chez pim

eG Food Blog: lunch Feb.10

Lunch was picked up on my way to work at the local boulangerie on Pine St.

A baguette sandwich of portabello mushroom, chèvre, roasted bellpeppers, and lettuce, and a tiny cannelé de bordeaux for a sweet finish.

I had to eat this on the run, in my car, racing from one meeting to the next. The sandwich still tasted pretty good, though.

eG Food Blog: Feb10 breakfast

A simple one. A bowl of yogurt with a big spoonful of jam, and a cafe au lait.

The jam today is perhaps not a jam at all, but candied seville peels in rose geranium syrup by our very own Grand Lady of Preserves, June Taylor. Her candied peels are one of my favorite things in this world. I must say I am compelled to use her product today, being a fellow Bay Area dweller and all, since I used Mdme.Ferber's yesterday. The yogurt is, but of course, Strauss.

The cafe au lait (aka latte) is today in a glass instead of my usual bowl. And for those of you who are wondering, yes, I did it just to show off the foam. tee hee.

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P.S. A few people emailed to ask about the ceramic bowls I used today and at yesterday's breakfast. They are the work of my ceramicist friend Lin Myerson. I think her work is fabulous, obviously.

Dinner: Stir-fried shrimps and instant noodles with basil and chilli paste

Dinner tonight. Stir-fried shrimps and instant noodles with basil and chilli paste. Bah-mi Goong Pad Prik-pao.

The ingredients were shown in the picture, some shrimps, 1 packet of instant noodle (pre-cooked to al dente), about 2 cloves of garlic, a bit of julienned bell peppers and onions, a handful of basil, and, of course, Nam-prik Pao (chilli Paste).

I make my own Nam-prik Pao, but when I am desperate I buy the Pantainorasingh Brand.

To make this dish, begin with a hot pan, add to it some oil, then the onions. Sweat them a little, then in goes the garlic (chopped), the shrimps, the bell peppers, a few splash of fish sauce then stir everything around well. Add a table spoon or two of the Nam-prik Pao, depending on taste. Next goes the cooked noodle, stir everything around again, taste it to check the seasonings. Throw in one or two smashed bird-eye chillies if you want more heat. The basil leaves go in last, turn off the heat. You're done.

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If you find this recipe useful, please consider giving a few dollars to help my charity drive for Doctors without Borders by clicking on the picture below.

eG Food Blog: Feb 9. Lunch

Lunch is a bento box of pork in ginger/sesame sauce, with a few sunomono (cold things, including pickles and some cold stewed vegetables, and one gyoza (Japanese dumpling). I picked up the box from a Japanese grocery store in Japantown, on my way down to work.

It looked better than it was, actually. The sauce was so cloying sweet that I barely finished half of it.

Perhaps I will have better luck at dinner time.

eGullet Food Blog, 1st installment

Good morning everyone. It appears Melkor hoodwinked me into taking the eGullet Food Blog duty this week. This is good and bad, actually. This week is going to be somewhat more interesting than my normally uneventful week, which is the good part, of course. The bad part is that this is not an accurate portrayal of my eating life, by any means, which could be seen as defeating the purpose of this blog. Oh well, Melkor knew this when he tagged me.

This week, I will be at home, in San Francisco, from Monday to Wednesday, and will travel to Heidelberg and Strasbourg for a few days afterwards.

So, this food blog will take you from my comparatively mundane existence in San Francisco, to exploring the exciting world of airline and airport food, to devouring assorted wurst and Bitburger in the cold in Heidelberg, and to perhaps a more refined French culinary scene of Strasbourg. This might be fun, no?

Breakfast today looks like this

A bowl of latte, a glass of orange juice, a slice of toast with butter and jam, a bowl of yogurt with a dollop of jam in it.

