August 2008 – Page 2

Hot Dog!!! A Chicago Dog Comparison: Viva Chicago Dogs, Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria, and Chicago on a Bun

August 18, 2008 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs

Now I must admit, I'm not a real big hot dog fan….though I almost always must have a Dog at the movies…well, you know, just because. Or even one from Costco, it seems that I'm just unable to avoid a good deal! But the Chicago Dog has a special place in my heart. I'm not quite sure why, but the combination of a beef dog, onions, dill pickle, Sport Peppers(yes, even the type of peppers matter), mustard, tomato slices, and most importantly, celery salt, holds a special place in my heart. It is a bit odd….. And my introduction to the Chicago style Hot Dog was even more bizarre. After all, where does a kid from Hawaii get introduced to a Chicago Hot Dog? It was at, of all places, an Orange Julius location at Kahala Mall several decades, and some change ago. Now I have been known to grab a Chicago Dog every once in a while, but have never really documented my flirtations with the Chicago Dog until recently.

You might think that plopping a hot dog on a bun, and covering it with said ingredients is a slam dunk. But there are some subtle differences in the 3 different dogs I had. So just to jog your memory, a Chicago Dog must fulfill the following criteria; the base is a steamed poppy seed bun, the hot dog must be all beef, the most well known brand being Vienna Beef. In fact, just as you'll see those Kronos brand Gyro posters in front of Gyro shops, you'll see the large and bright Vienna Beef posters adorning the walls and counters of places selling Chicago Dogs. The Dog is topped with Yellow Mustard, Neon Green Relish, Chopped Onions, 2 Tomato Slices, A Dill Pickle Slice, 2 Whole (they must be whole) Sport Peppers, and a healthy sprinkling of Celery Salt. Usually in that order. So let's get started.

Viva Chicago Hot Dogs:

*** Update Viva Chicago Dogs has closed

Located right off Miramar Road, it was the sign for Viva Chicago that first got my latest Chicago Dog craving going. The shop itself is small, but colorful, serving everything from Hot Dogs to Burgers, to Sandwiches.

All these "Chicago" Dog places dress themselves up with memorabilia, which I guess gives them an air of authenticity and charm. The unfortunate thing is, after you've been to a couple of them, you can't help but think that this is more a calculated marketing effort, sort of a calculated "kitsch" restaurant design. At this location I went with the Jumbo Chicago Dog (poster said 1/5(!) of a pound, not 1/4, but 1/5). I heard the distinct beep of the microwave, so I'm assuming this dog was heated in the microwave. And my Jumbo Chicago Dog($4.60) was served.

So how did this dog line up? I found the dog to be on the bland and tasteless side, and it lacked the "snap" that I enjoy from a good dog. The roll was warm, but on the stale side as it kinda crumbled. The Dill Pickle was nice, mild in flavor, though it had a great texture. The amount of onions was perfect. The peppers were hard and chewy, lacking in crunch. And I thought that the dog needed more celery salt. It wasn't bad, but for nearly 5 bucks…….

Viva Chicago Hot Dogs
6780 Miramar Road
San Diego, CA 92121

Mon-Fri 10am-9pm
Sat 10am-8pm

Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria:

Yes, I know, it's a pizza place. And they serve up some pretty good pizza. But they also serve up a Chicago Dog. There are no "size" choices, it is a Chicago Dog and Fries ($4.25):

Though the dog was the standard 2 oz dog, there was a ton of hand cut fries. This dog had the best "snap" of the three that were sampled. It was put together well, the bun was warm and soft, it was "Dragged through the Garden" with everything in good proportion, except for one thing…..where's the celery salt? The fries were scalding hot when they arrived. But really got soggy quickly. Still, a nice potato flavor, and with a liberal sprinkling of Malt Vinegar, they were okay.

This was without a doubt the best "bang for the buck" deal that I had.

Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria
3448 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

Tues-Sat 12pm-10pm
Sunday 12pm-9pm

Chicago on a Bun:

*** Update: This location of Chicago on a Bun has closed.

I've posted on Chicago on a Bun before, so if you'd like to see more "stuff" you can find the post here. I hadn't been to this location of Chicago on a Bun in a good while, and have noticed that the prices have gone up a bit. On this day I got a combo, Jumbo Chicago Dog, Homemade Chips, and a Drink ($7.80):

I've eaten here several times over the years, and expected this to be the hands-down best. And as always there was a good amount of celery salt. But on this day I was a bit disappointed overall. The dog was good, just as always, and the dill pickle hands down the best. They have an excellent poppy seed roll, but on this day it was served to me cold, not steamed and fluffy. Also, instead of the mustard residing on the top of the dog, it was smeared on the bun. You may say that it's no big deal, but the mustard made the (cold) bun go soggy and break into mushy pieces. It is already a challenge to get the perfect bite of a Chicago Dog, it's no fun when it disintegrates. As for the chips…my advice is to stay with the fries. Two simple things would have made this the hands down champ….a steamed bun, which I'm hoping is an oversight. And placing the mustard on top of the dog. Looks like I'll just have to keep returning until it's done right!

