader Joe's Joes Joes
They can be described as Oreo with a peppermint crunch filling. It is perfect for the holidays with just a glass of milk or even a mug of hot cocoa.

Crate & Barrel
Every time I visit the mall, I always have to stop by Crate&Barrel. I don’t always purchase something (the last thing I bought there was the potato ricer), but Mr. Tall knows very well by now that I just love to go into that place. I remember when Mai randomly asked me if I ever get married, where I would register, and without hesitation I answered, "Crate & Barrel."

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Again, I must give credits to Mr. Tall for reigniting my love for grilled cheese sandwiches. It's so simple yet enjoyable. You can put just about any sorts of cheese in between whatever bread you have on hand … maybe throw in some BBQ sauce or even pesto … The possibilities are endless! And, of course, grilled cheese sandwiches pair so well with soups.

Crepes
I have loved crepes since my days at UCSD at the Farmer's Market every Tuesday. Bibby’s crepes booth was my favorite, next to the local fruit stand, of course. There is a crepe station in Bristol Farms where you can get made-to-order sweet and savory crepes. Even the 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club whipped them up! Crepes are so easy to make and absolutely delicious—sweet or savory!

Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sundae
Most people who know me know that I have been spreading the gospel of the Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sundae since the first time Mr. Tall took me to Ghirardelli in Downtown San Diego. I had never been a big fan of hot fudge sundaes, but after a big of Ghirardelli hot fudge, my life was changed. Honestly, if you haven't had a Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sundae, you have not experience real hot fudge.

Almond Roca
What can I say—the combination of buttercrunch toffee, chocolate, and almonds is perfection.

My Favorite Restaurants, again in no particular order:

Mama Testa
The best taco shop (and more) in San Diego. Period.

Celadon
Good ambiance and good Thai food.

Monsoon
The best Indian food in San Diego.

Sushi Deli 1
Cheap and tasty sushi.

George's Ocean Terrace
Spectacular view and excellent food.

Happy 2007 to everyone ... Keep on cooking and eating!

Enjoy,
Little Miss Contrary

The Adventures of Pinnerton and Little Miss Contrary

It has been unbearably long since my last post. Not by choice exactly. I just did my second and last round of the LSAT (because I sucked the first time around), so all of my free time was devoted to burying my head in prep books and sample tests. But now that’s over with, I’m free as a bird! Well, almost, now I get to worry about law school applications. Oh, what fun!

Anyway, I have been meaning to blog about so many things! First and foremost, Mr. Tall’s dad was in town a while ago, and he graciously took us out to dinner. Mr. Tall took him to Mama Testa the first night, which he really enjoyed. Can I please mention just one more time about how much I am in love with that place? Because I am! The next night, Mr. Ornelas took Mr. Tall and me to Rei de Gado, which is an all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue restaurant. Mr. Tall had taken me there once before for lunch. The price for lunch is less expensive, but the dinner generally runs about $35 per person. And let me tell you, I got my money’s worth. Although lunch was more of a bargain, the dinner had a much larger selection of meats and salad bar offerings. If you have never been to a Brazilian barbecue, waiters walk around with a large metal skewer with a freshly cooked chuck of meat and cut you an individual serving right at your table. Each table is equipped with a wooden knob of red and green on opposite ends—green if you want more meat your way and red if you’ve had enough of the protein. The salad bar is probably more than most would expect. It has a variety of vegetables, sides, fruits, etc. But the best thing at the salad bar is definitely the fried baby banana. They’re probably pan-fried without a batter; what you get is soft but not mushy little banana that are great as a break between the proteins or to end your meal.

Among their variety of meats were chicken, lamb, pork and various cuts of beef. One of their popular items if probably the filet mignon wrapped with bacon, but my absolute favorite this time was the garlic roasted lamb. It was so good beyond what I would ever attempt to explain to you. They also offer desserts in addition to the all-you-can-eat meal, but even a dessert lover like me does not have any room after I shook down, Kobayashi-style, the last fried banana.

The following week, my sister visited for an entire week for her Thanksgiving break. Yes, I know Thanksgiving was so long ago; I’ve obviously been lagging on updating my blog. Anyway, it was so fantastic having her around, and we indulged ourselves quite thoroughly. After Mr. Tall and I picked her up from the airport, we took her to, where else, Mama Testa! Of course, I got my usual Mojados de Carne (see previous post for its gloriousness) and I think my sister had the Bistec (grilled steak tacos). Pinnerton really enjoyed the food, especially the salsa bar.

