Alright so a couple of weeks ago, the West Coast brethren and sistren did their annual Chinese New Years Food bash. Perhaps you’ll remember perusing this very website two years ago and stumbling on the belated Chinese New Year post wherein the same group of players, cookers and eaters gathered at my sister’s newly renovated house to baptize the new kitchen with a whole lot of grease. This time, our good friend Minh, the owner of Hodo Soy, which makes the most delicious organic tofu and tofu products, agreed to host the extravaganza at the company’s new beanery. It looked amazing. I say “looked” because unfortunately and regrettably, this year, I was unable to attend and so only heard and saw photos of the wonderful food. I WILL NOT make that mistake again. But fortunately Gavin, filmmaker extraordinaire, documented the whole evening so that we can all – at least in video form – eat, pray and love at the alter of deliciousness. Enjoy these vids. Big up to G for his mad skilz behind the camera and the everybody else for being awesome cooks and equally awesome eaters.
About a week and a half ago, Shef and I had the good fortune to escape the NYC winter and found ourselves applying the SPF in the Dominican Republic. It was an odd time to be there, coming as it was on the heels of the big earthquake in neighboring Haiti, but at least we could tell ourselves we weren’t staying in some big ass all inclusive resort. It was a short trip of five days so we didn’t have a chance to really explore the island but what we saw of it left us wanting to go back. It’s a beautiful country with complex and interesting history and we met some really friendly and engaging people. And thankfully as befits an island country with a rich tradition of cultural invasions, the food was good, homey and delicious. Click on the photo for the full story.
We didn't get to eat these but they sure looked fresh and delicious.
So this is what I had for lunch. I took some leftover meatloaf, which I made last week – it was still good, mind you – cut it up into cubes and fried it up in a pan. I chopped up some fresh cabbage and crumbled up some Bulgarian feta cheese (yeah, I know big carbon footprint – but also big flavor) from Sahadi’s. Then I pan heated a couple of corn tortillas and assembled the tacos starting with the cheese (so it would kind of melt on the hot tortilla), then meatloaf, cabbage, fresh squeezed lime juice and then topped them off with Valentina salsa picante. The verdict? Well, not quite as good as the chorizo con papas tacos we made the other night, but still really good. What came to mind were the tacos I adored as a kid… from Jack in a Box. Okay with their hard shell and American cheese I guess they weren’t the most authentic, but damn when I was a kid those were awesome . Anyway, the meatloaf with it’s general meat flavor and mushy texture reminded me of the mystery meat concoction they put in thoseJ in the B tacos. The meatloaf retained it’s meatloafy flavor but the lime and hot sauce as well as the corn tortilla brought it nicely into the realm of tacos. I ate four tacos in total. So, I guess the moral of this lunch is that you can pretty much make tacos out of anything (within reason) because tacos are basically a vehicle for a good salty meat (or meat product) and good salsa picante.
So it’s been a while since I’ve put up a food video and recipe but the time is right. We’re in the thick of winter right now and what better way to enjoy the cold weather outside then being in the kitchen, turning on the oven and cooking up some meatloaf. Oh yeah! And this recipe will definitely put some fat on your bones so you don’t freeze when you go outside. Think of it as a winter jacket for your insides. Alright, for the full recipe as well as the story behind my meatloaf inspiration, click on the meatloaf below.
Two blog posts in one day. Wow. Don’t worry I won’t make a habit of it. I just wanted to get this done so I could move on to 2010 posts (coming soon in 2011). I really wanted to include some family meals as part of Memorable Meals, 2009 and fortunately we squeezed in some quality time with the fam this past Christmas so I got some extremely notable meals in just under the wire. And sure enough, as is normal with my family there was much cooking, eating and discussing the finer points of food, politics and culture. I won’t bore you with the culture and politics stuff (I have to admit, we spent a little too much time talking about Tiger Woods). I’ll just bore you with the food stuff. Click on the photo below for the full story (of what’s going on in that picture.)
As, promised and in record time (as far as blogging turn around time for me) I give you the second installment of Memorable Meals (late 2009). This one is focused on a few delicious dinners that we cooked at home for ourselves and our friends. As with any middle chapter in a trilogy, you’ll find this segment a bit more profound and complex wherein the hero’s journey takes perhaps a dark and unexpected twist. Or not. We just had a lot of fun and ate some really good food. Click on the cheesecake below for the full skinny – or in this case, the full fat.
Yes, yet another long lag since my last post. But fear not. Though I’ve neglected this blog, I haven’t neglected dear food or my enjoyment of it. Please enjoy this first installment in a three part (because really, aren’t the best stories told in trilogies?) account of a few of the more notable meals and food inspired gatherings of the latter part of 2009. Click on the snouts below for the full story of a delicious weekend in Pennsylvania.
And I’m back. It’s been a long but eventful 3 months but I’ve returned and am writing my first post as a married man. I feel different. Or it could be that I don’t have to suck in my gut anymore. Now that I’m hitched I can totally let myself go! Awesome. Something else that’s awesome: Turkey – the country. Shef and I were fortunate enough to spend our honeymoon there and fortunately for you, I’ve decided to write about it. So without further ado, I present to you…
Turkey, a country where Europe becomes Asia and East meets West is simply put – and I can say this having spent three whole weeks there on a honeymoon – a beautiful and captivating country, rich with culture and history… and kebabs, lots of kebabs.
In celebration of the Brazilian victory in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, our host (Ben’s Dad) demonstrates how to make your own caipirinha. Caipirinha is a popular brazilian cocktail made with lime juice, cachaça, and sugar. U.S. fans will want to watch to, as this recipe will surely make you forget the tragic loss!
… although I’m actually a fan of eating ribs at all times of the year. I just needed to give this post a title.
Wassup y’all?! C Ting is back. Sorry for the long hiatus. I was working quite hard (yes believe it) on a project that frankly took a lot of time and mental energy so I just didn’t have much to give back to you-food. Sorry, you-food and all you three readers of the site. It’s been too long. But you can thank the unemployment gods for kicking in and making sure I have ample time to to get back to basics: cooking, eating and thinking about food. You-food.net is back in effect!
Alright the weekend before last I went to the Big Apple BBQ Festival with the intention of gorging myself on delicious BBQ from pitmasters around the country where bbq reigns supreme. Instead, I was met with ridiculous, meandering lines of people waiting for God knows how long for what were probably delicious but undoubtedly skimpy servings of bbq meat. Perhaps it was worth it and the meat was truly delicious. I will never know because I didn’t have the patience to wait in line as the rain came pouring down. But all the smells of sizzling, smoked meat and seeing people nosh on pulled pork, brisquet, sausages and ribs did put me in the mood to bbq some of my own ribs. So I hight-tailed it to Chinatown, fortified myself with some tasty dumplings (I hadn’t eaten – remember, I was expecting to be filled my stomach with bbq) and went to the Chinese butchers hop where I bought myself a nice two pound rack of pork spare ribs. A couple days later, I went up to the rooftop deck of our apt building and cooked me up some ribs! And then I ate ‘em. Click on the photo below for the full story and recipe.
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