Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Restaurant Time!

As some of you may know, I work in the Gerogetown area of Washington, D.C.  There are quiet a few restaurants in the area, but it seems like at least half of them are Italian.  How do you have 8 Italian restaurants in a 4 block radius?  I just doesn't make any sense. 

With that said, my partner and I went out for dinner at one of these restaurants last night.  Paper Moon, DC is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the area.  White tablecloths, good food, and good wine.  They also have a pretty good happy hour as well, for those who like to go for after-work libations. 

I have a tip for you when going to check out a restaurant.  Definitely check out the daily specials.  Even though these items may not always be on the menu, the restaurant is attempting to try something new on its customers.  I think that you would be sweetly surprised by what you can find on the Specials Menu...

So back to the food.  My partner had pan seared salmon over angel hair pasta in a chunky tomato sauce.  It looked really good.  I had the cannelloni (filled pasta tubes), filled with a mixture of ricotta cheese, spinach, and minced chicken.  The cannelloni was served with a marina sauce over the top of it.  Both items were too delicious. 

One of the issues that I usually have with Italian restaurants is that they just give you entirely too much food.  (Like that should be a complaint).  BUT... a whole bowl of pasta can put a serious curve in your waistline, and it also leaves you not wanting dessert, or after dinner coffee for that matter.  At Paper Moon, they do a really great job with the portions.  I left satisfied, not feeling too heavy or bloated. 

Check out Paper Moon!!!

Here's the link to Paper Moon's website.

Onward and upward,

-Vince

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Morning After...

Unfortunately, my partner had to get up and go to work this morning.  I felt so bad for him, as he stumbled around to get himself together for work.  SIGNS OF A GOOD TIME!!

After he left, I slept for a little while longer.  I figured it was time for me to take a break, after all the entertaining we had done the night before.  But when I finally started stirring, I realized that I was hungry!  And there is nothing better than the quintessential Filipino breakfast after a long night of wine, beer, and Maker's Mark... Fried Eggs and Fried Rice.

I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you all about this breakfast.  I know that in an earlier post, I've talked about the memories that this dish has brought me.  It makes me feel good, to say the least, when I eat eggs and fried rice.  It's also perfect for getting rid of a hangover.  LOL.

So let's talk about making fried eggs.  Everyone has their own method.  There are different techniques... should I flip my eggs?  Should I not flip them?  Do I break out my cast iron?  Or will my nonstick work?  Well... I'll give you my methods to try.

I ALWAYS use a nonstick pan for eggs.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS.  I mean... I can make eggs in a regular pan... but I like knowing that my eggs will slide right out of the pan.  I also find that I don't have to use as much fat to make sure that the eggs come out.  I can just use the fat to add flavor to my eggs... and trust me... butter is great!  LOL

I also like to use silicon utensils, heat proof to about 500 degrees.  I swear, what did people do before silicon?  

So let's talk about how I do this.  I start the pan by using a non-stick spray and some butter for flavor over medium heat.

Warm non-stick pan with a little butter and nonstick spray, and my trusty silicon spatula

Once the pan has warmed up, I break my eggs into the pan and allow them to set.





Eggs in the pan, beginning to set.

So now, let's talk about flipping your eggs versus not flipping them.  Believe it or not, I'm a little klutzy in the kitchen.  When I was younger, I used to try so hard to flip my eggs, and completely run the risk of breaking the yolk.  I don't really like my eggs over hard, but I don't like my eggs "sunny-side up"... I find that when eggs are done that way, they are ENTIRELY too runny.  So, how did I fix the issue?  I just stopped flipping the eggs.

"But wait... if you don't like your eggs sunny-side up... how do you cook the top of the egg without flipping it?"  Ha-ha!  You just cover them for a minute or two, until the tops set...




Eggs covered... and being set

After about a minute or two, you lift the lid off the pan, and check to see if your eggs are done to the consistency that you like.





