Griddler, baby!

I LOVE my Cusinart Griddler. I love buying kitchen stuff, but I'm not very good at putting things to use. As a result, my kitchen is filled with stuff, and more than half of them never taken out of the boxes. This summer, I finally busted the griddler out of its shell. Since I don't have a BBQ (not yet anyways, don't worry, that's coming), the Griddler is great for things like sliders. Our favorite though is chicken quesadilla. It's so simple and cooked to order. Even J, who normally doesn't like meat in its original form, loves it and requests it every week or two.

Chicken Quesadilla

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of shredded cheese (feel free to use whatever mix you like, Mexican, or a simple Jack & Mozzarella)
3 large flour tortilla
salt
oil

Use the Grill plates, brush just a little bit of oil on the plates. (I like to use grill plates for both the chicken and the quesadillas, so they all have the nice grill marks. The griddle plates should work fine too.) Preheat the Grillder on the Panini setting to Medium.

Slice the chicken breasts in halves crosswise. This step is optional, but the thicker the chicken is, the longer it takes to cook.

Sprinkle salt on both sides of the chicken breasts.

Put one layer of the chicken breasts on the grill, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts, it could take as little as 2 minutes to cook. Repeat with the rest pieces.

Dice the chicken.

Wipe down the plates when they cool down a bit, preheat on the Panini setting to Medium low.

Brush the outside of the tortillas with oil, fill the inside with diced chicken, and cheese.

Grill the quesadilla!

Voila! You are done. You could grill and dice the chicken breasts ahead of time. So dinner would be ready in matter of minutes.

Healthy Yam "Casserole"

In my house, yams or sweet potatoes aren't just for Thanksgiving, but a stable all year long. I simply steam boil them (boil with less than an inch of water). And my kids love it. Couple of days ago, when I was paying for the grocery, the cashier asked me how I made them. I listened to myself as I answered his question, and thought "Man, that was boring!". So in the spirit of holidays, I decided to jazz up my yams American way. The result was great, not only the kids loved it, even hubby, who doesn't like yam, had seconds. It tasted very much like a normal yam casserole that everybody has at Thanksgiving, but much healthier.

Yam with Brown Sugar and Marshmallows

4 large yams (4.5 lbs)
3/4 cup of brown sugar
2.5 oz of marshmallows

Wash the yams, put in a large pot. Add less than one inch of water. Bring to boil. Turn the heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the yams. (There should be no resistance when poking the yams all the way to the center with a fork or chopstick.)

Peel and mash up the yams. Mix in the sugar. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top. Broil till the marshmallows are toasty. (For my oven, this takes about 3 minutes if it was cold, and 1 if it was already hot. The marshmallows can burn pretty quickly, so keep a close eye on it. You can leave the oven door ajar if necessary.)

This recipe can be easily halved. The sugar and marshmallow quantity is extremely flexible. I have done this with about 2 pounds of sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup of sugar and 2.5 oz of marshmallows. The result was equally good.

Lunch Date, Sticky Fingers

Ever since we had J, it had been very difficult for hubby and I to have some quality time, let alone a romantic evening out. I'm sure most parents out there would concur. When we lived in the Bay Area, California, we were only six and half miles from my parents. Every weekend, we'd go over for one day, and they'd come by for the other. I didn't realize what a luxury it was until we moved back to Seattle. Man, I should have taken more advantage of the situation! I could have gone to so many nice restaurants and events if I wanted to. What a bummer! Oh well, enough about the past, we have to make do with our current circumstance. Now that both of the kids are out all day, we can at least have a lunch date once in awhile, except I just realized as I'm typing that we never did that until today that is.

Today, I picked up hubby around noon and drove over to Redmond Town Center to dine at Meritage in Marriott (heehee, I love saying "to dine", it feels so sophisticated). The setting was classy. Hubby got the Marriott Burger with Cheddar Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato on a Sesame Seed Bun along with some Fries ($12), I got the Dungeness Crab cake sandwich with lettuce, tomato, lemon aioli on a toasted sesame seed bun with fresh fruit ($13). If this is your first date, or you are just a very neat eater, don't order either of these. The burger was juicy, the sandwich was saucy. I had so much trickling down my fingers, if you saw me like that, and we weren't super tight, I'd have to kill you. ;) The portion was huge. Both hubby and I were brought up to never waste any food, and finish everything on the plate. The second part might be a little difficult sometimes, but we definitely got the first part down pat. If we couldn't finish, we'd doggy bag it, I wouldn't waste even one grain (OK, that might be a bit of exaggeration, but you got the drift). There were so many fries, they almost ended up in a doggy bag. Hubby thought the burger was really good. The fresh fruit was indeed fresh and generous. I assume the selection is seasonal. For today, there were huge chunks of cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, and pineapple. My sandwich had tons of crab meat in it. My only complaint would be that the chef had a heavy hand on salt today, both the sandwich and the fries were a bit over seasoned. However, consider the nice setting, friendly waitress, and everything else, we'd definitely be back.

Meritage Restaurant and Wine Bar
7401 164th Avenue NE (Marriott), Redmond, WA 98052
(425)498-4002

Something Japanese

The sun was out, it was a beautiful day. As this was very rare in Seattle in November, I couldn't sit still in the house. So I took the bus downtown and walked around. Around 3 o'clock, a happy hour sign caught my eye. Since I don't go into Seattle very often, I thought it was a great opportunity to try some place new. Even though it was a spur of the moment, I'd still like to do a little research, so I picked up couple of brochures in Pacific Place. There, among the list of many eating options, was a place called Japanese Gourmet. What piqued my curiosity was that they had sushi specials during happy hour. The place was easy to find along Stewart Street by Post Alley. I'm quite picky and skeptical when it comes to Asian restaurants. But how much could $2.75 for 2 pieces of nigiri hurt? So I went in and sat at the sushi bar. I started with an order each of Sockeye Salmon and Unagi. Since there was hardly anybody in the restaurant, the sushi chef worked on my order right away. The pieces were large, the salmon was fresh. As I talked with the sushi chef, I found myself wanting more. So I gave in to the urge, and got another order of Sockeye. I'd say that was a pretty satisfactory snack.

I'm not one that would normally chit-chat with restaurant staff. But it seems like I should do it more often, since the sushi chef gave me a tip on how to make certain something. A little suspense is always fun, don't you agree? ;) So until I have successfully made this certain something, I guess you'll have to wait with a little patience to find out what this is. =)

Japanese Gourmet Restaurant
82 Stewart St Seattle, WA 98101
(206)728-6204

Happy Birthday, J!

Sometimes I feel that I'm a terrible mother. A week ago, we asked J what kind of restaurant he'd like to go to for his birthday. We gave him the choices of pizza, American, Chinese, Italian, etc. Imagine our surprise, when he picked sushi. Yes, my California rolls are always a hit with the kids. But we've only gone out for sushi couple of times. Anyways, that's that. So I did a little research on yelp, and decided to try out Tokyo Japanese Restaurant in Loehmann's Plaza in Factoria. I then put it out of my mind. It didn't occur to me until couple of hours before dinner that I didn't make a cake. Can you conceive the sheer horror and panic? Not being a talented pastry chef like Aran from Cannelle et Vanille. I resorted to the unthinkable - a strawberry flavored cake mix. I then made a cream cheese frosting with some strawberry extract and 2 drops of red food coloring. Sometimes it's a blessing that my kids don't have sophisticated taste in food, in this case desserts, yet. My kids even got a kick out of wearing aprons and holding the hand mixer "helping" me with the cake mix and the frosting. =) So cute.

