7x7 Big Eats 2013 - Nopalito

Location: 1224 9th Avenue, San Francisco, California 94122
Date: Saturday, March 2nd
Food: Caldo Tlalpeño
Price: $10.00
Comments:  I am not sure what I want to say about this soup.  I thought the chicken broth was flavorful but it was too spicy because I left the chipotle pepper in the bowl for too long.  There was plenty of vegetables in the soup but somehow it wasn't satisfying...I think I needed some shredded chicken or some other form of protein in there to make me feel like I had a complete entrée.  The warmed avocado was interesting texturally since the very first sensation is slightly mushy but then it becomes more firm afterwards.  My favorite part of the entire bowl was the cauliflower - the florets were not too cooked & the spice from the broth took away some of the grassy taste cauliflower can have.

From the Oven - Fluffy Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ever since I got a Pinterest account months ago, I have been seeing this one pin for fluffy & chewy chocolate chip cookies repeatedly.  Since I was in the mood to make some CCCs & didn't want to make our usual America's Test Kitchen recipe - too labor intensive - I thought I would give this popular recipe a try.

They say the trick lies with the cornstarch...
     0.75 cup unsalted butter, softened
     0.75 cup light brown sugar
     0.25 cup granulated sugar
     1 egg
     2 teaspoons vanilla extract
     2 cups all-purpose flour
     2 teaspoons cornstarch
     1 teaspoon baking soda
     0.25 teaspoon salt
     1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Just dump, stir, & scoop...
     In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter & both sugars until really light & fluffy
     Add in the egg & vanilla extract & blend
     Add in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, & salt into the mixture; mix everything together gently
     Mix in the chocolate chips
     Scoop the dough with a tablespoon & place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
     Bake at 350F for 10 minutes

Makes about 30 cookies

I have made these cookies twice & they turned out good both times.  The first time, I used an electric mixer for all the steps & the cookie dough felt a little dry.  The cookies were fine but it was difficult to scoop.  The second time I made these, I only used an electric mixer to cream the butter & sugar & used a rubber spatula for the rest of the steps.  This time, the cookie dough was more pliable & it spread out a bit more in the oven.  These cookies are not meant to flatten out very much so if they do, it might mean the cookie dough was a little too warm before going into the oven.  Try refrigerating the dough for 20 minutes to firm everything up first.  Also, it helps to make sure that the butter is softened but not too soft.  When it comes to texture, these cookies delivered on the promise & were chewy & fluffy without feeling like it wasn't cooked all the way through.  In terms of flavor, these were nice & not too sweet.  Mine had a weird after taste to them that only I tasted (I asked Russell & my parents; they all said no) which I suspect might have to do with my really old corn starch & baking soda that has been sitting in my cupboard, exposed.  I wish things like baking soda, baking powder, & corn starch would come in resealable packages or come in much smaller quantities because it takes forever to go through one of those things!  But I digress...

I feel that I am @ a cross roads.  While I like these cookies for their texture, they lack that flavor that gets evoked in my mind when someone says "chocolate chip cookies."  Perhaps I will try to substitute cornstarch into my go to CCC recipe & see what happens.  But first I have to go get some new corn starch.

"Tortoise Tower" Chicken Pho

As you might have read in one of my previous posts, Russell turned (29+1) earlier this month & I wanted to make his birthday extra special by cooking him some delicious food.  Even though I am more Chinese - genetically & culturally - than he is, I had never heard of the Chinese tradition of eating chicken on one's birthday before I met the guy.  He told me that in the Taishan (Toi-San, 台山) dialect, the word for "chicken" sounds very similar to the word for "luck" so a person should eat chicken on his/her birthday in order to ensure good luck in the year to come.

I was originally planning on making surf-&-turf, but chicken is good...until...

Me: "So what kind of chicken do you want me to make?  Fried?  Chicken wings?"
Him: "How about chicken pho?"
Me: "You want to go to out for your birthday?"
Him: "No.  I want you to make it...from scratch."

Seriously?!?

I didn't hit the panic button just quite yet.  His mom had gotten me a cookbook for Christmas that was all about Vietnamese home cooking.  Lo & behold there is a recipe for chicken pho in there.  Phew.  But still, can I tackle making pho?

Watch out for the "trick ingredient"...
     1 chicken, about 3 pounds
     6 whole scallions
     1 2-inch piece of ginger, crushed
     1 tablespoon salt
     0.5 package thick vermicelli noodles
     6 cups homemade chicken stock*
     2 tablespoons fish sauce
     1 scallion, chopped
     0.25 cup cilantro, chopped

And it takes longer than one'd think...
     In a large pot, bring some water (~6 cups) to boil
     Add in the chicken, scallion, ginger, & salt.  Bring back to a boil for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken & place it in an ice bath for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken from the ice bath, pat it dry, remove the skin, & shred up the meat
     Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions
     Boil the chicken stock, seasoning with fish sauce to taste
     In a bowl, place the vermicelli noodles, the chicken meat, & then pour over with the hot broth
     Garnish with chopped scallion & cilantro

Makes 2 servings

What seemed complicated @ first turned out to be more time consuming than anything else.  The end result was not too shabby.  The noodles could have been cooked a little longer & the broth could have used a bit more salt, but that was about it.  The "trick ingredient" I mentioned above is the homemade chicken stock.  I actually went ahead & made one a day ahead & it took about 5.5 hours start to finish.  I think it's nice to have a homemade stock but it is by no means necessary in my opinion.  Actually, store-bought stocks are much more flavorful than the one I made.