Chicago on a Bun
8935 Towne Centre Drive, Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92122

Mon-Fri 11am-8pm
Sat 11am-7pm
Sun 11am-5pm

Have I ever had a Chicago Dog in….Chicago? Well, yes, sort of. On my last trip to Madison, I had a dog from Superdawg in Midway Airport. Like all airport outlets…it was less than stellar. Trying to convince my traveling companions that we "needed" to stop for "just a hot dog" (How dare they), was also not successful. So hopefully someday soon….

Mustard’s Italian Food

August 17, 2008 ed fromyuma Italian Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk, Cathy, other yosoers, and many FOYs are eating, thinking, and searching for ultimate tastes. ed (from Yuma), however, is just blogging about a new place in Yuma.

Sad to say, Mustard's is no longer in business as of August 2009. According to the local paper, the location will be taken by Das Bratwurst House.

The opening of a new restaurant in Yuma is a big deal — particularly if the restaurant is neither a chain nor a Mexican eatery. So when the Munch Lunch Bunch (a group of us who eat Friday lunch together most weeks) descended upon Mustard's Italian restaurant at the corner of Madison and Second, we were excited and hopeful:

The meal started off well, as we were all given a small bowl of marinara and slices of Italian bread (most likely from La Brea):

The warm marinara was tasty and tomatoey, but very mildly flavored, somewhat lacking in herbs and spice.

I ordered one of the lunch specials that day, crab raviolis (8.95?). In a fairly short period of time, the plate of raviolis arrived looking very pretty:

I liked that the raviolis were not overcooked, and the pasta still had some chew. Although not especially rich, the light cream sauce was smooth and complemented the raviolis and the diced vegetables. At first taste, I thought that the light green bits on top of the pasta were pieces of pickled artichoke hearts for they contributed a slight sour note to the dish. Further tastes and a closer look made me aware that these were slices of pepperoncini. They added complexity and contrast to the textures and flavors of the dish. The only shortcoming of the raviolis was the lack of much crab flavor in their fillings. Well, okay, maybe the lack of any crab flavor.

The raviolis came with a nice little side salad, mixed baby greens and romaine tossed with a light Italian dressing containing little dots of grated cheese. The tomato slice and red onion slices added a bit of color and variety:

Friends had a couple of different sandwiches (meatball and grilled beef and mushroom), neither of which looked exceptional. Both came with an underdressed tricolored rotini salad with chunks of mozzarella. Others selected the spaghetti with shrimp, mushroom, and spinach cream sauce:

I didn't get a bite of this, but it disappeared quickly and those who ordered it were very pleased. Service throughout lunch was a bit harried – with one server working several tables – but was friendly and competent.

This seemed like a restaurant worth returning to, so Tina and I soon arrived to try a dinner at Mustard's. This meal was a bit more problematical, although it started off well with the bread and marinara. In addition, we had brought a bottle of wine, which was opened by our helpful server, who also provided excellent full sized stemware. We felt the $10 corkage was perfectly appropriate for the service and the glasses.

Wanting to try a variety of items, we ordered a minestrone soup (3.95) and the zucchini and chickpea salad (6.95). We were not sure what to expect with the salad, as neither of us had heard of such a thing before, but we certainly weren't expecting what showed up on the table:

The same mixture of greens as in the lunch salad were topped with pepperoncini slices, sizable chunks of raw zucchini, and (no, I am not making this up) kernels of canned hominy. Say what? Someone can't tell the difference between hominy and chickpeas? The salad also had no dressing; I guess we should've said something, but maybe zucchini and hominy salads never have dressings. 😉

The soup was also rather unusual, as it had little in common with any minestrone (or for that matter most any other soup) I have ever eaten before:

First, while the broth (if that's the right term for the liquid here) was appropriately reddish, it was largely flavored by the same marinara sauce that came with the bread. No deep savory stock whatsoever. The ingredients also seemed a little out of the ordinary. Not only were there no chickpeas (no surprise considering), but there were no beans of any sort. Instead, slices of nearly raw mushroom, chunks of undercooked zucchini, bits of diced tomato, and fresh frozen peas swam in the diluted marinara. To be truthful, the soup wasn't horrible – it just wasn't minestrone.