We got to Tokyo Japanese Restaurant shortly after 6. When it comes to Asian food, I never know whether I could trust yelp reviews or not. So I had no expectations. It was a pleasant surprise to find that almost everyone who worked there was Japanese, and most of the patrons were Asian. The place seemed fairly popular and got a flux of people around 6:30.

Hubby didn't want sushi and went with a combo of tempura and tonkatsu. I got chirashi, so that everyone could have some fish to their liking. J got little Tokyo which included gyoza, vegetable and prawn tempura, and California rolls. The kids loved miso soup with all the tofu and wakame seaweed. Hubby and I also had green salad, not much to write about. The tempura was very fluffy, the tonkatsu very tender. Hubby liked everything he got. But I think $18 is a bit steep. My chirashi was very good, very fresh. Don't quote me, but I think it came with 2 pieces of tamago (egg), some ikura (salmon roe), and 14 pieces of fish which included unagi(eel), ebi(shrimp), saba(mackerel), maguro(tuna), sake(salmon), bincho(albacore tuna), tai(red snapper), hamachi(yellow tail) and probably some that I forgot. $23 isn't cheap for chirashi, but both the quality and quantity were very good. I think it was a better value than hubby's meal. Everyone left completely stuffed, and J was quite happy with his choice. I think he felt very grown up being the one "making" the decisions. ;)

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant
3500 Factoria Blvd SE, Bellevue, WA 98006
(425)641-5691

Lincoln Square and Pearl

I don't know what happened to me today, but I just really wanted to go to a happy hour and relax after running errands. (What was I thinking! I know! It's a Friday!) Bradley and Mikel's Pearl Bar and Dining opened recently in Bellevue. So I thought I'd give it a try. Pearl is located Lincoln Square replacing Trader Vic's. I remember thinking Trader Vic's had a bad store front since you couldn't see them from any streets, and you have to walk along or in front of some cars to get to the restaurant. To improve this parking situation, Pearl is offering free valet parking. I decided to self park at Lincoln Square for the first time. (Why not free valet, you ask. Well, I'm just not comfortable with valet. It feels more pretentious to me for some reason. I'm sure it's just me. Plus, if I were trying to be frugal, free valet isn't really free since you (or at least me) feel obligated to tip, whereas self parking IS free after validation.) Self parking at Lincoln Square is NOT fun. I don't know who designs these parking structures. (The parking spots are not tight for once, thank goodness!) If you are going there to shop or dine, not only you are limited to which floors you can park, there are rules about which spaces you can occupy as well. For someone who's going there for the first time, this is quite confusing and annoying. And don't get me started on stopping on an uphill when getting out of the garage.

Anyways, I arrived at Pearl shortly after five when the happy hour was in full swing. (Their happy hour goes from 3 to 6 everyday.) The bar area was so crowded at I couldn't even find a place to stand by the bar. I felt rather silly at this point about going to a happy hour solo on a busy Friday, and contemplated about going over to Palomino or STIR. But at least this once, I persevered - I stopped a waiter to ask for a menu, and a nice elderly couple by the bar let me have some space next to them. Everything on the bar menu is half price. So I got a Shiso Wild Drop that contains Finlandia wildberry vodka, triple sec, house made lemon sour and muddled shiso leaf in a huckleberry tea sugar rimmed martini glass, and an order of ahi tuna. The Shiso Drop was very good, sweet but not syrupy, just the way I like it. The seared ahi tuna on the other hand, was unconventional. It was wrapped in nori (seaweed), dipped in a spice rub (according to the menu, though it looked and tasted like Tempura batter to me) and fried. It was accompanied with some soy vinaigrette. The soy vinaigrette was nice, the ahi, though stayed raw during the quick frying process, tasted floury to me for whatever reason that I couldn't figure out. (No, it wasn't the batter either as I tried a bite of tuna without any nori or batter/rub.) While the taste was a little disappointing, at least the price was good. (The total came to $10 + tax + tip.) I left in a hurry to go home to make dinner for the kids without much relaxing or people watching. =) But I'm pretty sure I'd be back again. Maybe next time, I'd try the pork slider or crab cakes.

Pearl Bar and Dining
700 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 50, Bellevue, WA 98004
(425)455-0181

Halloween

About a month ago, K told me that she was throwing a Halloween party. So for the first time in years, instead of waiting in the house for trick-or-treaters, we were going to spend Halloween with some other adults. (That's exciting, isn't it? Yes, I know, my life is boring.) This party was what I looked forward to all week.

Right after trick-or-treating at Bell Square, (if you live in the area and don't know, Bellevue Collections hosts a trick-or-treating and a number of other activities on Halloween that are quite exciting for little kids) we headed over to K's. Being a person whose world revolve around food, I always worry about if there were enough food at parties. You certainly don't want to have guests wondering what else they could nibble on after someone takes that last scoop of dip. So I brought along a baked brie and some Parmesan crackers. I used half of a wheel of brie from Costco. And since that was much bigger than what the recipe called for, I had to roll out the puff pastry quite a bit. The apple compote and the brie complemented each other perfectly. It was a big hit. I wanted to serve the crackers alongside the brie, so I omitted pepper and rosemary altogether. (Oh, who am I kidding? That's just an excuse. The real reason was that I didn't have any fresh rosemary.) I ended up with 36 crackers. I probably cut them a little thin, so the dough kept on cracking (haha, no pun intended) that I had to reshape them a bit. But I thought they were the perfect thickness, I wouldn't want them any thicker.

I also made a French Onion Tart based on fellow seattlite Orangette's Molly's recipe. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the party (which was only 6:15), most people already had a fair share of the food, and the tart got a little cold. So not many people tried it, even after I reheated it in the oven. Lesson learned, next time, I should take things that still taste good eaten at room temperature or on the cold side of the temperature.

But I really shouldn't have worried about there not being enough food. K is a big food person like me. She often prepares way more food than necessary. There were tons of choices from the sophisticated crab dip to the Asian-influenced kalbi marinated flank steak to the very American hot dogs and tater tots to the various types of chips, AND desserts, such as cookies, dessert breads and rice krispy treats. I wouldn't bore you as the list went on, but you got the drift.
Everybody chatted and drank and nibbled while all the kids ran around the house and went trick-or-treating not once, but twice! We all went home happy and full. The only lingering thought on my mind was that I didn't realize it was a costume party. So now I have to start thinking about what I'd be next year. =)

Palmers East

Since Halloween is on a Saturday this year, the school and work places were having Halloween parties on Friday. I took J and D to hubby's office around 4 to walk down the hallways, pick up candies, enjoy all the "so cute" praises, and do some admiring of other little kids in return. Afterwards, we decided to grab a quick dinner in Redmond. We wanted to go to the Stonehouse, but were turned away as they were all booked at 5:30!!! *sigh* Another time. So we walked over to Palmers East around the corner.

