Are you going to eat that?

Hungry Blogger

2007-05-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Check out the blog that we're moving to:

HungryBlogger.com

Firefly's BBQ in Quincy

2007-05-14T11:25:00.001-07:00

Firefly's is now open, I can't wait to go!

UPDATE: I did finally go and wrote up a review of Firefly's BBQ here

sour cream coffee cake

2007-05-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe for coffee cake that everyone seems to love. The recipe includes sour cream which makes the cake more moist and gives it a bit of a tang. I made it for Easter and my sister-in-law requested that I make it again for Mother's Day. Here's the link to the recipe..

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sour-Cream-Coffee-Cake-III/Detail.aspx

Nantucket Off-Shore Rub

2007-04-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, my sister and brother-in-law bought me some spices, including some Nantucket Off-Shore rub. We tried it on some Omaha Steaks our folks bought us for Easter, and it was tasty! Its a peppery, mustardy rub, and it was a delicious addition to some tasty filets.

Pizza, Part II

2007-04-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

So this pizza came out MUCH better - the pan made all the difference. We used a thin pan that had holes in it, Bertucci's dough, mozzarella, onions, pepper, and mushrooms.

Easter Dinner

2007-04-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Grapes

Coffee Cake!

Cheese & Crackers

Tasty Big Shrimp

Pineapple for the Ham

Gummy Bear Vitamins

2007-04-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

We bought some Gummy Bear Vitamins from CVS.com last week, and they are pretty good!

PIZZA!

2007-04-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

These pans were too thick to cook the bottom of the pizza, so next time we've got to use thinner pans. We cooked them at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Amazon.com Food Deals

2007-04-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com has been having some great food deals lately. I bought some snack bars for the office:

Montillio's Is Back!

2007-04-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Montillio's is back in action! Montillio's Bakery had a fire back in November 2006. We bought a couple of Easter bunnies and biscotti.

Don't forget to check out the new HungryBlogger.com Bakeries Page!

Henry's Root Beer Stand Review

2007-04-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

Ordered:
(1) Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and pickles
(1) Grilled chicken sandwich
(1) Root beer (free refills)
(1) Diet coke

Total: $10.06

The food was on par with the price, the environment was decent but not as good as I expected. The service was poor - the girl behind the counter seemed like she was miserable working there - and the restaurant was pretty dirty. If they can clean up their act and get some friendlier staff I'll consider going back.

Other than the sense of nostalgia, Henry's had little to offer me. I would rather spend a little more and go to the Fish'n Chicken.

Cookies!

2007-03-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

We're (actually my wife is, I'm providing moral support) making cookies! We're trying out the Lundberg rice syrup as a sugar substitute, and adding white chocolate, craisins, almonds, and walnuts.

The rice malt made the cookies stickier and more fragile, so they wer hard to get off the pan. The second batch used non-stick spray which made it easier to take them off the pan.

Where do white and brown eggs come from?

2007-03-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

My wife just asked - "Do brown eggs come from brown chickens?"

A quick web search confirms that she was right!

Dear Mr Breakfast, Why are some eggs white and others brown?

The article includes a method of predicting egg color by chicken earlobe color. I didn't even know chickens had earlobes. The real question is whether they wobble to-and-fro.

Mr. Breakfast goes on to say that brown and white eggs are equals when it comes to nutritional value, quality, and flavor, but that brown eggs cost more due to brown chickens being larger and eating more.

Good to know! If you like eggs, good! They are full of nutrition, are affordable, and easy to make. If you have high cholesterol, consider just using the egg white, and tossing the yolk.

The Cost of a Cup of Tea

2007-03-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

Some might feel that $1+ for a cup of tea is expensive, but when you consider that you have to heat up the water with energy, the price isn't bad.

The water heater we use for tea uses around 900 watts of power, and takes about 1 to 2 minutes to boil the water. So that would be 1kW / 60 = 0.02 kW hours. And since energy costs about $0.50 / kW (roughly), it costs $0.01 to heat up the tea. OK I guess it isn't that much! :-)

The meter pictured here is the P3 International Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor. It costs about $25 and in my opinion, well worth it.

Buy one right now!

