Greek-Style Pasta

I made this dish a while back, like, over a year back, but I forgot to post it. It just goes to show I do a lot of things with pasta.

This meal was inspired by antipasti salad (which I know is Italian but, hey, I added feta so it's Greek now). It's pretty much spaghetti aglio e olio (again Italian, for garlic and olive oil) and tossed with dry salami, olives, pepperoncini, red pepper, and feta cheese (Greek). Because of the salty, sharp flavors involved, it's kind of refreshing and makes your taste buds explode with flavor.

Tuna Baked Potato

I really like this blog called NeverSeconds about a nine-year-old girls school meals. The blog is pretty famous at this point. One of the days she featured a tuna baked potato as her main course. This blew my mind. And it tickled me. What a great, simple meal! So I set out to make it.

My tuna baked potato might be a wee bit fancier, in that it includes corn and cheese along with the requisite tuna, mayonnaise, and baked potato. It was wicked good! It didn't take very long to prepare, and it was both filling and extremely tasty. I will definitely be making this again.

Big ups to the butter lettuce in the back for keeping it real! And healthy!

Natto Buta Kimchi Spaghetti

I thought this would be a good idea ... and it was! Natto (fermented soy beans) is not for everybody, mostly because some people think it stinks to high heaven, plus it's slimy. But I like it, and it's super healthy.

I'm pretty sure that natto buta (buta=pork) kimchi is something that you can get at an izakaya. And I've made natto spaghetti carbonara before, so combining pasta with natto buta kimchi didn't seem too far fetched. It's a tasty and relatively healthy pasta dish that you won't find just anywhere, unless you eat at Chez MidnightHunnyRun.

Binagoongan Baboy

Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead.

Okay, I'm not even going to lie and say I know how to pronounce the name of this dish. I know it as pork bagoong (shrimp sauce), which I can pronounce. I know because that's what the guy at the restaurant called it. I am not Filipino, but I eat a lot of Filipino food. Right now I'm on a relatively unhealthy trend of going to either one of two of my favorite Filipino restaurants once a week.

Anyway, one of the places that I go to serves this, and I really, really like it. Not quite as much as lechon kawali, but almost. I was curious about how it's made, so I looked up recipes and it looked easy enough. And it was. Not quite the same as the restaurant's, but good. The key ingredient is the bagoong.

Rigatoni with Shrimp and Mushroom in Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

On of my coworkers had a pasta dish today that looked kind of like something that Bertolli would make. It looked good, but why settle for frozen pasta when I could cook something just as good? So I trekked over to the market to pick up some supplies. It's funny, I've never ordered a vodka tomato cream sauce pasta anywhere, nor have I had a pre-fab vodka tomato cream sauce, but I think I know how to make one.

The sauce came out thinner than I would have liked for the visual presentation, but it was still pretty delicious. It was milder and sweeter (as opposed to more savory) than a normal marinara. And best thing is I have two more meals worth to cover tomorrow's lunch and possibly Friday's. Yay!

Osso Buco

For Mothers' Day I made osso buco. I think I've only made this dish four other times in my life, but it's always good. It looks like a fancy restaurant meal, but it's not particularly difficult to make, although it is pricy and labor intensive.

For the sides I made risotto alla milanese and glazed carrots. The other four times I made this dish, these were probably the accompanying sides as they compliment the osso buco well.

I guess the dish is pretty impressive though, since most people don't eat veal shanks all the time.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I only make spaghetti carbonara about twice a year on account of it has all the things that contribute to heart failure and a shorter life (bacon, bacon drippings, heavy cream, cheese, egg yolks). I usually end up using bacon rather than pancetta because we always have bacon regularly available. I also prefer to add onions so that there is a little more texture.

Overall this is one of the lighter iterations of carbonara I've made. Normally it's very heavy, but this dish was deceptively lighter. It will still probably knock a year or two off my life, but those are the diaper years and I really don't need to be around for those.

Blackened Catfish and Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts

I wanted to eat either lamb chops or fish, and seeing how lamb is pricier than fish, I went with catfish. I usually fry catfish, but I wanted to go slightly healthier so instead I went with a Guy Fieri recipe for blackened catfish. To be honest, his was one of the first recipes that came up and I didn't feel like looking further. It was easy enough though with a blend of spices that I already had on hand.

Quinoa is super healthy for you, so I found another simple recipe that could accompany the fish. It wasn't unlike some of the rice pilafs I'd made in the past.

The fish wasn't bad, but it was too spicy. The heat didn't obliterate the taste, but it did make it difficult to find. Next time, I'd cut the cayenne down by half.