To say that Palmers East isn't a suitable place for little kids is an understatement. There was a long L-shaped bar, quite a few bar tables with stools, a small dance floor, and a few random shaped tables. But since we didn't want to walk in the rain to look for another place, it had to do. As the place was all decorated with spider webs and such, it was kind of fun. J corrected hubby and said the place wasn't scary, but spooky. =)

The people were friendly, most menu items were on the cheap side. I got the linguini with Shrimp in garlic cream sauce. Hubby got the turkey "Mile High" club, a triple decker with bacon, cheese, crisp lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo on sourdough bread, with fries and a Caesar salad. Since they don't have a kid's menu. The kids shared an entree BBQ chicken. The portions were very generous. Both BBQ chicken and linguini came with a side salad. This is definitely one of those places that people come for quantity and price over quality. Hubby's club was loaded with turkey breast. My linguini was drowning in the cream sauce that I didn't want to think about how much calories there were. *wince* (I would have preferred if it was loaded with shrimp instead of carb. ;) The kids, unfortunately, didn't like the smoke flavor of the BBQ, but enjoyed the turkey breast, fries, and my garlic bread. While nothing was exceptional, it wasn't bad either. The Caesar was the only thing we thought that wasn't worth the price. For $7, it was just bunch of mediocre Romaine lettuce with some parmesan and croutons, nothing special. This wouldn't be consider expensive anywhere else. But compare to the rest of the menu, it wasn't a good value. (The linguini and the BBQ were both only $10! The club was $8.)

Besides the obvious, it was also very difficult to feed the kids there as the place was dimly lit. I could barely see the food, let alone cut and dissect various parts. (Yes, I'm a messy one at restaurants. When food comes, more often than not, I need to separate/scrape things so that D wouldn't be accidentally eating something diary.) So of course, we will never go back. That said, it seems to be a cheap and maybe even interesting place for guys to go grab a drink after work. So hubby might give it another shot sometime in the future.

Palmers East
7853 Leary Way NE, Redmond, WA 98052
(425)867-3837

Shiro's at Last ...

I have been longing to eat at Shiro's for a long time. However, since hubby doesn't eat raw fish, I have been patiently waiting for the right opportunity with any of my sushi-enthusiastic friends. At last, my patience paid off. A friend of mine came to town. Even though it was last minute, we still made it to Shiro's.
Located in Belltown, the decor was very unpresuming. The small restaurant had about 17 tables. The bar area was full all night, but we were able to get a table after waiting only for a few minutes.
Since Shiro's is known for having the fresh fish, we went with one order of Omakase sashimi, and one order of Kaiseki dinner. (I wouldn't really call that Kaiseki though. Kaiseki is much more elaborate. This was more an Omakase dinner.)

Our Omakase sashimi contained two pieces each of albacore tuna, tuna, marinated tuna, salmon, yellowtail, geoduck, smelt, scallop, and four pieces of Sugata sea urchin. The scallops were a little unusual as they were wrap in seaweeds. I don't remember ever having smelt before, and surprisingly I didn't mind it at all. The sea urchins were the catch of the day. They were so fresh and sweet, I could have devoured a whole plate of them. Everything was super fresh, but all the pieces were really small. And for $50, I was hoping for some more interesting choices.

For the Kaiseki dinner, we got the simplest one for $60. It came with one appetizer, Shiro's famous black cod, sushi, sashimi, soup, and dessert. The appetizer was one Kamoto oyster and Smelt Nanban, marinated smelt with fresh sliced Walla Walla onion. The smelt was interesting, it tasted as if it was cooked. I wonder what kind of marinate they used. The sushi and sashimi that came with the meal were pretty standard. The five sushi pieces were tuna, marinated tuna, salmon, shrimp, and yellowtail. The nine sashimi pieces were three pieces each of tuna, albacore tuna, and yellowtail. Just like the Omakase sashimi, the sushi and sashimi were really fresh. The yellowtail sashimi was so sumptuous that it melted on my tongue like butter. However, I thought the selection was rather boring. Shiro's renowned Black Cod Kasuzuke was a piece of succulent broiled kasu black cod with perfectly balanced sweetness and saltiness. It was so tender, (I don't want to say this again, but I don't know what else to say,) "it melted on my tongue like butter". The original recipe was featured in the New York Times (now that is a good reason to go through the archives =). The cod was served with a piece of eggplant and some narazuke pickles. Towards the end of the meal, they brought us the miso soup and Chawan-Mushi. The miso soup was delectable and loaded with tofu. The Chawan Mushi was a steamed egg custard with Shiitake mushroom, fish cake, spinach, shrimp, chicken and ginko nuts. Maybe it was the soft custardy texture, maybe it was the slightly savory taste of the custard (instead of tooth-achingly sweetness of a standard Western custard), but my friend didn't care for this one too much. Steamed egg custards are very common in Chinese cooking, even though we don't normally add seafood and other ingredients. It's comfort food for us. If you've ever steamed an egg custard before, you know it's very temperamental. This one was very well made. For dessert, we got two pieces of mochi ice cream, so we went with green tea and strawberry. Both were excellent. The mochi was so soft, it was probably the best mochi I've ever had.

Even though I was a little disappointed with the selection, it was still a great dinner. As small as the sashimi pieces were, I was full for hours, so I probably wouldn't be able to finish if the pieces were bigger. Next time, I think I will opt to sit at the bar on one of the nights that Shiro works to witness his creative powers. =)

Shiro's Sushi Restaurant
2401 2nd Ave (Battery Street), Seattle, WA 98121
(206)443-9844

Not Your Average Chicken Soup

Tonight's dinner was soup, soup, soup. It was the ultimate chicken soup day at my house as I went a little crazy and made three different chicken soups. They are all based on recipes from Soup, Superb Ways with a Classic Dish published by Hermes House. All turned out well, but I wouldn't recommend anyone making all three on the same day. =)

The first two were Chinese style soups, clear and delicate, best as an appetizer, super quick to make:  The Chicken and Asparagus Soup was so simple, just the two main ingredients plus some seasoning, anyone could make it in a few minutes as the last addition to their meal. It was delightful. Chicken, ham and shrimp are the three pillars in the Three Delicacy Soup. If you use cooked shrimp instead of raw, just add them at the end. If you don't like the pungent flavor of raw scallions, add them to the stock with the meat as I did so that my kids wouldn't pick them out.The last was a hearty Chicken Minestrone. It was a little more time consuming, but a meal in itself. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I improvised with what vegetables I had. I used chicken breast instead of thighs. I also eliminated peas and Parmesan completely (if you remember, D is allergic to peas and diary). For the pasta, I used bow tie. Even with all of these substitutions, the soup still tasted great! The only problem is that it was a little dry.

Culinary Experience in the Butter Country

The morning of L's wedding, F, hubby and I were in search of a decent lunch place in the vicinity of Bloomingburg. We stumbled upon Culinary Creations Confections and Cafe in Pine Bush. Pine Bush is a small town (but still bigger than Bloomingburg =) and the "butter capital of the world" as the sign by the Chamber of Commerce claims. Hmm, that explains why we were given a whole stick of butter with our bread the day before. We are in the butter country!

The Culinary Creations is a cake shop that doubles as a restaurant. As you step in, the counter are filled with slices of cheesecakes, bundt cakes and cupcakes. There is also a wedding cake on display for people who want to special order cakes. The lunch menu contained of sandwiches, paninis and salads was hanging on the wall for takeouts. We were shown to the adjacent room when we expressed the wish to dine in. It was a very whimsical room. The walls were painted in pastel colors of egg york yellow and moss green with white trim, decorated with photos, prints, and a mirror. It felt like a different world from the rest of Pine Bush and its neighboring towns.

F and I shared a bowl of tomato Florentine, the soup of the day. It had all the right components, spinach, tomato, pasta, crouton, etc. But it was rather bland. All of our sandwiches came with a green salad and pita chips. To call these pita chips crunchy would be an understatement, they were so thick and hard. We weren't exactly happy about the lack of an alternative. The sandwiches were HUGE. Each of us ended up eating only half. My chicken and hog panini contained a huge piece of chicken breast, layers of ham topped with mustard. The chicken was a little under seasoned, but it was OK. Hubby's Cosmo Turkey BLT was loaded with more than an inch thick of oven roasted turkey breast slices, topped with tomato bacon salsa and an avocado Gorgonzola dressing. F got an Asiago eggplant panini, the Asiago crusted eggplant pieces were sandwiched between roasted red peppers, provolone, and wilted greens. This one looked rather unappetizing. And the fact that the eggplant was fried didn't sit with F very well.