The latte is homemade, from Francis! Francis! X5, using Illy espresso pod (yes, I am a pod person). I'm not sure if Melkor will approve of my foam though. The bread is Delle Frattoria's Pain Intégral, bought at the ferry plaza farmer's market on Saturday. The butter is Strauss Family Creamery lightly salted butter. I always use salted butter to eat out of hand, unsalted is, to me, only for cooking. The jam, or ahem, confiture, is from the grande dame of confitures, Christine Ferber. The one on the bread today is Reine Claude d'Alsace, the dollop in the Strauss Yogurt is Framboises d'Alsace et Violette. (Hmm, I just noticed that I use two jams from Alsace this morning, perhaps I'm already unconsciously prepping myself for the trip). The Yogurt is Strauss Family Creamery organic whole milk plain yogurt. I never buy flavored yogurt, preferring to use my own jams to flavor it. This gives me more variety and also a chance to control the level of sweetness to my own taste.

And for those of you who're wondering, no I don't eat like this every day. But, no, I'm not doing this to make my blog interesting, well, not entirely, anyway. I'm working from home this morning, and this is usually what my breakfast is like when I work from home. I live in SF, my office is in San Jose, which, for those of you who're not in this area, is 45 miles (72 km) away. I also work a lot with teams from different time zones, resulting in many conference calls commencing at ungodly hours in the morning. When this happens, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the office, I just stay home and call into the meetings in my pajamas. (TMI?)

Yes, my blog is burning!

Found out about Alberto's call Is my blog burning?, via Jackie at Gastro Blog.

Alberto had this idea to ask food bloggers and non-food bloggers alike to join in a cooking project. The theme for this one is soup. It would be really interesting to see what soups are being cooked up around the world today.

We definitely live in an interesting time, don't we?

I made Khao Soi tonight. A spicy and creamy noodle soup from Northern Thailand, and a perfect dish for this cold weather.

The recipe is available if anyone is interested.

Zuni, still in good form

Wow, when I agreed to dine with Mr. and Ms. Melkor last night, I had no idea that I (or more specifically my hands) would be guest starring on his so-called food blog on eGullet.

Dinner last night was most pleasant, both on account of the food and the company. I've always loved Zuni, and conversations with Mr. and, more so, Ms. Melkor have always been delightfully entertaining. And last night was just as it should be, fantastically simple and honest food in the company of good friends.

Dave took a bunch of Photos of the food and posted them the blog. I must admit mea culpa on the quail photo. I was trying to be nice by moving the dish to a better spot on the table when Dave snapped the shot so it came out all blurry. Oh well, you didn't miss much. The quail definitely tasted better than it looked (it looked pale and ever-so-slightly sickly).

The food last night was Zuni food in its usual form, though I found a dish or two slightly disappointing. The fries, oh how I love those fries, usually, but the ones last night were slightly limp. I sent one plate back, but the new plate was still not up to their usual standard. They tasted just fine, just a little bit on the oily and limp side. Too bad.

I agree with the Melkors on the polenta. I'm not a big fan of polenta anyway, unless it has gobs of extremely flavorful and dense stew on top of it, like what I've had in Northern Italy. This polenta was decidedly bland, the mascarpone and parmigiano reggiano on top barely helped.

Unlike the Melkors, I love the chicken dish. The Zuni roasted chicken is, to me, the epitome of what Zuni is all about. The best ingredients, prepared lightly with skillful hands, served with simple but extremely complimentary accompaniments. It was superb, as usual. The braised duck leg was good as well, but I preferred the chicken, especially because my companions gladly let me have all the wings. I am such a wing girl. Yum.

We drank a bottle of 1999 Hendry block 7 zinfandel with our meals. Ms.Melkor picked it out of the wine list, but not before Melkor flaunted his psychic prowess and wrote the name down on a piece of paper and handed it to me. He was right on. Aren't couples irritating?

The desserts were lovely. I adored the meyer lemon tart. I can't remember the last time I dined or lunched at Zuni without having at least one kind of tart for dessert. I so love the unbelievably crisp and tasty tart dough. I was a little less happy with the apple and cranberry crisp. They were good, but nothing spectacular. I don't really understand cranberries anyway. Perhaps it has to do with me not being American. Cranberries seem to be such a North American thing.