From a coupon in the Uptown Magazine that we receive at the apartment, my sister and I did Sunday brunch at the LEI Lounge, located in the heart of University Heights. Upon entering the restaurant, the front is fully exposed into the bar area with a wall of waterfall. Once we passed the bar section, we enter the rectangular, hard-wood floored patio with table and booth seatings. The tables are draped with white table cloths and topped with a pink lei. The atmosphere was very lovely and chill … You feel as if you’re vacationing in Hawaii. I ordered the Ahi Tuna Benedict with a Gorgeous Geisha, which is a cocktail of champagne, strawberry liqueur and lychee juice. Pinnerton ordered the Stuffed Brioche French Toast with a side of sausage with a cranberry spritzer aka cranberry and soda water. The Ahi Tuna Benedict was served on an English muffin with poached eggs and topped with a generous amount of chipotle remoulade, which I really enjoyed. Pinnerton’s French Toast was served with a variety of berries, rum raisin syrup, and whipped cream. We both shared the dishes and enjoyed them thoroughly. My only small criticisms are that the food wasn’t particularly warm enough for some reason (even though the food arrived relatively promptly) and the sausage was far from impressive. Oh, and the Gorgeous Geisha wasn't as tasty as I had hoped; I could barely taste the strawberry liqueur and lychee juice. Overall, I would definitely make another trip to LEI Lounge (they also have an attractive dinner menu).

On Monday, I took my sister to audit a class at UCSD and made a stop for lunch before heading to the San Ysidro outlet. And guess where we went? McDonald’s! For some reason, I remembered having a McRib a long, long time ago, and for some reason, liking it. Pinnerton and I both order the McRib meal, and all I have to say is that I’m definitely never ordering it again. For those of you who don’t know what a McRib is—it’s basically processed pork, pressed into a shape of a small piece of rib, slathered with barbecue sauce, and served with onion and pickles on a bun. So for those curious about the McRib, I think the only thing that attracts people to them is the fact that McDonald’s only sells them for a limited amount of time. I’ve concluded that I am not a fan of the McRib or McDonald’s for that matter.

Since I know my sister likes sushi, I definitely wanted her to try Sushi Deli. We walked over to Sushi Deli 1 from my apartment (it's only about a 10-minute walk), but there was a very long wait so we decided to order for take-out. While they were preparing our order, Pinnerton and I made a grocery trip for some Thanksgiving items. Definitely a good use of our time. We got a couple of rolls (I don't quite remember), the Hot Hot California Roll (my personal favorite), and the Dynamite seafood appetizer (picture shown). The sushi were good as usual, but the appetizer was very disappointing. The seafood was mostly pieces of fish and imitation crab. Still, my sister was amazed with how much food we got for the money. That's a Sushi Deli deal for ya. Some people may not like the Americanized style of sushi that they serve, especially when sushi is slathered with the spicy sauce (I believe it's a combination of Sriracha chili sauce and watered down mayonnaise), but I love it! My sister and I both share the love for spicy foods so much that we used Sriracha, instead of wasabi, with soy sauce to dip our sushi-it was actually really good! I agree that perhaps the quality of the sushi at Sushi Deli may not be necessarily be premium, but for common folks like myself, the prices keep you going back.
Finally, our Thanksgiving dinner arrived! Our small celebration consisted of Mr. Tall, Taurin, my sister, and me. Mr. Tall was responsible for our 10-pound turkey, and I was responsible for the sides and dessert. He brushed it with melted butter and seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and just threw some herbs in the body cavity. It took only approximately 2 and a half hours to cook, and it was actually, really good! The sides were relatively simple. I cooked up some green beans, sweet potato casserole with lots of butter and brown sugar, and Brussels sprouts with pancetta (a recipe from Giada DeLaurentis’ Every Day Italian). And a must-have item was the whole-cranberry sauce from Trader Joe’s, which is my favorite. Taurin brought over some sparkling apple cider and whole wheat dinner rolls. We ate almost the entire turkey! Pretty impressive. We ended the meal with Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Pie with freshly whipped cream, which was quite tasty especially for the pumpkin lover, Mr. Tall. All in all, we had a very nice Thanksgiving.

Before my sister departed, we made yet another trip to Mama Testa. Apparently, they started having lunch specials! There were about 5 items, with a side of rice and beans, and a drink—all for $5.95! I had to order my usual (I really think I am addicted to it) and the lunch special of a Steak "Cesar" Salad. The salad was a very good size topped with a grilled thin strip of steak, tossed with a kicked up Caesar dressing. It was definitely more than a good deal. I am officially declaring myself an ambassador of Mama Testa!

