Food Archives

27 May 2007The Art of Satay
" align="left" alt="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/515288901_1e5a53e00b.jpg?v=0" class="image" /> I first ate satay at this street side vendor when I was in Bali in 2002. I stayed for 3 weeks just down the street in the Tebesaya section of Ubud and would pass...
21 November 2006Something Tasty for Thanksgiving
Instead of the same old, same old, give this whipped sweet potato/yam dish a try to spice your holiday dinner table. It's easy. It's delicious. And, well, it's orange. - 2 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams or one of...
21 November 2006Because Americans Aren't Fat Enough...
...the great state of Arizona gives us this....
22 May 2006NYC Bagels
I don't know what it is about bagels in California (oh, wait, it's that they are all made by Koreans), but they just suck. Nothing. Nothing will put into sharper focus the difference between our locally Korean made bagels and...
15 March 2006Dining out in Austin
Austin is a great town and one the best things about it is the food. So many great restaurants into packed into this tiny town. How can you go wrong with a city that has a Waffle House on the...
06 January 2006Banh Mi Dac Biet
I have a new love and it's the Banh Mi Dac Biet, a French inspired Vietnamese sandwich of ham or turkey, pate, cucumbers, thinly sliced carrots, onions and radish maybe, daikon, I'm not sure, cilantro some very strong chilis all...
05 January 20066 Cheese Pizza
A good way to start off the new year. Homemade pizza with blue, fontina, parmesan, romano, mozzarella and provalone. Add a some sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary. God damn that's fucking good pizza. If you want the recipe for the crust...
21 November 2005Chocolate Scrambled Egg Ice Cream
Last night I wanted to make something more like real chocolate ice cream, so I used a recipe that called for baking chocolate and eggs. Melting the chocolate is a piece of cake. Just drop 6 squares with 2 tablespoons...
17 November 2005Mexican Chocloate Ice Cream and the Ghetto Market
How are Mexican chocolate ice cream and the ghetto market connected? Let me tell you. Last night I decided I was going to give the ice cream maker another shot after making a mess of the first batch. Now there...
16 November 2005French, er, Freedom Toast
This morning I made Francophile toast for breakfast. What's the big deal? Nothing except that I made it with bread I made myself with my new (well, new to me) breadmaker. The thing is great. Put in the ingredients (flour,...
14 November 2005Ice Cream Flop
On Saturday night, I had to try out the Ice Cream maker that I bought at a yard sale in Albany. It's been a long time since I've made ice cream. We might have done it once or twice when...
06 July 2005Bissap Baobab
I met a few old friends from Samoa in the city last night for dinner at some Senegalese place in the Mission called Bissap Baobab. I was pretty skeptical about the food, having had only one previous experience with Sub-Saharan...
08 May 2005Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Bread
I was trapped in the house all weekend not being sick. With little else to do other than watch TV, read, play with the cats and feel sorry for myself, I decided to dust off an old recipe and make...
21 April 2005The Joys of Greek Yogurt
I first came across Greek yogurt when I was traveling around the Mediterranean about 5 years ago. It was towards the end of the trip. I was in Istanbul staying in the Oriental, a little youth hostel in the Sultanahmet...
28 February 2005The Big Kahuna at Freshies
On Saturday night in Tahoe a handful of us went out to dinner to celebrate Dino's 30th birthday. Ben, who used to live in South Lake, chose the restaurant, Freshies. I was skeptical because the only other major house outing...
14 January 2005They Don't Say Please In Israel
Feeling hungry? Then you have to check out this commercial for the latest in McDonald's offering in Israel, the McSwarma. The commercial plays on the famous MCD conversation between Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction (who can forget Royale with...
30 November 2004Dalat
I don't have a lot of needs when it comes to restaurant dining, but I do have a few. I don't really care about the atmosphere. As long the place is clean, I'm good. I'm there for the food, not...
23 November 2004You Are What You Eat
Just in time for Thanksgiving, there's a frightening editorial in the NYT today about food, it's origins, and the ramifications that modern farming has on the quality of the food we eat. A serving of broccoli is naturally rich in...
