Eric's Blog

Reuben from The Sentinel for...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:41:32 -0700

Reuben from The Sentinel for lunch. It was okay, not the best Reuben I've ever had, but good enough. Ribs for dinner. I used a new dry rub and liquid smoke in the braising liquid. It was pretty good, but I put in too much liquid smoke (two teaspoons in about 2/3 cup of liquid.)

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Lunch from Mehfil -- a pork...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:52:33 -0700

Lunch from Mehfil -- a pork/veggie combo plate. I thought Mehfil was particularly delicious today. I really could have used a little more rice, though. Maybe I should, by policy, always keep a little thing of rice in the fridge at work. That way if I ever need a little more rice it's there. Pepperocini pizza for dinner. I tried using the screen again, and again it didn't work out that well. The bottom just doesn't get as crisp as when I cook on the stone, and it sticks to the screen. Both problems might have to do with how thin I like to spin out the dough. Maybe it's so thin that the sauce soaks through the dough, which causes it to cook slower and stick.

Special bonus food pic: last night's ribs. Mmmm.

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The spicy szechwan noodle soup...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:50:09 -0700

The spicy szechwan noodle soup from B&M Mei Sing for lunch with Jeremy and Mimi. Late night ribs for dinner.

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Ribs at the Hard Knox...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:03:01 -0700

Ribs at the Hard Knox Cafe (Richmond location) for lunch with Michael. The flavor (the sauce and the rub) was really good, but I thought the ribs themselves were a little overcooked. They weren't as soft and tender as I like. Mac-n-cheese and mixed veggies on the side. Both were okay; nothing special.

Macaroni and cheese with green beans for dinner. I used a mix of sharp cheddar, parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. I think it turned out all right, but I suppose I'm biased. I should have added the green beans afterwards instead of keeping them in the pot with the macaroni when I mixed in the sauce and cheeses. Brownies for dessert. I just used the Mark Bittman recipe, except with semi-sweet chocolate (because that's what I had) and vanilla sugar instead of regular granulated sugar plus vanilla extract. I cut the recipe in half because I thought I only had one egg, but I actually had two. D'oh! I can make another batch later.

I wish I had had some ice cream to go along with the brownie.

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Pizza at work for lunch...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:14:12 -0700

Pizza at work for lunch, Roadside BBQ with Michael for dinner. The q was particularly good last night -- tender, peppery, and delicious.

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Breakfast burrito from El Faro....

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:52:18 -0700

Breakfast burrito from El Faro for lunch. It was just sort of average, not as good as the breakfast burrito from Love's. It was chorizo, eggs, ham, and beans which sounds like it could be nothing but a home run. Ribs at home for dinner. I thought they turned out okay, but it'd be nice to get someone else's opinion some time.

The first two pictures are from yesterday's food -- the curry chicken pho, and the gai choi (芥菜, Chinese mustard greens) soup.

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Pictures of yesterday's food...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:30:20 -0700

Pictures of yesterday's food: the average pho, the s-shaped dumplings (sumplings!), and the ribs.

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Average pho for lunch. The...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:46:50 -0700

Average pho for lunch. The last of the leftover dumplings for dinner. At the end, I started to pinch the dumplings in a different way. Instead of a usual crescent (usual for my family, I guess), I pinched it going up on one side and down on the other, so it made a 'S'-shape. Midnight ribs for the second course (midnight because I didn't get home until well after nine and they take about two-and-a-half hours in the oven.) But this time I used a decanter to separate the braising liquid from the fat and was able to make a nice little reduction from it. I also just turned up the gas and blasted the heck out of it, so maybe that was the difference.

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Chicken curry ramen from...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:17:12 -0700

Chicken curry ramen from Muracci's for lunch. It's really good, as good as On the Bridge in J-town, but the service was really, really slow. Ribs at home for dinner. I used chicken broth instead of white wine for the braising liquid. That worked out well. My main problem was reducing the liquid afterwards. It just takes so long! I think I should remove the fat before trying to reduce it down to a thick sauce.

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Many variations on pork (sausages...

nobody@vox.com(Eric) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:39:36 -0700

Many variations on pork (sausages, shoulder, and ribs) with Lisa, Caitlin, and Jared up in Cloverdale. Jared smoked the ribs and shoulder with Alder wood. A little pizza (garlic, pepperoni, pepperocini, and chanterelle mushrooms) for dinner. I tried something a little different -- I turned off the convection, and I put the pepperoni under the sauce and cheese. That worked out pretty well because it kept the pepperoni from burning. It also probably soaked the crust in pepperoni-oil. Mmmmm. I dunno. Again the sourdough dough didn't stretch out the way I'd like it to. It might be a little old, or maybe I need to let it come up to room temperature more. It definitely didn't stretch out the way the dry active yeasted dough does.

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