Weber Grill

2007-03-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

We had grilled chicked at my folks house tonight, cooked OUTSIDE on the grill! Yes - it's starting to get warm out.

French Press Coffee

2007-03-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

French press coffee is really tasty! What's also good is that I get to use my gas stove to heat the hot water instead of using electric heat.

Where'd I get this french press? From amazon.com - only $10! They were having a buy three get one free sale, so it was actually cheaper. More details here at the "Are you going to buy that?" blog:

Amazon.com Appliance Sale

Apples

2007-03-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

Apples rule!

IKEA Swedish Meatballs

2007-03-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I bought some Swedish meatballs at IKEA yesterday and they were pretty tasty. Not a bad snack for the price, about $8 for two and a half pounds. We cooked them with some canned potatoes and frozen green beans for a quick and easy meal.

Free iced coffee day!

2007-03-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dunkies was giving away free iced coffees today so I picked one up on my way back from BNI. I like iced coffee but only when its free, because 90% of it is ice.

Nature's Path Cereal

2007-03-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

I hope we like these kinds of cereal, I bought 12 boxes!!!

"Nature's Path Heritage Granola Cereal, 11.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)"

"Nature's Path Peanut Butter Granola Cereal, 11.5-Ounce Box (Pack of 6)"

Computer Cake

2007-03-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

My awesome wife baked me this totally awesome computer cake for my birthday:

Stoneforge Restaurant in Foxboro MA

2007-03-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last night my family took me to the Stoneforge restaurant in Foxboro MA for a birthday meal. The atmosphere is terrific, and its an impressive layout. I think we were all surprised by the size of the place. It is right down the street from Gillette Stadium, so it has a "sport-sy" feel to it, plenty of large screen TVs, a big bar, and a billiard hall.

However, someone was not quite right during our meal. We had a reservation for 5:30PM, and didn't receive our food until 8:00PM. Some of it was cold, some undercooked, and some overcooked. We politely shared our discomfort with the waitstaff and they were very accommodating in return. In fact the waitstaff was in general very pleasant and professional, though their visits were way too infrequent. It was obvious that they were understaffed, which I believe led to the disastrous delay. In the end, my dinner was quite good, but it was difficult to enjoy due to the awkward delay.

Although the length of the meal was not too problematic because we were all glad to see each other, over three hours for a single course dinner is unacceptable. If it were not for the gracious waitstaff, I would never consider returning.

Welcome Firefly's!

2007-03-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Firefly's BBQ is coming to Quincy! After Red Sauce closed down months ago and was temporarily replaced with a fly-by-night "tavern", the place has seemed haunted. If you ever watch the Phantom Gourmet, you'll know Firefly's has a lot of personality. I hope they are affordable, or I don't think they'll succeed there.

Rice Syrup

2007-03-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Awesome. My wife has gotten me some Lundberg Rice Syrup for my birthday. Yummy! Its good stuff, with 3 types of sugar for distributed absorbtion into the blood stream. :-)

Chicken Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

2007-02-28T06:21:00.000-08:00

We had a casserole with chedder cheese, macaroni, pimentos, mushrooms, and chicken the other night, and my it was good. We forgot to get cream of chicken soup, so we had to skip that but it was still tasty. We'll get it and try again.

An illustrated guide to Chicken Quesadilla Casserole.

Pasta Sauce

2007-02-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

I've burned my last couple of pasta sauces due to cooking them in a skillet at too high a heat, and thankfully a light bulb went on the last time: a skillet is not the right pan for cooking sauce. A skillet will dissipate heat too quickly with a liquid like pasta sauce. You need to cook in in a sauce pan, so it can retain the heat, but not get burned.

Simple, but true.

Speaking of pasta sauce, I have to agree with the Phantom Gourmet's opinion that Classico sauce is the best consumer brand pasta sauce out there. We like to get the triple mushroom, around $2.00 a bottle.

Dining Certificates

2007-02-06T04:56:00.000-08:00

Just picked up 4 new dining certificates: 2 for Tullio's and 2 for Spazio's. Can't beat the price: $0. I'm finally getting to use up my old United Airlines frequent flyer miles, or "Mileage Plus" miles as they call them. I've got a bunch, not much use for plane tickets but for a night out on the town: priceless!