Surprisingly though, the whole meal came into its own when I took it for lunch two days later. The flavor in the catfish bloomed with the heat quotient dropping, and the pine nuts had found a way to better blend with the quinoa. It was actually a lot better two days after the fact.

Megasandwich

I didn't have a name for this, so I just used Megasandwich. I'll probably use that name a dozen more times in my lifetime to describe other sandwiches.

Following last week's Italian cold cut extravaganza, I thought I'd come up with something special based on my research. Behold, an Italian cold cut sandwich forged with the help of the Greek gods and Pavilions.

A quarter pound of provolone and nearly a half pound each of capicolla, sopressata, and mortadella on French bread. But lo, greater secrets lie hidden within its bowels—Italian stewed tomatoes on the lower bread loaf, olive oil & vinegar and salt & pepper on the upper loaf, golden pepperoncinis between. As a mere mortal, I could only consume a third of this mighty sandwich at any given time.

The stewed tomatoes lent a moisture and sweetness that gave way to the saltiness of the meats before being overcome with the tanginess of the vinegar and spiciness of the pepperoncinis. The flavor profile was like hitting a home run and rounding the bases, if first base was sweet, second base was salty, third base was sour, and home was spicy. Gone was the lettuce and sliced tomato that so often make eating an Italian sandwich an exercise in planning and engineering. Ousted was the less than puny roll or baguette foundation. Instead arise, Megasandwich!

Mathematically, Megasandwich=(capicolla+sopressata+mortadella+provolone)*2+(French bread/2+stewed tomatoes+(olive oil+vinegar)+(salt&pepper)+pepperoncini.

Tere's Mexican Grill

Originally I was going to try the Larchmont Bungalow on Larchmont Blvd, since I had heard from my mother that they serve Poutine (a Canadian treat). However upon checking out their menu, I learned that they serve their Poutine topped with shredded mozzarella. Now I'm not Canadian, but I do know this much about real Poutine—real Poutine is topped with cheese curds so fresh that they should squeak when you bite into them. So discouraged I decided to go elsewhere, although it's quite likely I'll go back to the Larchmont Bungalow some other time, just not for the Poutine.

My backup option was Tere's Mexican Grill on Melrose. I had read on Chowhound that they had really good nachos. I find nachos to be the best value on most Mexican menus since you get a usually get a good portion of meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables all for a decent price.

I ordered the carne asada nachos which came served on a hot plate, a good indicator that the cheese was allowed to melt under the broiler. Now the various comments about Tere's had noted their fresh, homemade chips, double thick and lightly salted. The chips were indeed robust, and there was no mistaking these for an inferior, store-bought brand. They were topped with jalapenos, sour cream, fresh guacamole, fresh pico de gallo, shredded cheese, and beans. The overall portion was quite sizeable, and I would venture a guess that the whole plate weighed about a pound or so. Of course none of this would matter if the product itself wasn't tasty, which it quite favorably was. There's a strong sense of quality in the construction of these nachos. The chips stood out as did the cheese which was quite liberally layered on top. Overall, these were very good nachos.

I also ordered a pork taco on the side. Now the cashier specified that this was not carnitas, so if that's what you're looking for, you're going to be surprised. However that surprise would still be welcome, since this was the highlight of my meal. The pork comes as large chunks of what appeared to be either lean grilled or roasted pork, smothered in a chile verde (green chile). The chile is mild, but has a nice tanginess that pops in your mouth. I plan on having this again.

I liked that the place had a very casual, laid back atmosphere. There were only about 7 or 8 tables accompanied by a soda cooler, a tower of Mexican Cokes, and a soccer game on the TV. So many of the restaurants along Melrose tend to be fancy and overly pretentious as they seek out a bourgeois clientele looking for the next big thing. At Tere's they're really just trying to put out relatively simple food with just a little more care, and that's the type of place I'd want to eat at.

Some other interesting notes about Tere's Mexican Grill:
-While the nachos are good, I'll have to admit that I'm perfectly fine with Baja Fresh's nachos. They're probably about just as much quantity-wise and slightly cheaper, with just some minor drops in overall quality. But then again, this is coming from a guy who also enjoys Lucy's nachos which are little more than tortilla chips drenched in canned steak and red chili.

Tere's Mexican Grill
5870 Melrose Ave. #101
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 468-9345

Sorrento Italian Market

In my quest for Italian cold cut sandwiches, I learned about Sorrento Italian Market from L.A.'s Chowhound boards. I used to pass it all the time when I worked in West L.A. I like small delicatessens and markets like these. They have a local neighborhood feel that is sometimes hard to find in a big city.