Melkor, that silly guy, insisted on a cappuccino after dinner. I told him I would make fun of him here, so he pre-empted it by admitting to the deed himself on his blog. Still, it didn't make it any less embarrassing, old man!

What made me smile today..

A perfect slice of Acme's French batard, toasted, slathered with Strauss Family Creamery organic salted butter and topped with plenty of Christine Ferber's Reine Claude confiture.

Life is simple and wonderful.

Places I've visited

This is kind of fun, Imshin pointed me to this site where you can create a map of the countries you have visited. This is mine:

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I am not usually one to rush to the theatres on opening weekends, and have the same habit with new restaurants. I usually hang back until they have a chance to become soup.

I've been holding off going to Quince, which opened in the space that used to be the (lovingly missed) Meeting House in my neighborhood almost two months ago. I've been hearing good reviews of them in Chowhound, so I thought it's time to give them a try.

So, my dear friend Bipin and I went there last night for dinner. I, in my usual harried form, called quite late in the day for a reservation, fully expecting to be told to try my luck as walk-ins, but I was pleasantly surprised that they could seat us at 7.30 pm for dinner.

Bipin, also in his usual form, called from the freeway to tell me he was stuck in traffic and would be late. I called Quince, the obliging hostess told us to come in at 8 instead. Staying in form, Bipin called a bit later to say he might be even later than eight. Not in the mood to call back to rearrange the reservation yet again, I decided to show up on time and wait for him there.

I arrived to find the cozy room that used to be the Meeting House changed a bit. The tone is now greenish yellow, or yellowish green, perhaps, with pictures of quinces on the wall. I was surprised to be seated immediately at a table by the window. One waiter took my coat to the back, while another arrived to ask if I wanted water, without skipping a beat. Promising signs, no?

Bipin finally arrived, fashionably late, ready for dinner. Going out to dinner with Bipin is a bit of a challenge, as he is what I call “Chicketarian”. The only meat he eats is chicken, and nothing else. But he is a dear friend and I am more than happy to put up with it. Some restaurants simply can't deal with that and sometimes get all snide and nasty about it when we ask to be accommodated. The waiter at Quince was, on the contrary, very sweet and helpful, and even suggested that he could ask the chef to do a pasta dish with cheese alone for the second course.

We decided to start with a salad of local radicchios with pork belly braised in Vin Santo with hazelnuts (for me) and the French pumpkin soup with pistachio butter (for him). For a second course, we decided against bothering the kitchen with an off menu dish and settled on a wild nettle Sformato each. The main courses were oxtail braised with clove for me, and a ballotine of Hoffman Farm chicken with celery root and yams for Bipin.

I was pretty happy with my salad. The radicchios were crisp and well dressed, the hazelnut provided a lovely crunch and the slices of pork belly quite tasty. The small issue I had with that salad was with the pork belly, which, though tasty, was all fat, lacking a good balance of fat and meat, and looked oddly pale. Bipin seemed quite happy with his soup, though I myself found it slightly under-salted.

The nettle Sformato was quite interesting, a soufflé-ish dish of puree wild nettle. It was tasty and something of a specialty of the house. It was pretty good, but now that I've had it I'm not sure if I would be compelled to order it again.

I was extremely happy with the main dish. The braised oxtail in red wine and clove was very flavorful, and ever so tender. A perfect dish for this weather. The ballotine of chicken was also very nice, tasty and beautifully presented. We both had very little problem doing away with them at an astonishing speed.

The waiter suggested a nice and inoffensive red wine to accompany our dinner. It must have been quite inoffensive, as I am drawing a complete blank on how it tasted.

For dessert, we shared a hazelnut cake with candied kumquats and blood orange sorbets with citron and zaletti. The hazelnut cake was nice, if a bit on a dry side, and the sorbet divine. I had a glass of 1999 Rieussec Sauternes with my dessert. The sauterne was great, if perhaps a bit overwhelming for the sorbet.