Chicken Stir-Fry with Broccoli

2007-02-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight's menu:

Chicken Stir-Fry with cashews and broccoli!

1 chicken breast chopped into chunks
1 onion chopped into pieces
1/2 tspn ginger powder
1/2 tspn chopped garlic
1 tbsp honey
1 tspn lemon
1 tspn corn starch
Small crown of broccoli chopped
1 cup of unsalted cashews
1 cup chopped mushrooms
Salt and pepper, less than a dash of crushed red pepper

1 cup of brown rice too!

Salsa

2007-01-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

Pork, Carrots, and Potatoes

2007-01-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

Tonights dinner! The potatoes and carrots came out the best, the fried pork recipe wasn't that tasty.

Baked Potato Specs

2007-01-26T14:59:00.001-08:00

To bake a potato, cook in a preheated over for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Gatorade!

2007-01-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

My Gatorade from Gempler's came today. Even though they didn't pick me for their online affiliate program, they did have good pricing on powdered Gatorade. I bought numerous packages to get the discounted price of $1.90 / gallon.

Rice krispy treats with fluff?

2007-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

I love rice kripsy treats and gotta find out if its possible to make them with fluff.

Hah! It's just like making them with marshmallows. Here's a pictorial guide:

Tuna fish sandwich, Part II

2007-01-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know how long tuna fish is good for, but my leftovers were fine and tasty. Again, I had the sandwich with pickles and oat bread.

Cooking Notes

2007-01-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Remember, when cooking, a little bit of planning makes a world of difference.
* Shaking herbs or spices over a simmering pot can trap moisture from the rising steam in the jar, causing the remainder to spoil or lose flavor.

Turkey Meatballs

2007-01-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

Yummy!

Ingredients:

Ground turkey
Parmesean cheese
Oregano
Parley
Egg
Bread crumbs

Cook thoroughly until no more pink is visible on the inside of each meatball.

Peanuts and Pretzels

2007-01-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite snacks - peanuts and pretzels. Rold Gold are damn good pretzels, but when it comes to combining with peanuts, Goldfish pretzels are the best!

Jack Link's Beef Jerky

2007-01-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

If you haven't tried Jack Link's beef jerky, I recommend it. It has good texture and flavor. I tried the original flavor, and was quite satisfied. It has a mequite, spicy, molasses flavor I enjoyed.

Alscace Pizza from Trader Joe's

2007-01-17T16:08:00.000-08:00

If you haven't tried the Alscace pizza from Trader Joe's, you gotta try it. Its is delicious! What is it? Its a light pizza with ham, cheese, and onions (no sauce). Good stuff, way to go Joe!

Pictorial Guide to Making a Tuna Fish Sandwich

2007-01-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

The key to making a good tuna fish sandwich is fully draining the can. Yum, and finally, the pickle article. Are you gonna eat that???

Apple Pie

2007-01-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this apple pie look delicious?

Image copyright 2007, all rights reserved.

Tonight's Dinner

2007-01-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Tonight we're having salad the the chicken quesadilla casserole. Yum!

More pics:

Eggs, Cheese, Soft Corn Tacos, and Salsa

2007-01-12T03:49:00.000-08:00

Eggs, Cheese, Soft Corn Tacos, and Salsa make a tasty breakfast. I didn't think they would go so good together but they taste yummy.

Pan Cooked Lemon Pepper, Garlic Dill Marinated Flounder

2007-01-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

Marinate flounder filets in a dash of garlic, dill, virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon pepper spice. In a 10"+ pan, melt butter, add dill, tiny bit of freshly chopped garlic, and bring to a simmer. Add flouder filets and cook for 8−10 minutes.

Yum!