The sandwich that I get here has mortadella, cotto salami, cappicola, provolone, lettuce, mayonnaise, mustard, and their special ingredient, stewed tomatoes. I'm still not sure what it's called, since today when I asked the man behind the counter for "that sandwich that has Italian cold cuts and stewed tomatoes," he replied the "three meat combo with mustard and mayo?" I don't think that's the actual name, but more of an expanded description of what's in the sandwich. Whatever it is, it's good.

Compared to the Original Rinaldi's which I had earlier in the day, this sandwich had a fresher taste which is difficult to describe. Perhaps it was the mustard and mayonnaise that made the difference. Because of the combination of meats, this sandwich has a more rounded quality to the flavor, as the mortadella is milder and fattier than the salami, while the cappicola isn't as salty and is spicier than the other two meats. But the key ingredient in the sandwich is really the stewed tomatoes. The stewed tomatoes make the sandwich moister as well as easier to consume, and because they are sweeter and less bitter than raw tomatoes they further add to the flavor mix.

The sandwich is pretty substantial, but what puts it over the top is it's price: about $4. It's too bad that it's out of the way for me now and doesn't have ample parking, as I could see myself going there more often. I would also learn the actual name of the sandwich if that were the case.

Some other interesting notes about Sorrento Italian Market:
-2 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. This sandwich is surprisingly self-contained. I suppose that is owing to it's excellent construction which prevents spillage and meat overflow.
-Currrently ranked #6 on my Italian cold cut sandwich list.

Sorrento Italian Market
5518 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 391-7654

The Original Rinaldi's: Part 2

This is a quick follow up to my original review to the Original Rinaldi's.

After my first time going to the Original Rinaldi's I wanted to try it again, so on my way to Gardena I made a quick stop in El Segundo.



This time I ordered the USC Trojan, prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, oil & vinegar, lettuce tomato, Italian dressing, and provolone (I didn't get the UCLA Bruin because I don't like ham and roast turkey as much as Italian cold cuts). This sandwich was like a dry, salty, meat bomb. In contrast to the Italian combo which was a little more rounded flavor-wise, the Trojan was very focused as all of the meats were somewhat similar. Again it was very meaty which almost necessitated that it be eaten open-faced.

Between the Trojan and the Italian combo, which would I pick? Well, that's a difficult decision, since both were good, and both were a little different. If I don't order the Godfather next time, I'll probably have to flip a coin.

Cobb Salad

Cobb salad probably ranks as my third favorite salad behind Caesar and Chinese chicken. I've been wanting to make a Cobb salad for the past three weeks but just haven't been able to do it. But today I had the time and was able to get all of the ingredients.

My salad included all of the requisites: lettuce, watercress, tomato, avocado, hard-boiled egg, Roquefort cheese, chicken breast, bacon, and a red wine vinaigrette. Traditional Cobb salad doesn't have ham, but I included it since that's how some restaurants serve it. I still included the bacon though because, well, it's bacon.

It's not the best Cobb salad I've had, but it was good, and very filling. I'll probably still prefer to make Caesar salads, but every once in a while a break is nice.

The Original Rinaldi's

In my ongoing quest to find a suitable replacement for Hoagie Hut and their Godfather sandwich, I took a trip out to El Segundo's the Original Rinaldi's. However a little bit of background on Hoagie Hut might be in order first.

Hoagie Hut was a small sandwich shop on 3rd Street right across from the Beverly Connection. The owner was a real character who used to call everyone "Tiger" or "Babe" regardless of gender. He reminded me of Sal from "Do the Right Thing." From what I understand, he and his wife used to own one of the first strip clubs in L.A. with a mirrored ceiling or runway. I used to go there almost every week to get a jumbo Godfather (thick-sliced mortadella, cotto salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and Italian dressing for only $5.40), a bag of chips, and a Yoohoo. Before that, my grandparents used to go there when the restaurant was only half the size. The owner sold the restaurant about seven years ago, and since then it's changed hands and cuisines a couple more times. I have yet to find an Italian cold cut sandwich that fills the hole in my heart and my stomach.

So I must admit I didn't have high hopes for the Original Rinaldi's. The staff behind the counter was primarily Asian which is not who I think of when I think "sandwich shop." I ended up ordering an Italian combo which consisted of thick-sliced pepperoni, salami, cappy (cappicola), oil & vinegar, lettuce, tomato, and provolone. Incidentally the Original Rinaldi's features a Godfather sandwich, but it's made with salami, cappy, pepperoni, steak, bacon, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and provolone cheese and it's served hot. I might have to try that next time. There was no yoohoo so I just had an iced tea.