Instead of stuffing ourselves trying to finish the sandwiches, we decided to save some room for desserts. Even though there were a large number of cheesecakes and bundt cakes, the flavor varieties were rather limited with pumpkin dominating the choices. We ended up with a pumpkin cheesecake and a cherry mousse cheesecake. Both were decent, the cherry mousse looked like a mess though.

It felt like we were sitting in someone's cute little room since we were the only diner during lunch. I'd go here again if I ever ended up in this part of the country with nowhere else to go as the atmosphere was pleasant. But don't expect too much of the food.

Culinary Creations Confections and Cafe
52 Main St, Pine Bush, NY 12566
(845)744-5220

X X'd

This weekend, my best friend L got married in upstate New York. Hubby and I flew into JFK Friday morning on a red-eye. Even though we were exhausted, food was still my first priority. After couple of hours of browsing and driving, we arrived at Restaurant X and Bully Boy Bar in Congers, New York for lunch. Restaurant X was one of the establishments in Peter Kelly's Xaviars Restaurant Group. Some reviewers even believed that the Peter Kelly's restaurants were better than many Manhattan eateries, so I had high hopes. I chose this one over his other restaurants because they offered a seared foie gras on the dinner menu which I had specially requested for our lunch.

Congers is a small town about 2 hours from New York. The restaurant had a free-form pond in the back, with the fountain spraying and a swan swimming, it must have been very picturesque on a sunny day. As it was pouring on and off on Friday, it looked as if it was flooding. The place opens for lunch at 12, and we were the only ones there at 12:30. Even when we left at 2, there were only about 6 tables.

Hubby went with the $25 3-course prix fixe special. He started with a frisee salad with grapefruit, walnut, and goat cheese. It was a nice salad, simple and refreshing. I had my pre-arranged Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Served Two Ways - a warm tartlet with figs and seared foie gras, and a chilled parfait with lingonberry. (Only $14.50!) The tartlet was OK, I liked the figs. The seared foie gras was on the thin side, and slightly over salted, but it was still a good dish. The parfait was intriguing with the sweetness of the lingonberry. I've never had a sweet pâté before, it was pleasant for a change. Whenever I've had pâté, it was always served with some toast of sorts. However, this one only came with two piece of over salted sesame crackers which didn't even last half way through the parfait. I was left feeling kind of silly eating the parfait with a spoon. (Maybe that's why this is the only place that I've been to that calls this "parfait" instead of "pâté" or "terrine". Hmm, I wonder...)

For entrée, I ordered the rock shrimp and seafood cake with spinach and lobster sauce. I was expecting something similar to crab cakes, maybe 2 or 3 discs. What was presented caught me off guard, as it was one big ball almost the size of a baseball. It had big chunks of shrimp meat, you'd think I'd appreciate that. It wasn't bad or anything, however, after eating it for awhile, there was just too much of it. And it tasted very similar to a Chinese shrimp dumpling (Har Gau) that you can get at any dim-sum place. Hubby had the flat iron steak with truffle potato puree, haricot vert, and port sauce. The steak was very blend if you didn't swipe some sauce for every bite. The truffle flavor in the potato puree was so overpowering that I couldn't eat it at all.

To end the meal, we shared a vanilla crème brûlée which was very good, but not good enough to turn things around for me.

Overall, I felt that the value was great, where else can you get foie gras two ways for under $15. The inspirations were good, but the execution was lacking. If I ever find myself in upstate New York again, I might try the Xaviar in Piermont or the X2O in Yonkers with a supposedly stunning view. But I don't think I will patronize Restaurant X again.

Restaurant X and Bully Boy Bar
117 N Route 303, Congers, NY 10920
(845)268-6555

Shrimp and Corn

I'm bringing J up as a proper food snob. Every night, I ask hubby which protein he'd like to have for the next dinner. Last night, while I was still listing pork, chicken, beef, J looked up and said "I want ribs". I was caught off guard, but pleasantly surprised. As you know I don't like making decision, likewise, hubby likes to shy away from these minute decisions too. So now, there is a new decision maker in the house! I switched my focus to J. "Yes, there are ribs, and we also have shrimp..." I didn't get to finish my sentense before J jumped to the new favorite. "Shrimp!" So, shrimp it is! In an earnest attempt to not make the same dish as a few days ago, I came up with this shrimp and corn dish that was very vaguely based on a few "crystal" shrimp recipes.

Shrimp and Corn

1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, patted dry
2 kernels of ears of corn (or 2 cups of frozen corn, or 1 can 15.25 oz of corn kernel, drained)
1 green onion, shredded
3 slices of ginger (or shredded, my family doesn't like to eat ginger, this way they can be easily picked out)
2 tbsp oil

Marinate:
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
pinch of ground white pepper
1 tbsp water

Coating:
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp water

Instead of buying already peeled and deveined shrimp, you could also get the easy peel ones. It took about 10 minutes for me to peel the whole pound. However, shrimp has 2 veins, one along the back and one along the inside. The deveined shrimp I've ever seen only has the back vein removed. So it would me another 15 minutes or so to devein them.

I made this in one non-stick pan without even a wipe in between the ingredients. This way, I didn't need to add more oil, and cleanup was super easy.

Mix the marinate well. Toss the shrimp in the marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Mix the coating agents well, set aside.

Heat the oil, add the green onion and gingner, stir a few times to release the aroma. Add the shrimp, when they are no longer transparent, remove from the pan. Add corn to the pan, stir a few times. Add the shrimp back in. Add the coating mixture, stir a minute.

Shrimp in Tomato Sauce

My kids like shrimps. Instead of the normal boiled shrimp served with my simplified cocktail sauce (ketchup and lemon juice, as I never have horseradish or worcestershire sauce on hand), I decided to make the Chinese shrimp in tomato sauce today. It was a hit.

Shrimp in Tomato Sauce

1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, patted dry
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 green onion, minced
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp water
pinch of salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chili bean paste (optional)

Instead of buying already peeled and deveined shrimp, you could also get the easy peel ones. It took about 10 minutes for me to peel the whole pound. However, shrimp has 2 veins, one along the back and one along the inside. The deveined shrimp I've ever seen only has the back vein removed. So it would me another 15 minutes or so to devein them.

In a large bowl, mix the corn starch, salt, and water. Toss in the shrimp.
In the pan, heat the oil. Pan fry the shrimp in batches. Turn the shrimp over after they curl up and the tails change color. Remove when they are no longer transparent. Repeat till all shrimp are cooked.

If there is still too much oil left in the pan, pour most of it out, leave only about 1 tsp. Add green onion and ginger, stir till the aroma comes out, add the shrimp, soy sauce, and cooking wine. Mix and stir for a minute. Add the tomato paste and chili bean paste, mix. Remove and serve.