Good Chicken Stir Fry

2007-01-06T04:24:00.000-08:00

Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry with Peanuts
3/4 cup fat free, low sodium chicken broth, divided
1 tbls. Reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tbls. Cornstarch 1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder 1/8 tsp. Ground ginger
1/4 tsp. Vegetable oil
1/2 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut in strips
1/2 cup small broccoli florets
1/2 cup red bell pepper strips
1/8 cup chopped unsalted dry−roasted peanuts

Combine half the chicken broth with soy sauce, cornstarch,
salt, ginger and garlic powder in small container. Stir until
smooth and set aside. Lightly coat nonstick skillet with
cooking spray. Heat skillet on high until hot. Add oil; tilt
skillet to coat bottom. Add chicken; stir−fry 2 minutes, or
until no longer pink. Remove chicken. Add remaining broth
to skillet; bring to boil. Add broccoli and bell pepper; return
to boil. Reduce heat and simmer or until broccoli is crisp
and tender. Increase heat to high. Add chicken to skillet. Stir
sauce and add to skillet. Bring to boil. Cook 1 to 2 minutes
or until thick. Stir in peanuts

Chicken Tandoori

2007-01-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

Can't remember where I got this recipe, but its pretty good!

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs•
1/2 teaspoon salt•
1/2 teaspoon pepper•
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt•
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice•
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander•
1 teaspoon ground turmeric•
2 teaspoons grated ginger root•
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper•
2 cloves garlic, minced•
1/2 teaspoon paprika•
6 cups hot cooked couscous•

Place chicken pieces in casserole dish and sprinkle with 1/2 the salt and pepper. Combine remaining salt and pepper with yogurt, lime juice and spices (through garlic) in bowl. Pour over chicken and marinate in refrigerator for 8 hours. Uncover and sprinkle with paprika. Bake until done. Serve over couscous.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving: Calories 1260 − Calories from Fat 110
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 9%, Protein 21%, Carbohydrate 70%
Totals and Percent Daily Values (2000 calories): Fat 12g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 78mg,
Sodium 432mg, Total Carbohydrate 220g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 0g, Protein 67g, Vitamin
A 301 units, Vitamin C 7 units, Calcium 0 units, Iron 5 units

Waffles for New Years

2007-01-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

We had waffles for New Years Eve dinner, not knowing its an actual tradition in some parts of the world. Cool! If you also have waffles for New Years Eve, let me know!

I love maple syrup with my waffles, but also like raspberry jam too. And for a special treat - whipped cream. Delicious!

How to stop hiccups

2007-01-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

The latest technique to stop hiccups is to eat a spoonful of peanut butter all by itself. Although I've never tried it, Marcy says it works immediately. We have to thank Kristen for this.

Redwood Restaurant, Quincy, MA

2006-12-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know what happened to Redwood Restaurant in Quincy, MA? It used to be a Red Sauce restaurant, and before that, a Naked Fish. I enjoyed both of those previous restaurants, but never even got a chance to try Redwood before they closed down.

The Naked Fish and Red Sauce were run created and run by Joey Crugnale, who started Bertucci's. Redwood I'm not so sure about - when Red Sauce closed down, the sign on the door and their voicemail said the restaurant was being sold. It could have been sold to a new owner, or it could have been re-opened by the same ones.

Based on some quick research I did, it seems like Redwood was run by the same owners, and the reviews were not positive. Some people were saying that Jamie's Pub was planning to buy the location but they were unable to seal the deal in the end.

Chicken Quesadilla Casserole

2006-12-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

Marcy's been making this delicious Chicken Quesadilla Casserole - corn tortillas, chicken, salsa, chili peppers, and cheese. Last time we added green salsa, and it was a very good addition!

Golden Yukon Potatoes

2006-12-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

We're having steak tonight, and I'm psyched because we're also having golden yukon potatoes! My favorite. I'm also making grilled peppers, onions, and mushrooms.

Holiday Cookies

2006-11-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

My wife makes some awesome cookies, and now that its holiday season, the volume really picks up. Yum!

Corn Tortillas

2006-11-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

Corn
(Zea mays)

We're using corn tortillas in tonight's casserole - they really have a better flavor than flour.

Pickles

2006-11-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

Incredible! Now on the second Phantom Gourmet episode today, pickles are the food item for the dish of the day. I couldn't understand the name of the winner - Guglesheins or something. Doesn't matter, I bought the cheapest store brand!