When the sandwich arrived, it was quite sizable. The large is a 10" sandwich versus the regular 6". It's not much for presentation, but once I tucked the meat in, it was far from being a slouch. I've never been particularly fond of cappicola, but I've found myself enjoying it more and more lately. The Italian combo was deceptively filling, due to its limited but very thickly sliced meats. They use Boar's Head so taste-wise it's not a whole lot different. It's pretty hard to make a really distinguishable Italian sub. The olive oil & vinegar was a nice touch and better than at most other places. All in all, I ended up being pleasantly surprised despite my first impressions.

So the Original Rinaldi's probably won't replace Hoagie Hut (and neither will you delicious Bay Cities), but it has a quality Italian cold cut sandwich that I wouldn't mind returning to.

Some other interesting notes about the Original Rinaldi's:
- 4 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. If you tuck the meat in right at the beginning, you'll avoid a lot of the mess later. Some salad might fall out, but overall you shouldn't require a great deal of napkins. It also helps to have big hands and a big mouth.
- I really should have taken advantage of their abundance of potato chips, but since I was in a bit of a rush, I just stuck to the sandwich. But that doesn't mean you have to.
- If I had to rank Italian cold cuts thus far: Hoagie Hut's Godfather, Central Grocery's Muffelata, Original Rinaldi's Italian Combo, Philly's Best's Italian Hoagie, Bay Cities Deli's Sopressata, Sorrento Italian Market's Cold Combo Sandwich, Which Wich's Italian Grinder, Bay Cities Deli's Godmother, Togo's Italian Cold Cut #16, Quizno's Classic Italian, Subway's Italian B.M.T., Subway's Spicy Italian.

The Original Rinaldi's
323 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 647-2860

Tripas Tacos

There's a Mexican restaurant near Decepticon Sky Commander A's place that serves up tacos outside once the sun goes down. They have these really good tripas tacos that I wanted to figure out how to make at home. I asked my barber ("hair stylist" would be the more appropriate term except that I don't exhibit any sort of style with my hair) whose from Mexico whether he'd made tripas before and he laid out a very simple recipe for making tacos similar to the ones I've had at the restaurant. Last week's tripas rice burger was part of that experiment which was fully realized today.

I bought about 3 pounds of beef intestine from the Korean market which took about an hour to clean, then two hours to boil, after which I was left with less than 30% volume of what I had purchased. I made fresh pico de gallo which I used to top the grilled tripas morsels. The result was a tripas taco (or five to be more exact) that was comparable to the one at the restaurant. The intestines came out crisp yet tender, and the pico was refreshing with a slight hint of spiciness.

The main drawback would have to be labor and cost, as it cost about $12 for the raw ingredients, while it would only cost $7.50 for five of the restaurant's tacos. Perhaps if I bought more volume, I could get the cost per taco down, but then what to do about the labor?

Rice Burgerstravaganza

I have to be honest and admit I've been somewhat uninspired lately when it's come to food. Aside from my multiple ventures into tripe territory, there hasn't been a whole lot I've wanted to eat. That was until yesterday. I had just watched Nicolas Cage's latest magnum opus, "Drive Angry," with friends MacDoggle, Mrs. Winterbottom, Decepticon Sky Commander A (formerly just A), and Lady Bubbleford (formerly unmentioned but now she has a nickname that I assigned to her, yay!). We were hungry, so we headed over to Furaibo as it was one of the few nearby places still open that wasn't named Cinco de Mayo.

Furaibo is known for their tebasaki (wings), which was one of the things I ordered. But Mrs. Winterbottom also ordered buta kakuni. I had forgotten how juicy, how supple, how utterly fatty pork belly could be. Thus the wheels began to turn.

I hadn't made rice burgers in a while, and I quickly conceived of a Japanese-style pulled pork sandwich (Korean and Mexican isn't the only fast food fusion in town). Buta kakuni is always a laborious affair, taking hours of both prep and cooking time. Five hours later I had about five pounds of tender, trembling buta kakuni. I made the rice patties out of a 50/50 combination of white rice and haiga, so that way it would be slightly healthier. To top of the "burger," I made a quick cabbage slaw with steamed sliced cabbage and a sweet soy sauce dressing.

And since I still hadn't kicked my tripe craving (hell, I had Chinese fried pork intestines on Friday), I made a tripas rice burger with some beef intestine I picked up at the Korean market. The intestines themselves took several hours of prep.