So why am I calling my chicken pho "Tortoise Tower" chicken pho?  For those of you who live in or around San Francisco, you might know of a Vietnamese restaurant called Turtle Tower that is quite famous for its chicken pho.  As a matter of fact, it is the only place I get chicken pho.  Since I was trying to riff off Turtle Tower, I thought I should give my dish a cleaver name that involved a similar reptile.  If you want, you can read more about the real Turtle Tower chicken pho here.



* To make the chicken stock, roast 0.5 yellow onion & 1 3-inch piece of ginger at 350F for 1 hour.  Blanch 3 pounds of chicken scraps (i.e. neck, wings) in boiling water for 3 minutes & rinse.  Cut the roasted onion in half & the roasted ginger into coins.  In a large pot, bring to boil 8 quarts of water along with the chicken, onion, ginger, 0.75 tablespoon salt, & 0.75 tablespoon palm sugar.  Reduce heat to a simmer & let it go for 4 hours.  Remove any large solids & strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer.  Refrigerate or freeze in air tight containers.

7x7 Big Eats 2013 - Irving Cafe & Deli

Location: 2146 Irving Street, San Francisco, California 94122 
Date: Sunday, February 24th
Food: Banh-Mi
Price: $4.00-$4.50
Comments: I got the combination pork sandwich which was pretty disappointing.  I have only had a few Banh-Mi sandwiches in my lifetime but I know they are supposed to have quite of bit of pickled vegetables.  This sandwich had only shredded carrots & 1 piece of cucumber that was slightly pickled (if @ all).  There were 3-4 different types of pork products but they all tasted very similar in their seasoning except for the paté which was so flavorful, it overwhelmed everything else.  This is also where the acidity from the pickled vegetables would have helped a lot.  The best thing was the bread which remained crispy even after sitting in the wrapper for 30 minutes.  The price was reasonable & the service was quick but I don't think I will stop in for another sandwich any time soon.

Quick & Easy - Cinnamon'y Horchata

I love Mexican food.  If there is one kind of food that you will find me craving constantly, it's Mexican.  While I live close to many delicious & authentic Mexican restaurants, I don't really take advantage of them because I really don't enjoy getting flashed by some crazy guy as I come up the escalator from BART or hearing about how people got shot outside of a restaurant we ate @ a few days before.

While I can manage to put together some rendition of tacos & burritos in my own kitchen, something was missing...something that always made my meals felt complete when I eat out.  I didn't realize what that was until I thought back some of my favorite meals @ Mexican restaurants & remembered that I often got a horchata with my food!  The first time I had horchata was 2 or 3 years ago when I went on a road trip to San Diego with some girl friends from college.  I had no idea what it was but I liked that it was cinnamon'y & it was like milk that didn't come with the dreadful digestive repercussions.  Ever since that time, I have almost always paired my burritos with a horchata.

A few nights ago, it was tacos night @ my house & we usually just end up drinking soda - Mexican Coke for him, Diet Coke for me.  I thought I might shake things up a bit this time & went in search of a horchata recipe.  I had no idea how horchata is made so I just crossed my fingers that I would find something that's quick & easy.  In the end, I came across this recipe on Pinterest (where else?).

Thank goodness, it was quite simple...
     0.5 cup raw almonds
     0.3 cup white rice
     1.25 cups warm water
     1 cinnamon stick
     0.3 cups sugar
     1.5 cups water
     0.25 teaspoon vanilla extract
     1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

But it does take a while...
     Put almonds, rice, warm water, & cinnamon stick in a sealable container.  Refrigerate for 8-12 hours
     Remove the cinnamon stick & pour the almond/rice mixture into a blender; blend until smooth
     Add in sugar, water, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, & blend for 2-3 minutes more
     Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cheese cloth into glasses

   




















Makes 2 cups

The end product tasted like a horchata but the texture was too watery.  I did some more research after dinner & found a few ways that might improve this recipe.  One - leave the almond/rice mixture on the counter instead of in the fridge over night.  Two - use cashews instead of almonds; the blogger of the original recipe uses cashews because they are creamier.  Three - use milk instead of water when blending.  The dash of ground cinnamon @ the end was my idea because I didn't think the cinnamon stick did much of anything.  Does anyone know of ways to get the most bang out of a cinnamon stick?  I have a really big bag of raw almonds in my cupboard that needs to be used so I am very likely to be making horchata again soon.  Hopefully, after incorporating these modifications, the next batch will be closer to what I get @ restaurants.