Zinc la la

A friend from college got married this weekend. Well, technically he got married last weekend, but the reception was this weekend. So I flew home for a few days. (Isn't that weird that most of us still consider our parents' house home?) During the two-hour flight from Seattle to Oakland, we were served a bag of pretzel mix and drinks just like any other flight these days. I remembered last year while traveling in China during the Olympics, a friend of mine commented on that flying domestic in China was like flying in the US back in the 80s - the attendants (I almost said stewardesses, God forbid, that would be so inappropriate! =P) were all very young and attractive, and a full and palatable meal was served during a two-hour flight. Well, I remember even ten years ago flying between Seattle and Bay Area, there would be a sandwich if it was during meal time. Those were the times! I don't mind not getting my sandwich during a two-hour flight. But when the airlines nickel and dime us even during a 6+ hour cross country flight, that's just plain annoying, especially considering the extra time we have to spend in security these days. Oh well, I digress.

Anyways, as you all know by now, I couldn't have planned any trip without food involved. On Sunday, I went into SF with my best friend E and her boyfriend for some shopping and then dinner at Le Zinc French Bistro in Noe Valley. As E's boyfriend is French and grew up in Paris, I had high expectation of the meal on good authorities. But before we get to food, I have to tell you that he got E THE cutest coat I've seen. It was the Nanette Lepore "Walk of Fame" Coat. Don't bother doing a search. I did, and none of the pictures on the web does it justice. When she tried on the black Christian Louboutin knee high suede boots with it, all the sales reps on the floor were drooling, women AND men. =)

After such a successful shopping spree, we had to have a little celebration at Le Zinc. While E's boyfriend drank his beer, E and I toasted with Kir Royale. We decided to order a number of things and share. For starters, we got Escargots, Terrine de Foie Gras, Foie Gras Poelé, and Moules Provençales from "Le Menu Classique", the 3 course prix fixe menu. The snails were on potato canapés with porcini and garlic butter sauce. I've only had Escargots served in the shells before, so I asked E's boyfriend about these de-shelled critters. He agreed that this wasn't what he was used to either. While the taste was authentic, the presentation was definitely fancier and more elegant than what you'd find at a normal Parisian restaurant. While I loved the snail and the porcini and the garlic butter sauce, the potato canapés didn't do anything for me. As you know, I live to eat foie gras, and my preferred cooking method has always been searing. E has only had foie gras terrines before. So we got both. The terrine was served with toasted pain de mie. It was smooth and creamy. I had to admit that it was excellent. The Foie Gras Poelé came with red cabbage confit, orange sauce and blini. It wasn't bad or anything, but I was slightly disappointed. The foie gras was a little thin, and marginally over-seared in my opinion. While the red cabbage confit was good, I would have preferred a fruit confit such as apple better. Truth be told, I was secretly hoping for a perfectly seared piece of foie gras served along some divine fruit confit to lure E into the camp of seared-foie-gras-lovers. This one didn't do it. Oh well, till next time. The mussels were steamed in white wine with garlic, tomato, and red bell pepper. They were fragrant and plump. The broth was perfect for soaking up with bread.

Moving on to the entrées, E got Canard aux Pêches, a duck magret with roasted peach, roasted fingerling potatoes and peach sauce. The breast was tender and savory, the peaches were sumptuous. E's boyfriend had Cassoulet au Confit, a Cassoulet of duck confit, Toulouse sausage, and white beans. I've never been a fan of any kind of beans, but the duck confit was excellent. E's boyfriend told me that this was a glamorized version of a traditional cassoulet that would contain mainly the white beans with some pieces of meat instead of a whole duck leg. Well, hooray! As long as the essence of a cassoulet is still there, we are fine, right? I don't think I'd enjoy a conventional cassoulet as much. Meanwhile, I gorged on duo D’agneau - rack and tenderloin of lamb with sunchoke purée, salsify, broccoli, herbes de provence, and garlic butter. Ooh, la la! The rack was good, but the tenderloin was stupendous. I was speechless. What could I say? I love lamb and duck. I'd be elated if I could have these every week. Hmm, I wonder what my waistline would look like if that happened. =)

For dessert, there was no more sampling or sharing. It was unanimous that we all wanted our own tarte tatin. The apple was caramelized to a perfect golden brown. The puff pastry was buttery. It was a sweet ending to a lovely meal. To make the deal even sweeter, the price was very reasonable at Le Zinc. The prix fixe menu was only $35. A three course meal! In a French restaurant! In San Francisco!

This would be my definition of a perfect day, good friends, satisfactory shopping, and delectable food. Only if I could live like this everyday! =)

Le Zinc French Bistro
4063 24th St (between Noe St & Castro St), San Francisco, CA 94114
(415)647-9400

Food Allergies

Over the last few decades, a growing population has been found with food intolerance/allergies. While the general population has heard or known about it, their understanding is rather limited. People don't normally realize how serious these allergies can be. Whenever I ask if a food item contains dairy or egg in a grocery store, normally nobody knows. And in a restaurant, they generally have to check with the kitchen.

As I mentioned earlier, D tested positive for milk, egg, peanuts, and peas allergies in September 2008. Since then, it has been a growing experience for us all. In summer 2008, my one-year-old son was down to under 1 percentile in weight since he often threw up multiple times a day. It was a horrifying sight, especially considering that he was at 90 percentile when he was born (Yup, it was very hard). I suspected he had these allergies (other than peanuts, since we hardly have anything with peanuts in the house), but I didn't know what to do as he didn't like soy milk, and often wouldn't drink fortified orange juice. Then my coworker (whose daughter is also allergy to milk) told me to try soy yogurt first. I've never even heard of such a thing before! It was like a miracle, he started putting on weight really quickly. Today, he's at 25 percentile. He loves to eat and eat and eat. Even though, it's still sad to tell him that he couldn't have a lot of things, it's at least good to see him healthy.

And couple of days ago, J tested positive for peanuts, and pine nuts allergies after a scary visit to the ER. (And possible almonds, macadamia, and white fish allergies.) *sigh*

So if you or someone in your family has a food allergy, ask around, and talk to your doctor. However, think about what you heard first before acting on it. My pediatrician told me to load tons of butter on D's toast even after I told her my suspicion of his milk allergy! (Of course, I didn't listen to her on that one.) She also told me to give him 2 bottles of PediaSure a day. He hated it, wouldn't even take a sip. Another thing is to read all the ingredient labels. It's taking me much longer to do grocery shopping these days, since I'm always reading. Most labels will have the typical allergens listed again on the bottom, or bolded in the list. But some companies are still not practicing this, it can make the label reading process quite painful when sometimes there could be 15-20 lines of ingredients in small print, and some ingredients contain the allergen (ie: casein contains dairy). And sometimes, there is no label at all!

In my opinion, the most problematic allergens are milk, egg, soy, and wheat. These are such common ingredients. You really have to be alert all the time to not consume any. Did you know most bread contained milk? Oh, and here is a good one, soy cheese contains milk too! (What the heck? If I wanted milk in my cheese, I'd have bought regular cheese. Btw, only vegan cheese are dairy free.) I once met a Chinese woman whose son is allergic to soy, so they stopped eating Chinese food altogether. What a life altering experience! Then there is celiac disease, which is more than just wheat allergy. When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, he/she becomes so ill, it could possibly kill him/her. I used to worked with couple of people with celiac disease, one of them compared wheat on his food to rat poison. Imagine that!

I still know very little about food allergies. But hopefully by the spread of words, I could do my part in raising the awareness.

If you'd like to read more on food allergies. A few good sites are:
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network
About.com: Food Allergies
Food Allergy Gourmet
 
PS: if you have any dairy and egg free dessert recipes, please pass them along. =)

Canlis Wedding

As you know, F came for a friend's wedding. I, being a big softie for weddings, went as her guest. The wedding couple loved food, so it was held at the acclaimed Canlis restaurant, ceremony included! I didn't even know you could have a wedding at Canlis!