I’ve got more foodies to blog about, but it shall be the next post! Coming soon—Little Miss Contrary’s Favorites List of 2006!

Enjoy,
Little Miss

Tres Cochinitos

So many culinary adventures, so little time to blog! That has been the sentiment for me as of late. Two weekends ago, my cousin Jeff made a trip from Santa Barbara with his girlfriend Marisa and her friend Stephanie. They arrived in San Diego Friday evening, and we headed out to dinner downtown. We went to The Yard House and the place was packed with at least an hour wait. Our party of five was too famished to wait so we headed over to Rock Bottom, and fortunately—for our stomachs and our patience—we were seated within 5 minutes on the patio. We could tell that service was not going to be particularly attentive because it was prime dinner time on a Friday night. We all got a variety of beers from their brewery offerings. Mr. Tall ordered a brown ale and I got their honey ale, which I thought was very light and delightful. For appetizers, we all shared Titan Toothpicks, which were smoked chicken, Jack cheese, peppers and onions in hand-rolled, fried tortillas, served with guacamole, sour cream, fresh salsa and, my favorite, Chipotle BBQ sauce. They were fried to a crispy golden brown and were perfect with our beers. Everyone ordered burgers for their entrées, except for me. I ordered one of the specials, which was stuffed portabella. The mushrooms were stuffed with cheese and roasted peppers, and topped with warm diced tomatoes, spring greens, and balsamic vinaigrette. The dish was actually better than I had anticipated. It was quite flavorful and each component went well together. No pictures from this dinner though. I don’t usually frequent Rock Bottom unless it’s Happy Hour, which they have really good deals on beers, drinks, and appetizers. Although their menu isn’t diverse and beer offerings aren’t as extensive as The Yard House, it’s still a pretty fun place to chill out after work.

While my cousin and company went to the Zoo and saw some male-on-male gorilla action, I had to attend a civil litigation seminar for work the entire day on Saturday for the second and last time—thank goodness. We walked around my neighborhood for a bit before decided to get some Chinese for dinner. We got take-out at Taste of Szechuan located on University in the complex next to the entrance of the 163-North. The last time I got Chinese take-out was with the 7, 8, 9 Dinner Club from the less than impressive Hong Kong Restaurant. My roommate Emily was loyal to her favorite of Sweet and Sour Chicken, I ordered the Orange Chicken, Marisa ordered the Walnut Shrimp and Jeff rounded out the meal with Szechuan Eggplant. We share all the entrees along with a large order of half steamed rice and half fried rice. The first thing that I must share about Taste of Szechuan was that the service was very friendly and attentive. Even though we were only ordering take-out, the adorable Chinese gentleman in the front was quite helpful and even joked around with us while we were deciding on the entrées. He also informed us that the Szechuan-style dishes could be made with any spice level that we desire since the Szechuan region is quite known for its spicy tendency. While waiting for our order, we made a quick trip for Stephanie to pick up some pizza from Pizza Nova. I had never been there before, but Stephanie ordered a small Cheese Pizza and seemed to have been satisfied with it. I guess it’s kind of hard to mess up a cheese pizza. I’m not quite sure on how good Pizza Nova is but it seemed to be relatively popular as more of a sit-down place than Bronx Pizza. Anyway, back to Taste of Szechuan. The restaurant itself was rather effortless in its attempt to be contemporary—can you tell that was a sarcastic comment? But who cares about the décor of the restaurant when the food can justify itself. Let's just say that I will be frequenting Taste of Szechuan for my Chinese take-out fix.

Before Jeff, Marisa and Stephanie departed from San Diego, I had to take them to another favorite of me and Mr. Tall: Mama Testa. Mama Testa is a true taco shop. The menu is filled with regional variations of every sort of tacos beyond your imagination from Mama Blanditos or soft tacos to Mama Cesta or steamed tacos. The first thing you would notice once you enter the restaurant is its colorful décor. Red, yellow, and green dominate the unique furniture; napkins at your table are sandwiched between colorful, plastic salt and pepper shakers and macho libre toys. You walk up to the register to order and with your food you get a basket of chips. One of the best things about Mama Testa is its salsa bar. There are always at least a dozen different types of salsas from the favorite with red onion and tomatillo to the more interesting variation of parmesan and peppers, and the mild of mango and papaya. And if you’re like me, you’d go crazy and fill yourself up with condiment cups full of at least half of the salsa bar. The food quickly arrives just before our party gorged ourselves too much with the complimentary chips and salsa.