Eggs... the way I like them.

 So let's talk about fried rice.  It is a pretty simple process.  Firstly, you can't make fried rice with a newly made pot of rice.  Your rice needs to be at least 24 hours old, preferably kept in the fridge.  The older the rice, the better.

So, you are going to need:

Old Rice
2 tbsp. of soy sauce
Granulated Garlic Powder
Dried Onion

Soy sauce, onion and garlic


So, now you ask, "why don't you use fresh garlic and onion for this?"  My answer to you is, if you are hung-over, or are just trying to quickly make your breakfast, why in the world would chop onions and garlic?  Using the dried stuff just makes my life easier.  When I'm trying to be extra fancy with it, then I'll break out the real garlic and onion.  But for me... it's just breakfast.



Now, here's the process...


The rice goes into a warm pan.  as your rice begins to heat up, add in your dry garlic, onion and soy sauce. 

Rice goes into the pan






Soy sauce, garlic and onion added

So here's the fun part... Now that the pan is hot, start moving the rice around with your silicon spatula.  Mash the rice down, stir it through and just ensure that your soy sauce, garlic, and onion starts to thoroughly combines with the rice.  After about 5 minutes of moving the rice around in the hot pan, then your rice is done!





Fried rice and eggs.

Here we go!   I hope you enjoy the quintessential Filipino breakfast!  Can you add a breakfast meat?  Of course you can!  If you want to get real Filipino with it, find some longanisa (Filipino breakfast sausage) or SPAM!  Yeah, I said it, SPAM.  It's good stuff... trust me...

Onward and upwards...

-Vince

The Before's and Afters...

So our fabulous cocktail party is done.  The leftovers have been put away, the kitchen has been cleaned, and our house is back to normal.  But if this ding dang fog-of-a-hangover doesn't go away, there's going to be an issue!

I wanted to show you all pics of the preparation for the party, how the buffet table turned out, and how the buffet table ended up!

Let's start with the deviled egg preparation.  My deviled eggs are really simple... the filling is just paprika, mustard, mayo, relish, garlic powder, onion powder, a touch of hot sauce and a touch of champagne vinegar.  Yeah I said it, champagne vinegar!  It's my new found friend in the flavor world.

Hardboiled egg whites and yolks, separated and waiting to be filled.

 The completed Product!

Here are some pics of what the buffet table looked like.  It ended up looking pretty good!

The buffet pre-food


The side-view of the table

 The cheese platter... don't those strawberries look good?

 Mini quiche and crab salad in endive

 Crab salad tea sandwiches, mushroom crescent rolls, deviled eggs and BBQ chicken wings

At the end of the night...  food was slowly starting to move from the table... it seemed that everyone really enjoyed the vittles that were offered!

Folk, they were a-eating!

But the one thing that folk tend to shy away from... is that damn veggie platter.  It took people getting a little drunk to start eating the veggies... LOL...

The veggie platter...

Onward and upward...

-Vince

The End of a Great Night

So... the cocktail party went off without a hitch.  Good times, lots of laughs, and to say the least, GREAT FOOD.  Let me first give a shout out to K. Reid and Darlin' Nikky for helping out, and to the rest of our distinguished guests!  There is very LITTLE food left... trust and believe... it seems that everyone really enjoyed themselves.  Be on the lookout for the blogs on how to get rid of you leftovers from a party!!!!

Also, be on the lookout for pics and vid from the party.

Onward and upwards...

-Vince

Saturday, January 15, 2011

MLK Cocktail Party, Phase 1.

It's almost 12:30am and I am laying in bed, thinking about what needs to be done for tomorrow's "bougie" cocktail party.  What's on the menu, you may ask?  Yes... please ask.  Let's run it, shall we?