21 September 2004How Did I Ever Live Without Trader Joe's?
It's one of the big mysteries of my life. I did it. I don't know how, but I did it. If you're not lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe's or have never heard of TJ's, well, I pity...
17 January 2004Hodad's
If you ever find yourself in San Deigo and you need to grab a bite to eat, head down to Hodad's on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. They claim they have the best burgers in the world and they might...
29 November 2003The Perfect Papya Milkshake
Dudu xay, mamao com leche, susu esi. In any language, it's the perfect beverage, for me anyway. I've had a papaya milkshake fetish for years. It doesn't matter where I am, in Cambodia, in Samoa, in Brazil, or even here,...
07 November 2003I Have a New Love
A Core of Soft Caramel Encircled by Chocolate & Caramel Ice Creams & Fudge Chips. We created this Core Concoction to help you find your way to the ultimate ice cream experience. Whether your primal urges lead you to scoop...
28 October 2003The Joy of Jarlsberg
One of the great pleasures of being home in the USA is the incredible variety of foodstuffs available here. From produce to bread to beer. Most amazing for me is the cheese. Sure, we had a fine selection of cheese...
27 October 2003Never Ending Sushi
Sushi Rikyu has 5 rules for it's 19.95 all-you-can-stuff-down-your-fat-American-face deal: Rule #1: You must eat everything including rice. Rule #2: You cannot share sushi special with anyone. Rule #3: You will be charged extra for any special rolls. Rule #4:...
22 October 2003Slurpee Time
There are 7-11s all over the developing world, but none in Samoa, which is a tragedy. A slurpee on one of Samoa's insane heat-index days would be a god-send. Instead, I had to settle for a the occasional ice-cold niu...
04 October 2003California Pizza Kitchen`s Thai Chicken Pizza
California Pizza Kitchen`s Thai Chicken Pizza Submitted By : Bette Archived at : http://www.cdkitchen.com Categories : Copy Cat Recipes 1 T. honey 1 C. warm water 2 tsp. active dry yeast 3 C. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt Topping 3...
22 September 2003Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Bread
I've been wanting to cook up some kind of banana bread for a long time now. We have such fantastic bananas here in Samoa. It's such an obvious thing to bake. The catalyst was Jen's cache of semi-sweet chocolate...
07 September 2003Rosemary Blue Cheese Pizza & Miss Samoa
(from the original Moosewood Cookbook via Peter Haarsgaard) Ingredients: 1 cup room temperature water 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbs honey or sugar (go with the honey - my addition) 2 1/2 to 3...
05 September 2003I'm a Lean Mean Grilling Machine
The arrival of my friend Jen brought many changes in my life, not the least of which is a knockoff George Forman grill that was gift from my dad (Thanks, Dad!). I put it to work right away. We went...
02 September 2003Pumpernickel Bagels
Pumpernickel Bagels Nutrition Facts Serving Size 1 Bagel 85g (Approx. 3 oz.) Servings Per Container 4 Amount Per Serving Calories 230 Calories from Fat 10 src="http://www.bagelsforever.com/3line.gif" width="200" height="2" alt="3line.gif (50 bytes)"> % Daily Value* src="http://www.bagelsforever.com/1line.gif" width="200" height="1" alt="1line.gif (45...
27 August 2003Keke Pua'a
There is something of a Chinese influence in modern Samoan cuisine that came about when immigrants from China came to the island to work. There's stir fry (falai) and chow mein and chop suey (sopisui). My personal favorite of...
25 August 2003Naked Chef II
Beef with Soy Sauce and Ginger 2 (8 ounce/ 225 gram) sirloin steaks Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 pak choy or bok choy (even spinach or any other greens will do) 8 tablespoons soy sauce 1 thumb-sized...
24 August 2003Bagels in Paradise
Anyone who has been following my exploits on American Idle knows that been doing a lot of baking lately. Mostly I've been cooking up pizzas, experimenting with different formulas for dough and toppings. I've had some very impressive successes...