Hidden Boston

2006-11-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

Just found a cool new website called Hidden Boston. I noticed right away that they featured Santarpio's, which is a great pizza restaurant in East Boston.

Speaking of pizza, I've taken quite a liking to Freschetta frozen pizza lately. Its really good, and they've been having a bunch of 50% off sales at Super Stop and Shop lately.

And speaking of Super Stop and Shop, I picked up a package of pickles yesterday. Several packages in fact. Slices, chips, and baby dills, yum!

Turkey Chili!

2006-11-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

I've made turkey chili a bunch of times, the first time when my brother in-law gave me a can of tomato puree he got from Ocean State Job Lot for a dollar. I browned the ground turkey, mixed in the puree and added a bunch of spices. It was OK, but not very "chili"-like. I explained the situation to my brother in-law, and he said I didn't add enough cumin. The next time I added more cumin and it really tasted like chili!

I'm back at it today, and checking out a couple of different recipes. Here's what I know off the top of my head:

* Onions
* Peppers
* Ground turkey (browned before added to tomato puree)
* Cumin
* Chili powder
* Kidney beans
* Garlic
* Salt and pepper

I checked out this recipe at About.com:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/groundturkey/r/bl90924c.htm

I'm not crazy about About.com, but its not bad. There is so much crap on the internet, its tough to find good sites, but at least you know you're getting decent quality from About.com.

Actually that recipe kind of sucked. I'm using:

29 oz tomato puree
6 oz tomato paste
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons of chili powder
1 dash of cayenne
1 lb of ground turkey
1 green bell pepper
1 vidalia onion
1/4 teaspoon of chopped garlic
28 oz can red kidney beans, drained rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste

I brown the turkey with the garlic, onion, and bell pepper, then mix with the tomato and kidney beans in a slow cooker.

Vanilla Granola

2006-11-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

My wife found an awesome recipe for granola, and we've got to write it down. We made it for my dad for his birthday (he loves healthy food) and kept a little for ourselves. It was much better than the last batch, which was too nutty.

I'm also trying to get my brother in-law to check out this blog, as he is a phenomenal cook. I'm always trying to learn from him, and in trade teach him about technology. He is a smart guy buy doesn't like email for some reason.

Granola Revisited

2006-10-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

We're finally cooking granola, using this recipe:

Almond Maple Granola Recipe

Frozen foods

2006-10-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

We just tried the new Kasha frozen southwestern chicken, it was very tasty. I also had a freschetta pizza for the first time, and was very impressed.

My favorite frozen pizza is from Trader Joe's, but the Freschetta comes close!

Spice Rack Mission Complete

2006-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Captain's Log 2006-09-24: Chief Scientific Officer Labradoodle and I just completed Mission AX23857, to install a spice rack in the kitchen port. I am happy to report to the Galactic Space Frontier Alliance that the mission has been completed. See virtual image represatation item "@#$4588" for reference of said installation. Signing off, your kitchen commander, instoremarketer.

Power at last!!!!!!

2006-09-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Aha!

Formerly relegated to lunch patrol, labradoodle makes her first foray into night life! Despite many over-done chickens, and strangely spiced oerderves, my husband has agreed to let me cook dinner. So I'm going to make one of my mom's classic dishes- enchilada casserole. First a layer of tortillas, then cooked chicken, then chile peppers, salsa, and tomato with a sprinkle of cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, bake until warm, and you're set. Sounds pretty easy... I'll let you know how I do :)

Labradoodle is in the kitchen!!

2006-09-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here we go. Labradoodle is cooking her specialty chicken enchilada casserole. Please welcome with a round of applause:

Labradoodle chef extraordinaire!

Vegetable Stir-fry with green beans

2006-09-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

My mother gave us a bunch of green pole beans recently so we're making stir fry. This time we're using fresh onion, chopped garlic, green beans, and carrots. Its going to be good!

I'm stir frying the onions, carrots and beans slowly to start to tender them up a bit. Then I'll add the mushrooms later, cashews last.

We're also having brown rice with the stir fry.

This stir fry came out awesome. It had a tiny bit too much garlic, but everything else about it was very good.

Too tired...