All weddings are special, but this one was extra special. The wedding couple fell in love with Seattle when they visited last year and got engaged at another distinguished restaurant Chez Shea. So instead of Hawaii, or some other exotic location, they chose us! Every guest flew in for this memorable occasion. The officiant put it well - "In this economic turmoil, Seattle economy thanks you. The airlines, the hotels, the restaurants, we all thank you." I must have been the token Seattleite there.

Even after being married for a number of years, I still get teary-eyed at weddings. Like all marriages, mine has its ups and downs too. But at weddings, watching others declare their eternal love always teaches me something new about love, reminds me of how beautiful love was, what I felt on my big day, and what I should keep at heart and treasure everyday. Though I was a total stranger to M and G, I felt touched that they let me be a part of their special day.

After a lovely ceremony, the guests mingled while champagne was poured and hors d'œuvres were passed. The champagne was Canlis' private label NV Jean Milan "Canlis Cuvee" Grand Cru made in Oger, France. I don't know much about wine, but I do know that only the sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France can be called "Champagne", and Oger is in the Champagne region of France. I always love starched-uniformed waiters carrying silver trays with offerings of champagne or bite size treasures. So old world glamour. One of these treasures, namely the pork belly on quail egg puree with capers, came on spoons. I know that it would no longer shock anyone when hors d'œvures were served on spoons. But every time I see it, I just love it. You eat it in one bite, put the spoon back on the tray, then continue your conversation or whatever you were doing, no greasy fingers, no dirty napkins or tooth picks in your hands. Whoever came up with this idea must be a genius! The quail egg puree might not be as brilliant as the spoon, but it was pretty fabulous too. It was smooth and creamy, and the capers cut through the greasiness of the pork belly. There were also spinach quiches with Pecorino and garlic. They were topped with toasted pine nuts for a twist. The Canlis prawns were cooked with dry vermouth, garlic, red chilies and lime. Whoever said a prawn was a prawn never tasted these. They were exquisite. There was also lobster tartare. They were OK, but nothing exceptional.

After everyone had a fair amount of Champagne, we sat down for dinner. First came the cherry gazpacho with dungeness crab, paprika and oregano. I loved the chunky crab meat. The gazpacho was lovely, but just a tad too spicy for me, though that didn't stop me from finishing every drop of it. =) Then came Canlis salad of romaine, bacon, Romano cheese, fresh mint, oregano and a dressing of lemon, olive oil and coddled egg. It was very refreshing, almost like a palate cleanser (a BIG one) to get us ready for the main course. There were three options to choose from for the entrée. A seafood choice - Pacific king salmon with parsley and preserved lemon, potato puree and whole roasted potatoes. A chicken dish with celery puree, natural jus and roasted potatoes. And last, my selection and seemingly the most popular choice of the night, the filet mignon, a whole cut all-natural prime Midwest beef with natural jus, bordelaise and potato puree. It was one of the biggest piece of filet mignon I have ever had, cooked to a perfect medium, practically melted in my mouth.

Just as everyone started saying how they couldn't eat one more bite (myself included), we were served artisanal cheeses from Estrella family creamery. I don't know much about cheeses, and I couldn't remember much other than there were 2 goat cheeses, and 2 or 3 others, with nuts and fruit confiture. I liked them all, it's unfortunate that I can't tell you more about them. Then along came the killer, a dessert amuse, banana and caramel filled doughnuts with molten milk chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. Who doesn't love doughnuts?! The batter was so rich, moist and light at the same time, no one could help but indulging in one. The wedding cake had two flavors, a vanilla chiffon filled with lemon mousse, lemon curd and raspberry jam, and a chocolate cake brushed with frangelico, filled chocolate mousse and hazelnut mousse. I had the vanilla chiffon. It was probably very good, but I was too sated to appreciate anything at this point.

Oh yes, the wines! I had the 2006 Chateau Ste Michelle "ethos" chardonnay from Columbia Valley. The choice of red was the 2005 l'ecole no.41 Perigee from Seven Hills Vineyard in Walla Walla. And the dessert wine was the 2003 Royal Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos. This was my first time drinking a Tokaji. In the past, I always associated dessert wine with Ice wine. But this Tokaji was lovely. The honeyed apricot and orange peel flavors were delightful. I will have to go find myself some Tokaji now. =)

G told me that he worked with the chef on the menu. I can say with full conviction that his effort was heart felt by everyone, if not their minds, at least their stomachs. =) I'm already looking forward to the next time M and G come to town, so we can be on our quest for another marvelous dining experience.

Oink, oink, oink...

One of my best friends, F, came in town for a wedding. Since all my activities revolve around food, I suggested that we take the bus into Seattle, do some shopping, then have an early dinner at my favorite happy hour spot in the city - Cafe Campagne. Oh, did I mention I love the public transportation system now? I used to hate BART in the Bay Area. But taking the bus in Bellevue is so convenient. A few stops, I'd be in downtown Seattle. No parking; I can hop on the bus anywhere I want. How do you beat that?

After a quick lunch at Dog in the Park, some shopping, and a white chocolate geleto at Chocolate Box, we made our way to Cafe Campagne. We started with happy hour food and ordered my "usual" pork and chicken liver pâté sandwiches, petite lamb burgers d'agneau with balsamic onions and aïoli, and Comté with house-made tomato preserve. The sandwiches and burgers were as savory as they always had been. I love the gougère they were served, so buttery and fluffy. The Comté was nice and mild. The tomato preserve was very fruity and sweet, with a little warm tomato fragrance on your tongue afterwards. It was very good, but the date confiture they used to serve was even better. Yummy, my mouth is watering just thinking of it. Unfortunately, the wines I tasted were just OK.

When dinner time rolled around, we were half full already, so we opted to share the 3-course French 101 prix-fixe. The current focus was regional food of Lyon. We started with Assiette de Crudite - a salad with carrot, beef steak tomatoes, marinated beets, leeks in vinaigrette, and celeriac remoulade. Each individual ingredient had its own little corner on the plate. Everything tasted OK, but it was only as good as the parts since there wasn't anything that brought all the components together. The entree Petit Sale Aux Lentilles was a braised, brined pork hock served on a Puy lentil ragout. For those faint of heart, this would not be your dish. You could still see that it was part of a pig's leg. And for those health conscious eaters, this wouldn't be for you either. The hock was still intact with the bones, skin and fat. However, for me, this dish stole my heart. It was the epitome of country cooking. The flavor was so straight forward, no delicate sauce, no fancy plating. The lentil was perfectly cooked, rich with the juice from the hock. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside that when I closed my eyes, I felt as if I were eating in someone's cottage. There was so much of it too, we barely finished half of it. After such a rich dish, the dessert was a light and refreshing peach sorbet - Sorbet a la Peche. (Doesn't everything sound better in French even if I can't pronounce a word of it? =) It was good I suppose, but not very memorable.

As the night drew in, we walked away again with very satisfied stomachs. Till next time, Cafe Campagne!

Cafe Campagne
1600 Post Alley (between Pine St & Stewart St), Seattle, WA 98101
(206)728-2233

Trophy Cupcakes (Bellevue)

It was quite an event when the Bravern opened this weekend, bringing Neiman Marcus along with designer stores such as Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Salvatore Ferragamo and Hermes, etc. to the Pacific Northwest, making Bellevue a step closer to a premier shopping destination. The Neiman Marcus gala took place on Thursday night, and the store opend to public on Friday. Apparently, they had a great turnout over the weekend despite the dismal economy.