Finishing out the trio was the gyutan rice burger I had devised previously.

Overall the meal was a success. The buta kakuni rice burger was excellent, but then again it's hard to deny the fatty, flavor juggernaut that is buta kakuni. The tripas rice burger turned out surprisingly well, with a texture not unlike squid, and a flavor close to a gizzard. The tongue was a little tough, perhaps because I had quick thawed it. I can't really complain when there was buta kakuni available. Maybe some day I'll open up a food truck so people can try these wonderful treats!

Tripe and Risotto Sticks

I've had an intense yen for tripe ever since I visited my friends and was only able to get un taco de tripas (I was planning to get four). So while I was at the market last week buying ingredients for dinner for Sunday, I picked up some tripe. It takes several hours to boil until the tripe is tender, so I didn't end up eating until 10pm (after pre-dinner Italian sausage sandwiches). I wasn't satisfied, so today I picked up about five pounds of tripe.

Again, it took several hours to boil, so I did't eat until 11pm, but I had a tripe feast. I found the recipe I made today on youtube, posted by user ryanakarcher.



It was very easy to make and delicious. The dish comes out a little salty, a little tangy, and refereshing. On the side I made risotto sticks which I was testing out for a dinner party tomorrow night. They turned out pretty good, very crunchy, so I plan to bring them tomorrow.

I still haven't satisfied my tripe craving, so there might be additional tripe meals in coming weeks.

Pork Paillard With Mushroom Gravy

I wanted to make something like veal scallopini, but not with veal since it's expensive. So instead I got some boneless, thinly-sliced pork loin at the market which I paillarded to make even flatter. Since I didn't want the sourness of a piccata, I made a gravy instead, with some mushrooms added. It's really easy to make a brown sauce, since all you have to do is make a rue and deglaze the pan you cooked the meat in with chicken broth, then reduce.

For the sides I made Italian-style sauteed carrots and egg noodles. Coordinating the meal took some effort, but I think it turned out well.

Tom Yum Goong

Tom yum goong is my favorite soup, followed by, and in no particular order: French onion, Chinese hot and sour, lobster bisque, and menudo. It’s hot, it’s salty, it’s sweet, it’s sour—it truly is a mélange of flavors. And it’s also surprisingly simple to make, as long as you can obtain the ingredients.

Tom yum goong requires a very short albeit unique shopping list:
shrimp
limes
straw mushrooms
cilantro
fish sauce
galangal
kaffir lime leaves
lemon grass
nam prik pao (roasted chili paste)
Serrano chilis (optional)

You’ll probably have to go to a Thai market to get the galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and nam prik pao, but you should be able to find everything else at a Chinese market, or even a well-stocked super market. Ginger can be substituted for the galangal, but it’s not quite the same. Omission of any one of the ingredients can change the flavor of the soup tremendously, although not detrimentally.

Start with a pot of 4-5 cups of water over high heat. Add several slices of the galangal, and several kaffir lime leaves, as well as a couple of stalks of lemon grass lightly crushed and cut up into 1-2 inch pieces. Add about 4 tablespoons of fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of the nam prik pao. Bring to a boil. Add the straw mushrooms and the juice of 4-6 limes to the pot and bring back to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook just until they are opaque. Finish by adding some coarsely chopped cilantro. To increase the heat, sliced Serrano chilis can be added. You should end up with about 2-3 servings.

From start to finish, the soup can be ready in about twenty minutes. If you don’t like shrimp, just leave them out and you’ll have tom yum kai. Or you can add coconut milk and have tom yum nam khon. It’s an excellent recipe to have in your repertoire as it’s impressive in its composition despite its relatively uncomplicated construction. Just remember not to eat the galangal, kaffir lime leaves, or lemon grass. While they add to the flavor, they are largely inedible.

Pozole

It's been quite a long while since I've cooked anything remotely interesting. A lot of it has been stuff I've already made and posted before. But today I had enough time and raw materials to try something new.

I really like menudo (the food, not the boy group), but most of the people in my family don't care for tripe. So instead I made pozole, which is pretty much the non-tripe version of the soup. We had a large piece of pork butt roast (what can you make with pork butt roast that isn't good?) and I had most of the materials at hand save for the hominy. I don't like hominy that much, so I just replaced it with corn. I had some guajillas chiles, so I made a pozole rojo.

I do need to adjust a couple of things next time. I couldn't wait for the pork to get super tender, so some of it was still a little chewy. It was cooked all the way through mind you, but could have been more tender. Also it was too salty. Next time I'll add more water when the soup condenses. Aside from those two points, it wasn't bad at all.