I convinced Jeff to order my absolute beloved dish: Majados de Carne.
Let me break this down for you:
4 Rolled shredded beef tacos
+ Delicious, spicy beef broth
Topped with onion, cilantro, queso fresco and lime
= Absolute foodgasm
How mouth-watering does that look and sound! I usually overload mine with fresh squeezed lime--I love my limes so leave me alone. Jess ordered De Aire, simple rolled crunchy tacos, and Marisa ordered De Bandera Morena, or rolled shredded beef tacos, all along with the usual fixin's of lettuce, salsa fresca, sour cream and queso fresco.

Mr. Tall usually goes with one of the soft tacos—this time he got the Tres Cochinitos, or carnitas soft tacos. And, of course, I always have to round out my meal with horchatha and his usually with tamarindo. He and I have sampled most of the offerings (except for desserts) and can conclude that practically everything on the menu is tasty.

Well, that's all for the weekend with Jeff and company. My sister is currently visiting this entire week for Thanksgiving, and I will most definitely be blogging about Little Miss's adventures with Pinnerton!

Enjoy,
Little Miss

Cupcake Love

Due to the recent events of birthdays and Halloween, I found myself back in the baking business, which I do not mind at all. Mr. Tall had a Halloween potluck up at his company's headquarter in Tustin, so I volunteered to bake up something for him to bring. I was delighted by the fact that the potluck also entailed a food competition because, as much as I hate to compete, I love the thought of prizes. I had a few cans of pumpkin puree left over from the Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake so I thought I'd bake something that had pumpkin in it. I had found a fantastic recipe on Posey’s Party Cakes's blog of Pumpkin and Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

The recipe was so enticing not only because the cupcakes contained pumpkin but also because Mr. Tall is a big fan of Mexican chocolate. The recipe was simple and combined ingredients that I would have never thought would go together well like pumpkin and Mexican chocolate. The cinnamon cream cheese frosting topped off the soft cupcakes nicely especially with the hint of spice from the Mexican chocolate. I just sprinkled the cakes with shavings of remaining chocolate, and it was ready for the potluck. Unfortunately, the cupcakes didn't win the top prize, but I still thoroughly enjoyed making them. I think I would like to bake up this recipe again because I had read on another entry of Posey's Party Cakes that if you toast the cinnamon before combining it for the frosting that it releases the essential oil of the spice so the cinnamon taste is stronger.

Round two of cupcakes galore was for my co-worker Nishanthi's birthday. She is a self-confessed peanut butter lover. I also knew that she loves Resse's Peanut Butter Cup so I thought what would be better for her birthday than Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting! I found the recipe on the Food Network website. It was so simple and made a perfect batch of 12. The cupcakes combined chunky peanut butter, which gave them a very tasty crunch, and just the right amount of chocolate chips to not be overwhelmed by the rich, chocolaty ganache frosting.

When I was still in school last year, I had a lot more free time and was able to bake quite often. But now that I'm working, all I want to do when I come home is veg out on the couch and get hypnotized by the television. But baking is definitely one of the things I will always truly enjoy. I love cooking and baking for others; I must have gotten that personality trait from my grandma, who would always made sure that our family was always well fed. Like most children, I was a picky eater, and one of the few things that my grandma was able to get me to eat was rice and pineapple. What an odd combination, I know. Interestingly, it's really reflective of the inclination of my taste buds toward things that are sweet and sour.

Anyway, if anyone wants any of the recipes that I have experimented with and can't find them online, let me know and I can post them.

Enjoy,
Little Miss

A Good Year

Last Friday was the big 365-day anniversary for me and Mr. Tall. Pretty exciting, I know. We didn’t really want to do anything grand so we just decided to make a date to Monsoon. Mr. Tall got the idea for Indian food because he had never had Indian food before until last weekend when, on his company field trip, they took everyone to an Indian buffet. And he really enjoyed the food. The first time I had Indian food was actually in Bangkok. During my summer internship a few years ago, a friend of mine’s family manages a hotel in downtown Bangkok. The hotel is noted for its fine royal Indian cuisine (it’s called the Rembrandt Hotel if any of you ever make a trip to Bangkok). From then on, I fell in love with Indian food. I had been hesitant about trying Indian food anywhere else for fear of being disappointed. Until Jess, Mai and I went to Monsoon. We were at a great advantage during that visit because Mai and Jess’s close friend, Michelle, was the head waitress at the time and she pretty much hooked us up big time.