I stopped by today to avoid the weekend traffic. The stores weren't packed, but they weren't empty either. It was obvious that the popularity of Trophy Cupcakes and Party continued as the line extended outside of the store. Trophy offers 5 everyday standby flavors: Chocolate Vanilla, Triple Chocolate, Vanilla Vanilla, Vanilla Chocolate, and Red Velvet. It also offers 4 rotating flavors. As it was Monday, the flavors were Hummingbird, Lemon, Snickerdoodle, and Snowball. I seriously considered Triple Chocolate, and Snowball (a chocolate cake with coconut buttercream and pink shaved coconut). But Hummingbird (banana pineapple coconut cake with cream cheese frosting) won me over. I loved the cake. It was moist, and all the flavors complemented each other. But the frosting was a bit too sweet for me that I had difficulty finishing it. The cupcakes were $3 a pop, or $33 a dozen. The shop also sells coffees and party supplies such as cards and paper decorations. Considering a $3 cupcake can get you a 3 hour parking validation ($13 value), I say it is a GREAT value!

I think next time I will try the triple chocolate.

Trophy Cupcakes
700 110th Ave NE. Ste 260 (Bravern), Bellevue, WA 98004
(425)361-0033

The Islander

The weather god or goddess has been especially nice to Seattle this year. We've been having beautiful weather since May. Even now, a week after Labor day, we are still seeing the perfect blue sky, with the temperature hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. How fabulous is that? We can enjoy Puyallop Fair with lemonades and smoothies or spend a day at the park.

After some play time at the Luther Burbank park, we decided to have dinner at The Islander. It's one of the worst meals we've had lately. J's $6 Kid's meal of Chicken Strips and Fries came with only 2 pieces of chicken. It really should be called chicken fingers as they WERE the size of my fingers. They were also dry, overcooked, and barely seasoned. Even his $1.5 cup of apple juice was very small, packed with ice. I got halibut & fries. You'd expect some good fish and chips for $16. However, only portion was generous. It was completely bland, with no seasoning on the fish or the batter, served with luke warm tartar sauce. This was by far the worst fish and chip I've ever had. I tried saving it by squeezing lemon juice all over, but it was beyond help. Hubby had California burger. Again, the portion was good. It was much better than J's chicken or my halibut, but that's not saying much. For a $11 burger, it was only mediocre.

I noticed the wine price was reasonable. But as far as food goes, unless you want to pay the over-the-top Mercer Island price, I would never go there.

The Islander
7440 Se 27th St, Mercer Island, WA 98040
(206)232-6676

The Bar Method, and the Rewards

There is a new workout called the bar method that combines yoga, pilate, and ballet to shape and elongate muscles. They recently opened a location in Redmond Town Center. My friend K after enjoying the workout for a couple of month, decided to organize a bar method event. Tonight, about 30 of us gathered in the exercise room. We strengthened and sculpted, flattened and stretched,, tightened and elongated until almost everyone was wincing in pain. Since everybody worked so hard, we rewarded ourselves at Matt's Rotisserie and Oyster Lounge with hors d'œuvres and cocktails. Well, K rewarded us really.

For hors d'œuvres, K's associate R pre-selected the food. So the hard part of decision making was all done for us, all we had to do was to eat, which is right up my ally. =) We had Prawn and Avocado Pizzettes with grilled flatbread, chili oil, pico de gallo and avocado lime cream; Wild Mushroom Quesadilla with Jack & Manchego cheeses, portabellos, roasted poblano chilies, red onion, cilantro, goat cheese and chipotle sour cream; Cambozola Flatbread topped with rosemary, parmesan and olive oil, served with honey roasted garlic, cambozola cheese, Kalamata olives and balsamic syrup; Caprese Skewers of cherry tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and balsamic vinaigrette; and last - the healthy choice - fresh seasonal vegetables (julienned carrots, celery, and cherry tomatoes, etc.) with housemade green goddess dip. The pizzettes were great. Each topped with a sweet succulent prawn complimented well by the pico de gallo and lime cream. I could have popped those down all night while sipping cocktails. Speaking of which, I had a blueberry champagne which was OK. The blueberry flavor was very much present, however, I couldn't taste the champagne at all. It was vodka all the way. I also had a strawberry lemon drop which was pretty yummy. The quesadilla was good too, with nice kick from the chilies. The honey roasted garlic was so sweet without any pungent garlic flavor. If it weren't for the fear of garlic breath, I'd be popping those down like there was no tomorrow. The caprese skewers and fresh vegetables were just as they were described. They weren't bad, but they were nothing special.

We chatted, drank, and ate. It was definitely a good way to reward ourselves for the hard work we did at the bar method. =)

Matt's Rotisserie and Oyster Lounge
16551 NE 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052
(425)376-0909

Tap House Grill

Today, I met with my friend K for lunch at Tap House Grill. This was actually my first time at Tap House. I don't really like parking at the Galleria. Even though it's not THAT old, the elevators are already falling apart. The building designer probably couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted an outdoor experience or an indoor mall. It was kind of a hybrid. The elevator would take you outside, then you'd go to a restaurant, or take the escalator. I don't particularly care for the layout.

The Tap House Grill is set on the ground floor, the dining room was very large. The ambiance was very much new American. We sat at a booth. (I always love a booth. =) The lovely K has a high stress job, so she got a Cosmo. Of course, a friend can't let a friend drink alone. So I got a Tropical Paradise, which contains Midori, creme de banana, Malibu, pineapple and cranberry juice. I love all the ingredients in the drink. Together, the sum is only as good as the parts, not better. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. It was very fruity, and I could barely taste the alcohol. But I was hoping to be blown away, and that I wasn't.

K got a turkey club with jack cheese, tomato, avocado, bacon, and lettuce, along with some fries. I got Dungeness crab mac & cheese. The club was good, and fries were plenty, my mac and cheese was very rich, with big chunks of crab. I loved the crab. But nothing else was memorable.

They have sushi on the menu too. But I'm a bit skeptical. Maybe I will give it a try next time when I come for happy hour.

Tap House Grill
550 106th Ave NE (between 4th St & 6th St), Bellevue, WA 98004
(425)467-1730

Family, meet Palomino

After hubby and the kids' church service (yes, you caught me, hubby was raised Catholic, and he intends to raise our kids that way as well) and my weekly Williams Sonoma class, I lured them to Palomino for lunch so that I could meet my beloved apple drop again. As the day was beautiful, we decided to take advantage of the Happy Hour on the patio. Without a moments loss, I ordered the apple drop as soon as we sat down. This could become a habit, and that's not half bad at all. =) After choosing J's kids meals of grilled chicken breast, seasonal fruit, apple juice, and sundae, we decided on Taleggio and Cambozola fondue, grilled wild forest mushrooms salad, and sausage and mushroom pizza.

Once the most difficult of decision making was over, we sat back, soaked up the sun, and ready to enjoy our food. J's kids meal portion was very large, it must have been a whole breast (chicken that is) on the plate. The fruit disappeared so quickly between the kids, you'd think they never get any at home. Our brick oven fired fondue was served alongside pear, apple, honey, and Roma style pizza crisps. The cheese tasted wonderful, only due to the lack of a heat source, it started solidifying as we worked our way into it. I think the menu also mentioned pistachio crust, there wasn't any. But I wouldn't complain, it tasted just fine. =) The pizza crisps were really their normal pizza dough sans the topping cut into quarters. I was expecting strips as the pie shape wasn't as easy to use as utensils without breaking. The salad was topped with walnuts and Gorgonzola, then tossed in a vinaigrette. It was a perfect balance with the meaty and earthy mushroom, the salty Gorgonzola, and the sweet and sour dressing. As for the pizza, well, it was good, I only wish I were a neater eater so I wouldn't have dropped any sausage bits.