The bill came to be about $70, each, sans gratuit. A bit on the high side, I suppose, but worth it. I would go back again because of the oxtail alone, but added to that the very pleasant room and attentive service, Quince has proven itself to be soup, entirely worthy of another visit. I also have to go back to try some things on the second course menu, which this time I skipped entirely to accommodate my friend.

Quince, it is now soup.

I am not usually one to rush to the theatres on opening weekends, and have the same habit with new restaurants. I usually hang back until they have a chance to become soup.

I've been holding off going to Quince, which opened in the space that used to be the (lovingly missed) Meeting House in my neighborhood almost two months ago. I've been hearing good reviews of them in Chowhound, so I thought it's time to give them a try.

So, my dear friend Bipin and I went there last night for dinner. I, in my usual harried form, called quite late in the day for a reservation, fully expecting to be told to try my luck as walk-ins, but I was pleasantly surprised that they could seat us at 7.30 pm for dinner.

Bipin, also in his usual form, called from the freeway to tell me he was stuck in traffic and would be late. I called Quince, the obliging hostess told us to come in at 8 instead. Staying in form, Bipin called a bit later to say he might be even later than eight. Not in the mood to call back to rearrange the reservation yet again, I decided to show up on time and wait for him there.

I arrived to find the cozy room that used to be the Meeting House changed a bit. The tone is now greenish yellow, or yellowish green, perhaps, with pictures of quinces on the wall. I was surprised to be seated immediately at a table by the window. One waiter took my coat to the back, while another arrived to ask if I wanted water, without skipping a beat. Promising signs, no?

Bipin finally arrived, fashionably late, ready for dinner. Going out to dinner with Bipin is a bit of a challenge, as he is what I call “Chicketarian”. The only meat he eats is chicken, and nothing else. But he is a dear friend and I am more than happy to put up with it. Some restaurants simply can't deal with that and sometimes get all snide and nasty about it when we ask to be accommodated. The waiter at Quince was, on the contrary, very sweet and helpful, and even suggested that he could ask the chef to do a pasta dish with cheese alone for the second course.

We decided to start with a salad of local radicchios with pork belly braised in Vin Santo with hazelnuts (for me) and the French pumpkin soup with pistachio butter (for him). For a second course, we decided against bothering the kitchen with an off menu dish and settled on a wild nettle Sformato each. The main courses were oxtail braised with clove for me, and a ballotine of Hoffman Farm chicken with celery root and yams for Bipin.

I was pretty happy with my salad. The radicchios were crisp and well dressed, the hazelnut provided a lovely crunch and the slices of pork belly quite tasty. The small issue I had with that salad was with the pork belly, which, though tasty, was all fat, lacking a good balance of fat and meat, and looked oddly pale. Bipin seemed quite happy with his soup, though I myself found it slightly under-salted.

The nettle Sformato was quite interesting, a soufflé-ish dish of puree wild nettle. It was tasty and something of a specialty of the house. It was pretty good, but now that I've had it I'm not sure if I would be compelled to order it again.

I was extremely happy with the main dish. The braised oxtail in red wine and clove was very flavorful, and ever so tender. A perfect dish for this weather. The ballotine of chicken was also very nice, tasty and beautifully presented. We both had very little problem doing away with them at an astonishing speed.

The waiter suggested a nice and inoffensive red wine to accompany our dinner. It must have been quite inoffensive, as I am drawing a complete blank on how it tasted.

For dessert, we shared a hazelnut cake with candied kumquats and blood orange sorbets with citron and zaletti. The hazelnut cake was nice, if a bit on a dry side, and the sorbet divine. I had a glass of 1999 Rieussec Sauternes with my dessert. The sauterne was great, if perhaps a bit overwhelming for the sorbet.

The bill came to be about $70, each, sans gratuit. A bit on the high side, I suppose, but worth it. I would go back again because of the oxtail alone, but added to that the very pleasant room and attentive service, Quince has proven itself to be soup, entirely worthy of another visit. I also have to go back to try some things on the second course menu, which this time I skipped entirely to accommodate my friend.