We definitely overindulged on the garlic naan along with the chutney sampler of sweet mango, mint, and raita. We asked Michelle to order for us since she knew the food best. I’m not quite sure what we got, but I believe we had the Murgh Makhani (butter chicken) and a lamb dish.


We ended the meal with mango mousse with strawberry rose sorbet. But the best part was that our dessert spoons were cooled in a small dish of ice and rose water. I hadn’t eaten that much since my girlfriends and I hit up the buffet in Vegas.

After being greeted with a bouquet of colorful daisies (my favorite flower) and even a card, oh my, Mr. Tall and I headed out to Monsoon. I had requested on the online reservation to be seated next to the curtain of waterfall in the middle of the restaurant, and they willingly complied with our request. Mr. Tall and I started with, what else but an order of garlic naan served with a small ramekin of garlic and cilantro chutney. He also got the India Special Reserve Beer and I got my absolute favorite, iced Chai tea. What makes the iced Chai at Monsoon so special is that it is nothing like what you would get at Starbucks or Peet’s. It is real Chai brewed with fresh spices—you can truly taste the blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and of course, the mild heat of the ginger.

For our entrée, we shared the Lamb Vindaloo, which was cooked with a little vinegar with chunks of baby potatoes in a tomato-based curry, and Murgh Tikka Tandoori Chicken, which was marinated in yogurt, ginger, Garam masala, fresh lemon and cilantro. We order the tandoori chicken with a tomato-based sauce that really highlighted the mild and tender chicken. Even though my first visit to Monsoon was very memorable, this visit exceeded my expectations. The Lamb Vindaloo is by far the best dish I had enjoyed there. You can tell the lamb was carefully prepared because the spices really hid the gaminess of the meat, and the curry complemented the tender chunks of meat perfectly. The entrées were served in mini brass pots along with a side of basmati rice. At the end of the meal, I just wanted to pour the rest of the curry on my rice and eat it just like that—it was so good! I am officially declaring Monsoon one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. I will definitely have to check out other Indian joints soon to see how they measure up.

One tip that I’d like to share with diners out there, check out www.opentable.com. I was introduced to it last year when I was making reservations for Top of the Cove during the San Diego Restaurant Week. There are many restaurants in San Diego, which you can reserve for your party through OpenTable. It’s easy to do and you can collect points through your reservations.

You know it’s officially fall when all the bakeries and cafes begin to make pumpkin or maple products. Mr. Tall, for one, is a huge fan of pumpkin. If it’s got pumpkin in it, he’ll eat it. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffin, pumpkin bagel … and if it’s got maple in it, he’ll eat it, too. Maple sausage, maple syrup …
The Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake is probably one of the best recipes that combines his love for these two ingredients coupled with the fact that he really enjoys cheesecakes. So, naturally, I made him a Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake for his birthday. The recipe called for real maple syrup, and I highly recommend investing in a bottle of the Canadian maple syrup goodness. Just a couple dollars more and you get the real maple taste without all the heavy, artificial sweetness.

It was my second attempt at the Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake. I was bummed out because my first "test" round turned out to be better than my second, which saddened me since it was for Mr. Tall’s birthday. It’s pretty bad news when a cheesecake is undercooked. Unlike cakes, in which you can poke a knife and see when it’s done; being an amateur cheesecake baker, I cannot accurately gage when it is done. I am determined to make another attempt at cheesecake—successfully! The cheesecake still tasted good, but quite soft in the center. But, Mr. Tall being the clever man that he is, decided to freeze the cheesecake, and who would have thought ... frozen cheesecake is pretty damn tasty!

For dinner, from one of my favorites on the Food Network, Tyler Florence (I pretty much love him), I got a recipe for his Ultimate Fried Chicken. The chicken turned out slightly more brown than what we would have liked due to the pot that we had used to fry the chicken. We also cooked up mashed potatoes and green beans to go with the fried chicken. The potato ricer came in handy once again, and our mashed potato was even better than the last time. Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I was quite disappointed with the way the chicken looked and the way the cheesecake was undercooked. But, Mr. Tall, being a good sport and appreciative boyfriend that he is, still enjoyed the meal. The fried chicken, overall, had a subtle spice level to it, and soaking it in salt water prior to cooking it helped to maintain that juiciness in the meat. Mr. Tall and I intend to fry up some chicken again, and I am positive that it will be better the next time. This weekend was nearly perfect. I say nearly because, well, it wasn’t as flawless as I had anticipated. But, all in all, I am content because, as Mr. Tall reminded me, it’s the thought that counts.

Enjoy,
Little Miss