Crab salad on endive
Mushroom and Ricotta Crescent Rolls
Pasta Salad

 Beginning stages of the pasta salad


Mini Quiche
BBQ Chicken Wings
Turkey Meatballs in a cream sauce
Crudités (the good old veggie platter)
Cheese Plate with Fontina and Brie
Deviled Eggs

So this evening, my good friend Nicole helped with a lot of the prep work for the crab salad and the crudités.  We also were able to knock out the Crescent Rolls.  The eggs were boiled for the deviled eggs. 

So here's the ultimate question.  "How are you making all this food by yourself?"  The answer to that is... I'm not making it all.  I'm a firm believer in taking the help where you can get it.  The good old Costco membership is a necessity in my life and you'd be surprised by the quality of the hors d'oeurves that you can find in the freezer section.  So guess what, I'm telling you the secret behind the quiche and the wings.  They are frozen!  So please don't judge me!!! LOL!!!   Those are all the secrets you are getting out of me with regards to saving time to prep!  Shoo... I still have to get my hair cut tomorrow!  LOL...

Now, for the recipe for the crescent rolls.  Let's be real.  I don't bake.  Baking for me is waaaay too exact.  I don't really like to measure.  So I take the shortcut where I can get them.  The shortcut in this recipe... pre-made "popum" crescent rolls in a tube.  Yes I said it, IN A TUBE. 

4 tubes of crescent rolls
1 medium onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
8 cloves of garlic, diced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of thyme
1 carton of sliced baby portobello mushrooms (then pulsed a few times in a food processor), or any type of mushroom you happen to enjoy.
1 cup of ricotta cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a saute pan, heat your olive oil  over medium heat.  Once hot, saute your onion, shallot, and garlic until translucent.  Add mushrooms to this mixture and saute, until your mushrooms have have begun to reduce and brown.  Add thyme and salt and pepper.  Turn off heat, and allow to cool.

Combine the mushroom mixture to your cup of ricotta.  Viola!  This is your filling for your crescent rolls.

Pop open those crescent rolls... and separate per the package directions.  Fill each roll with your mixture, place on a baking sheet, and bake per the package directions.  The bake time may vary, usually around 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 32 crescent rolls.

In the process of rolling, aren't they cute?

 After baking, aren't they much cuter?

 
I did this recipe for the first time for a friend of mine's family Chinese New Year celebration.  They were a hit!  The other great thing about this recipe is, it doesn't have to be mushrooms, it can be any sauteed vegetable you want it to be... I could see summer squash... asparagus... OOOH... asparagus... I think I may have to try that one next time around. 

Alright... I think its time for bed.

Onward and upward...

-Vince

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Salads, food menus, and hilarity.

So... I pack my lunch every day for work.  The past few weeks, its been salad on deck.  But I discovered that you can take frozen peas and frozen corn, place them in a container, and just let them defrost naturally.  By lunchtime, you have peas and corn for your salad.  Ummm, yeah.  Not so much this time around.  The peas and corn were still a little frosty.  They were like veggie flavored croutons!  I wanted to defrost them in the microwave, but if I did that, they would be too warm and melt my spinach mix.  Not good eats, since I am eating a salad and not sauteed spinach.  Oh well.  So I had veggie croutons.

My partner and I are having a small cocktail party this weekend.  I spent my lunch break finalizing the menu.  I am too excited about this menu... and completely brings me back to the couple of parties that I catered when I lived in California.  Good times... and good memories...

Be on the watch!!! Pictures of and video of all the good eats are going to get posted here... once I get the actual cooking underway!

Onward and upward...

-Vince

Food for Sustenance vs. Food because it Tastes Good

I'm sitting here at work... starving... which brought me to this post.

In an earlier posting, I stated that I've always struggled with my weight; always, for the better part of my life, being on the heavier side of things.  But in the last few weeks, I've attempted to turn another cheek.  Smaller meals, snacks, and what have you over shorter periods of time.  It seems to be working out for me, because the scale is tipping back to fighting weight, slowly but surely.