2006-09-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ack... too tired to make the pesto tonight. Hopefully the basil will last until tomorrow when I have more energy...

I did make the pesto and it came out great. We had one meal with it and froze the rest for later.

Presto... Pesto!

2006-09-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

My parents have a rockin' garden, and today my wife and I picked a bunch of basil. We made pesto last year and plan to do it again this year. Its easy to store because you can freeze it. I use Goya olive oil, it is high quality and inexpensive. It comes in smaller bottles so it doesn't go back through oxidation.

I prefer to use more parmesean cheese than olive oil. These are the ingredients I know of so far off the top of my head:

Parmasean cheese
Olive oil
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic

I will research the internet to find other recipes to compare, as I'm on a new kick of using measurements when following recipes!

I forgot the pine nuts! Duh!! I found a good recipe at a good website:

Simply Recipes: Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

Although I'm having burritos tonight, I'm going to prepare the pesto as well.

Annie's

2006-09-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

Just had some Annie's Macaroni and Cheese - it was pretty good but not delicious. I got mine with a $0.50 coupon so the price after the coupon was doubled was only a little over a dollar. With that in mind, it was DELICIOUS! :-)

White Bean Hummus

2006-09-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Yummy! There is an excellent Italian food restaurant nearby (Spazio's) that serves hummus with the bread, and my is it good. I've been trying to make it myself, and finally found something as good.

Thanks to the Get Sconed blog, I made some today that came out awesome.

Tuscan White Bean Hummus ala CPK

The recipe:

California Pizza Kitchen's Tuscan Hummus Recipe

Waffles!

2006-09-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

My wife and I got a waffle maker as a wedding present and we finally got t use it today. It rocks. We made Bisquik waffles and put on plenty of butter and maple syrup. My favorite syrup is genuine Vermont maple syrup, and the company I like the best is Maple Grove. They have excellent customer service and great tasting syrup!

Check out the pics!

Veggie Stir Fry with Broccoflower

2006-09-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight we're making vegetable stir fry with broccoflower and mushrooms. We don't have any onions so I'll have to substitute dried chopped onions and onion powder.

Preparation:
* Chop broccoflower and shrooms
* Heat pan with peanut oil
* Premix the special ingredients

First fry the brocoflower, then 5 minutes into it, add the mushrooms.

The special ingredients:
* dash of crushed red pepper
* 1 tbsp soy sauce
* 1/2 tspn garlic powder
* 1/2 tspn ginger
* 1/4 tspn corn starch
* 1 tbsp honey
* 1 tbsp lemon juice
* 1/4 cup chopped dried onions (in lieu of fresh)
* 1/4 tspn seasame oil

I don't recommend this dish. It didn't come out too good. At the last minute I added a bunch of wild mushrooms we bought at Trader Joe's, which I think over powered the rest of the flavors.

Taco Seasoning

2006-09-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Having tacos tonight, trying this recipe:

Taco Seasoning

Recipe for Taco Seasoning
* 6 teaspoons of chili powder
* 5 teaspoons paprika
* 4 ½ teaspoons cumin
* 2 ½ teaspoons onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Also adding some dried onion chips.

This time I only made a half recipe, for a pound of meat, I need to make a full recipe, and add a teaspoon of salt, as well as an eight teaspoon of corn starch and a cup of water.

Legal Sea Foods

2006-09-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Went to Legal Sea Foods last night for dinner with my family, had the 12 oz. sirloin and wow was it delicious. I asked for it medium, and they served it medium well, but the flavor as superb. It is supposed to come with a stuffed portobello mushroom, but they were out so I had a baked potato instead, as well as green beans.

Legal's is always good, but slightly too expensive for what its worth. There are definitely worse restaurants that cost more, but there are also equal restaurants that cost less.

What do you think of Legal Seafoods? Please add your comments by clicking below! Thanks.

Kauai Coffee is really tasty!

2006-08-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here at 6AM in Hawaii drinking coffee, really tasty coffee. Its vienna roast from Kauai Coffee Company. I wrote about my trip to their retail store at the "Are you going to buy that?" blog:

Kauai Coffee Company Retail Store Review on Kauai, HI

but the beans I got need to be ground. Thankfully, the new hotel we've been staying at the past few days (Marriott Waiohai Beach Club) has Kauai Coffee for free, so I'm living it up.