13 August 2003Garlic Rosemary Sausage Pizza
I had a great food day yesterday. It started off basic enough with cinammon and brown sugar porridge for breakfast. For lunch I made seared tandoori yellow fin tuna. Very easy, very tasty, cooks in seconds. It's so nice...
11 August 2003OOOOOOOH ............... BARRACUDA!!!!!
This morning I bought a barracuda from the fish market. I've never cooked (or eaten) barracuda before so I have no idea what I'm going to with it. It was just too cool and too cheap (10 tala, about...
09 August 2003Mushroom Pizza
You can usually get fresh mushrooms imported from New Zealand at MD's Big Fresh. They are a little pricey, about 10 tala a pound, but the alternative is buying cans of what are ambitiously labeled "champignons" or doing without....
28 July 2003Blue Cheese Pizza
This weekend I made Blue Cheese Pizza. Twice. One of the local Italian restaurants, Giordana's, makes a blue cheese pizza which is fantastic, which is how I got the idea. It's not something I ever would have thought of...
19 July 2003Thai Chicken Pizza
I probably shouldn't be able to make Thai Chicken Pizza while I'm in the Peace Corps, but I can, so what the fuck. I found the recipe online. All the ingredients are available here in Samoa. Some things, like...
03 July 2003Chez Anetelu
I'm starting to become addicted to making my own pizza. It's so fun and so damn good. Tonight I made two little "cheeseburger" pizzas. The toppings were hamburger sauteed in garlic and a little balsamic vinegar with some white...
28 June 2003Pizza Redux
Last night it was pizza time again (I'm guess I'm becoming obsessed). But this time, there were a few minor differences. One, I lost the recipe, so I had to fudge it a little. Then I moved venues and...
24 June 2003Lookout, Wolfgang
Last night, I did something I've been wanting to do for ages: cook a pizza from sratch. I did it courtesy of my old roommate Peter from Atlanta. Peter was a great cook, always messing around the kitchen and producing...
05 May 2003Cinco de Mayo
Hey, it's Cinco de Mayo, even here in Samoa. So in honor of the Mexican defeat of the French at Puebla, I ate lunch at the Mexican Restaurant in town, Ricordo's (chilli con carne). Tonight I'm going to make "California"...
30 April 2003Fiddler Crab Dinner
Kris and I were just walking through the market, the one called the Maketi Fou, or "New Market". We saw this guy selling a gigantic fiddler crab. He wanted 15 tala for it. We hesitated. He dropped the price to...
22 April 2003Blender Heaven
I finally picked up the blender that I bought at George's garage sale. It's a super-poweful Hamilon Beach 2-speed bar blender. It's awesome, chrome perfection and it's going to make my life here a whole hell of lot more tolerable....
16 April 2003Iron Chef
Last night was a great night. I went to a friend's house and made sushi and sashimi. We then devoured our creations as we got pleasantly inebriated, first with gin & cranberry and then on wine, and watched 3 or...
10 April 2003The Steakhouse
I ate at the Steakhouse twice today. They definitely have the best burger in Samoa. And they are conveniently located near the Peace Corps office. I don't know where they get their bread, maybe they make it themselves, but it's...
06 April 2003Mint Chip, Anyone?
Today I was at the ice cream place in the food court. They were advertising that their Sara Lee ice cream was a 1.50 for a single instead of 2.50. I guess they were trying to get rid of the...
15 March 2003Dinner at Giordana's
Had dinner tonight at Giordana's in Moto'otua. They probably have the best pizza in the country. My favorite: Blue Cheese pizza....
04 March 2003Entertainment For Your Whole Mouth
I can't believe what I found today at MD's. Pop Rocks. Yes, that's right. Pop Rocks (watermelon flavor), right there in the cash wrap at MD's. I haven't seen Pop Rocks in ages. I can still remember back to elementary...
31 January 2003Black Beans
Tonight I had a big score. It was Friday night. I had dinner with my friend Kris at the Steakhouse-fish burgers. They were good, but not nearly filling enough. We both decided not to go drinking, but instead to...