What more could a gal ask for beyond having a great meal (at bargain price too!) with the family on a perfect summer day?

Palomino Bellevue
610 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
(425)455-7600

All Natural. All Natural?

The new Costco Connection came in today. One article caught my eye. These days, it's in to buy organic and natural products. But who knew that "natural" didn't really mean natural or anything quantifiable. It sounds like a marketing gimmick.

Taste of Main

Old Bellevue hosted its first Taste of Main event today. All proceeds from this food, music and all day of fun charity event benefit the Children's Response Center. Adult tickets were $25, which included 2 drinks, appetizer and entree, and 2 desserts. Children's tickets were $10, which included 1 drink, an entree, and 2 desserts. After a little play time at the downtown park, we headed over to Main street for a little "Taste". First, just so that I don't keep on repeating myself, I have to say EVERYONE was super nice at this event. I really mean EVERYONE, not a single soul excluded, whether they were selling tickets at the booth, marking tickets, or entertaining kids, whether they were volunteers, or staff from the participating restaurants and shops.

We stopped at Ginza at first to try their sampler of 2 pieces of California rolls, 2 pieces of karaage, 1 piece of salmon teriyaki and some cucumber sunomono. The kids ate just about everything. We then headed to Bis on Main. They set up a buffet table with the mini grilled cheese sandwich, beef skewers and fish tacos. This had to be the most generous offering of the day. People were allowed to take whatever they wanted. More food continued to come out of the kitchen throughout the day. J loved the mini grilled cheese sandwich so much, he had 2! (It's normally very difficult to get J to eat. He's so skinny, his chest looks like a washboard. No kidding!) The beef skewers with mushroom, onions, and red bell peppers soaked up all the nice flavors of the balsamic marinate. The beef could be a little more tender though. The halibut tacos with pico de gallo were soft, warm, and refreshing with the lime juice and cilantro. Hubby also enjoyed a glass of Reisling. We then headed over to Emerald City Smoothies and got an Island Breeze Smoothie and a Marionberry Fuel Smoothie. The kids drank up the smoothies while decorating their own glasses at Ottica, getting an ID badge, wearing a balloon hat from the balloon artist, getting their faces painted, and finally decorated the sidewalk. When everyone was exhausted, we sat down in Monsoon, and sampled the Carleton Farm Pork Ribs with Hoisin BBQ Sauce, and Nem-Nuong & Pineapple Lettuce Wraps (only they didn't have the lettuce). Unlike the other restaurants, where everything was pre-made, things were cooked to order at Monsoon. But we didn't mind the wait. The ribs were finger licking good with ginger, hoisin and five spice. The grilled pork sausage (Nem Nuong) was very flavorful. On top of all these, we also got chocolates from Amore Chocolates and Fran's. Though the cookies they offered outside of the Massage Center were a little disappointing, as they came straight out of a box from Safeway, we still went home with very satisfying stomachs.

A full day of fun for a good cause, this is definitely a nice way to spend a weekend.

Do You Diet?

Do you? If so, are you willing to give up your favorite food?

I can't. I just know that I will never have the willpower to pass on something delicious no matter how many calories, and how many grams of fat it contains. I would still eat foie gras and chocolate souffle every chance I get.

I always thought I was blessed with the skinny gene. My dad is one of the skinniest people I know. Really! The man is barely over 130 lbs at 5'9" (and that's relatively tall for a Chinese guy). He's got no fat! And he loves to snack! When I'm at my parents', almost every time I turn around, he's eating something. And he's got a sweet tooth. He would eat anything with sugar in it. The only thing he ever mentioned being just a tad too sweet was the Costco All American Chocolate Cake, you know, the four layer, 5+ inches tall one. And my grandfather was skinny too. So of course, I was sure that I'd never gain weight no matter what I put in my mouth. All I had to do was eat a little less for 2 days, and I'd be back down again. I just ignored the people who told me that it would catch up with me when I turn 30, or 35, or whatever.

Each time I get pregnant, I put on a whopping 45+ lbs. So it takes a looooooooooong time to lose all of that. Truth be told, I still had 4 pounds left from the first pregnancy when I got pregnant with DiDi (little brother in Chinese). The last couple of years, I have been losing the 2nd pregnancy weight ever so slowly. Then this year hit, all of the sudden, I couldn't lose anymore weight. It was a little annoying to say the least to see the little pouch disguised as my tummy. But what was I to do? I couldn't give up anything really scrumptious. My best friend E told me to try Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. Really? I've never been the workout type. I was kinda doubtful. But it really works! I've been doing it everyday (shhh, those were special circumstances, don't tell anyone. =) for 2 months now. And I started losing weight again. True, I didn't lose that much. I'm only back to pre-2nd-pregnancy weight. But what's more important is that my shape is changing. The fat on my tummy is going away. Who knows, I might actually get a six-pack.

So maybe you'd like to give it a try too. Then you can continue to eat what you love. (Yes, a little moderation wouldn't hurt.)

Happy hour, New love, and Pizza

I did it! I've finally done it! For the first time in my life, I had a solo lunch at a bar. Well, it's not really a bar, I suppose, just the lounge area of Palomino, but still. (You can see how boring my life must be, if a trivial matter like this would cause such excitement.) And I found my new love! My new squeeze, or should I say new sip, comes in a martini glass, namely candid apple drop. Unlike a stereotypical Asian girl who can't drink, I have very good alcohol tolerance. (Must be my northern Chinese heritage. It runs in the family. My cousin told me she could drink 12 beers in one sitting! I can't even drink 12 glasses of water!) I have been known to shock guys with my drinking ability, and can drink quite a few of them under the table. However, I don't like the taste of alcohol. I prefer foo foo drinks, something sweet and fruity with a pink umbrella. =) For years, my favorite drink had been midori pineapple. Now, midori's got competition. The apple drop is tangy and syrupy sweet at the same time. Perfect for a summer afternoon.

I've been meaning to try all the fabulous happy hours in Bellevue. Today, I finally got around to it, even though I felt kinda silly sitting in the lounge all by myself. (Note to self, no one really cares. Just be normal.) I have heard that Palomino has the best happy hour. And best is where I would start. I couldn't decide between the baked clam or a pizza, then I saw the words that sang to my heart: "Vongole, Manila clams, four cheeses, crushed red chili peppers, extra virgin olive oil." It's like the chef knew what I wanted, baked clams on a pizza! The bartender Jason took my order. He was very nice, and let the kitchen knew I was in a rush. Minutes later, I had my elegant martini glass. Doesn't a martini glass remind you of a ballerina? It does to me. So poised, with its head held up high. Anyways, today we met, apple drop. There will be many more encounters, especially when you are only $4. The pizza came shortly. It had a thin crust, and fresh parsley on top. The baked clams all opened up nicely. Every bite was packed with heat from the red peppers. Now, I would have totally loved this pizza if it wasn't too salty. As much as I prefer my food on the salty side, this was a bit much. I could barely taste the clams due to the salt. I sincerely hope that one of the cheeses was the culprit. Regardless, I'm already planning my next visit. The other happy hours can wait. I need to sample a few more items, and get myself more acquainted with the lovely apple drop.

Palomino Bellevue
610 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
(425)455-7600