Pemmican Beef Jerky

2006-08-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

We bought some Pemmican Beef Jerky and it was much better. Yum! Still not the best I've ever had (the best bought at a gas station somewhere in the middle of America) but still pretty good.

Pemmican Beef Jerky is made by ConAgra Foods.

Pemmican Beef Jerky at Amazon for $39.50 ($49.50 minus $10 off)

Jewel Bako Restaurant in Manhattan, New York, NY

2006-08-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Forgive me, this post is a little late. My buddies Jeremy, Conor, and Al took me out to sushi for my bachelor party in NYC. It was awesome. We ate at Jewel Bako in Manhattan and it was a very impressive restaurant. They had sake, and we all ordered the chef's special, which included a tartar appetizer, a warm dish of either salmon or mushrooms, a large sushi plate, and a desert.

One amazing thing about the restaurant was the interior design. It featured thin wooden slats forming a semi-circle ceiling. Very cool!

Genki Sushi Restaurant Chain

2006-08-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Check out my quick review of Genki Sushi over at the Are you going to buy that? Retai blog.

Ling Hing

2006-08-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

My wife and I trekked to "Sweet Pia's" the other day where I tried ling hing for the first time. It wasn't bad. Definitely like nothing else I've ever tried before. I tried another item which I forget the name of, which was supposed to taste like black licorice, but it was even stranger than ling hing.

Hawaiian Warrior Beef Steak Jerky

2006-08-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Got to give this one a thumbs down. I bought this jerky in lieu of the other options as I figured while I'm here in Hawaii I would support the products they produce here. The jerky isn't terrible, but its not representative of all that is good in beef jerky. I'll eat it, but I won't recommend it.

Oatmeal versus Granola

2006-08-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

This morning for breakfast at the buffet at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai, Hawaii, I had both oatmeal and granola. It seems strange to me that granola is more expensive than oatmeal, they are the same thing, aren't they?

I have to make some granola soon. I like both oatmeal and granola, but granola, once prepared, is so easy to consume. If you have a good recipe, let me know!

My Review of Boston Market @ Are You Going To Buy That?

2006-08-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Just wrote about this on my retail marketing blog:
http://chainstoremarketing.blogspot.com/2006/08/boston-market-review.html

I don't like skim milk.

2006-08-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have bought skim milk for several years based on the idea that its no different than other milk, but with less fat. Boy was I wrong. My in-laws use 1% milk and it tastes so much better. I've since bought a couple half gallons of 1% and I do indeed like it better. It seems to stay fresh longer too.

I'm eating my last bowl of cereal with skim milk right now. No more skim milk for me!

All About Tilapia

2006-08-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

In researching a tilapia recipe, I came across this interesting page about tilapia:

http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/FCS/FlaFoodFare/Tilapia.htm

I knew that they were easy to farm because they can eat algae, but I had no idea that they could survive in salt, brackish, or fresh water. That's amazing. I think I will eat more tilapia because it packs a nutrious punch and is easy to farm, like bananas and soy.

Asian Tilapia Recipe?

2006-08-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Background:
I have a pound of tilapia filets in the freezer that just asked me to cook them. The Phantom Gourmet rated Kikkoman Soy Sauce the best, so I bought some to try. Can I achieve both in one meal?

Let's find out! This may be a recipe for cooking food, or it may be a recipe for disaster! HAHAHAH!

This definitely appears possible. I've read a few recipes on the net and I think I'll steam the tilapia, and create a sauce for it out of soy sauce and ginger (and a little red pepper). Yum.

Of course I'll steam some rice and try to find some vegetables to go along with it all.

Update:
The tilapia came out pretty darn good. I was surprised that plain old steamed fish tasted good. I think this was a very positive lesson for me for preparing fish. I also reduced the soy sauce in a pan with garlic and ginger, then mixed a piece of the fish in with it. It was too salty but delicious. You can tell Kikkoman sauce is good quality by the way it reduces.