For some, including myself, it is so difficult to eat heathfully, keeping in mind calories, cholesterol, fats, blah blah blah.  It brings up an episode of "Martin" for me, where Martin decides to go on a heath kick, "eating to live, not living to eat".  I can't live my life on just rice cakes and salads.  But what I have found is that if I mix a little bad with a little bit of the good, I can at least feel better about what I'm putting into my body. 

For example, today's breakfast consisted of Oatmeal and a hard boiled egg white.  Doesn't sound too interesting, right?  I just had a snack, and it was a 100 calorie pack of pretzel sticks.  The salt content from those pretzel sticks really hit the spot for me... I kinda needed a little salty kick. 

I plan on fueling my lunchtime workout with a PB&J (who doesn't love a good PB&J?) and then have a post-workout salad, with grilled chicken and loads of other veggies.

Sounds like I stuck to a plan so far, doesn't it?  Here's my downfall...I get home from work... starving... and then really want something bad.  Fried chicken wings from the Chinese Carry Out, half a large pizza, some kind of fast food, OH MY! 

I write this to say... it's about balance.  I'm not going to keep myself from having those "bad" things and ban them from my life completely, but I'll just limit that type of intake, and get back on the bandwagon the next day. 

Just some food for thought...

Onward and upward...

-Vince

P.S.  Look out for the recipes and pics of food... they are a-coming...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

How to Justify Eating Poorly... LOL

I call a friend of who lives in Florida on a weekly basis on my way home from work.  We talk about everything: life, family, and most importantly, food.  So today, on my way home, she tells me she's making a delicious fruit crisp.  Now, we all know that fruit crisps are not necessarily the healthiest thing to eat.  But hey... as a foodie... you can make a not-so-figure-friendly food sound like the greatest diet food ever.  You can even make it possible to have dessert for breakfast, dessert for dinner, or dessert at any time of day.  So here we go...

"There's protein in butter, right?  So eating a fruit crisp gives you protein."

"But wait, there's fiber in fruit!  Fiber keeps you fuller for longer!"

"Soy milk, drink soy milk with your crisp, instantly healthier."

"How about a glass of red wine with that?  Wine is just crushed up grapes."

"Blackberries and blueberries = antioxidants."

Foodies' minds works in evil ways, they do.  :)

Onward and upward,

-Vince

My first food blog...

Well, as my friends will tell you... I love all things related to food..  Food Network, Cooking Channel, cookbooks, cooking, eating, grocery shopping, food "gear" shopping.  You name it, I love doing it.

Just a bit about myself... I am a Filipino American (hence the name of the blog) who has all types of passtimes... dance, school, work, husband, brother, son, and most of all, foodie.  I've always had a passion for food, hence my struggles with my weight, LOL.  But it all started when I was a small child, eating my breakfast that my grandparents had fixed me - fried eggs and fried rice.  I remember watching, either my grandmother or grandfather (they were kind of interchangeable, who ever got to the stove first cooked me breakfast) standing over the stove, cracking eggs into a hot skillet, ensuring that the yolk didn't break.  Once the eggs were done and removed from the pan, the combination of leftover jasmine rice, soy sauce, garlic and onion entered the equation, sending that wonderful, salty, soy flavor to permeate the smell of my parent's kitchen.  Next thing I knew, breakfast was on the table and I was busy scarfing them down.

Wow, that memory almost brought me to tears.

So here we are, modern day Vince, with his passion for food.  Things haven't changed so much for me since then.  Although my grandparents aren't with us anymore, that first memory of eggs and rice brings me right back and helps me remember them.

Isn't that the great thing about food?  I can't think of one person who doesn't have a story attached to food, or a memory that is triggered when a favorite dish is prepared.  Food brings all people together, no matter what their race, culture, economic status, or sexual preference is.  We all have to eat!

So this blog is going to be all about my food adventures... things I love, things I hate, flavor combinations that surprise your palate, and how my mind works when it comes to food.

Onward and upward...

-Vince