At the bottom of the bowl, lay another surprise, multicolored tortellini:

As I fished one of these out of the soup, I realized that the minestrone soup listed on the menu was the same as the tortellini soup. Well, I suppose that's one way to keep inventory modest.

Tina had opted for the penne with tomato, fresh basil, and garlic sauce (10.95):

This dish was okay, I guess, but certainly far from spectacular. Part of the problem was with the fresh tomatoes; typical supermarket slicers simply didn't bring enough flavor to the dish. Similarly, the few fresh basil leaves added little, and I can't recall much garlic either. While the dish was not terrible, it was not terribly good either.

I opted for the dinner special, which was some pork dish called carnaval (sp?)(18.95, if memory serves). It arrived looking like this:

Two thin boneless slices of pork loin were topped with undercooked spinach leaves, ricotta cheese, melted mozzarella cheese, shrimp, and some kind of grated cheese. The rest of the large platter was filled with penne pasta topped with what seemed to be a blend of the marinara sauce with the cream sauce that had been on the lunchtime raviolis.

Though the pasta was not overcooked, it was generally flavorless. The pork with all of its toppings, on the other hand, was bizarre — the sort of melange one might expect of a faux Italian restaurant like Olive Garden:

The combination of ingredients never came together, and I left nearly half of the pork uneaten. To be fair, the waitperson's description of the dish should have warned me about what was coming – but sometimes imagination just falls short of reality.

As I was finishing the meal (or more accurately, as the meal was finishing me), I overheard the chef/owner explaining to another table that lunches at the restaurant had been going well, but that there were still some glitches with the dinners. I couldn't have said it better. Maybe next time.

Postscript:

Since I wrote the first draft of this post, there has been a next time. I had been wine tasting with some friends at Old Town Wine Cellar (which is just 2 blocks away from Mustard's) and we decided to bring a few bottles with us and have a meal. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera, but here's a brief summary anyway:

We shared the sausage and spinach appetizer, and it was excellent. Full flavored and well thought out with a lot of garlic and some olive oil, each slice of the spicy sausage sitting on a few leaves of the lightly sauteed greens.

This night the carnaval was made with veal (23.95), but it was better prepared (the spinach wasn't raw, for example), and the veal went much better with the shrimp and cheeses. I finally got a taste of the shrimp and spaghetti dish, and the shrimp were perfectly cooked, and the whole dish was good. I had the chicken marsala (15.95), which I liked. The unbreaded chicken was completely covered with a very generous serving of mushrooms, and the wine sauce (while not tasting strongly of marsala) complemented both the chicken and the 'shrooms and was not sweet (I hate cloyingly sweet marsala sauces).

Only negative notes: the side of penne pasta that comes with the chicken dishes was topped with an underflavored, but homemade tomato sauce. It cried out for some good grated cheese, but none was there. I was also unhappy with the side salad, which had been good on my first visit. This night it lacked any baby lettuces and was severely underdressed. When I say severely underdressed, think burlesque dancer. It also tasted like it had been sitting in a refrigerator for hours (days?) .

I know that this post is somewhat snarky, and I hate dwelling on a restaurant's shortcomings. Also I would like this place to succeed. We need more independent and interesting dining choices here. Still, if this modest eatery is going to become a success, it needs to get better and more consistent.

Mustard's Italian Food. Madison & Second, Yuma AZ. (928) 345-9013:

Carnitas-another less expensive meal

August 15, 2008 Cathy Cooking, Recipes, What Cathy Eats!

Blogging…about food…still. That's mmm-yoso!!! Today, Cathy is back with another easy meal.

Hi. I am sort of doing a series of "$5 Fridays" recipes, (OK, well, two in a row anyhow). Meals that can be made, maybe with stuff that is on sale locally in San Diego, for about $5 for two people. But also at regular prices the food is not terribly expensive. Simple recipes.

Carnitas. I *love* carnitas. Essentially, fried pork. Seems so difficult, eh? Nope. A lovely Polish lady by the name of Martha Stewart had this 'recipe' which I have adapted.

Country Style pork shoulder. Sometimes called Country Style ribs.

You've seen them in the grocery store. They were 99¢ a pound two weeks ago, are on sale for $2.29 a pound this week at Vons and apparently some people buy them for $4.46 a pound. As if.

I happen to know that it takes four pounds of this meat to fill my one deep fry pan. (Circulon commercial 12 inch 5.7 L). Buying 4 lbs makes the $5 part kind of not there, unless you figure how many meals you get out of four pounds…There was exactly one bone in all of this package I bought.

Here is the "recipe" part:

Cover all that meat with water.

Add one of my size handfuls of KOSHER or SEA salt, plus this much more. About 1/3 cup total. (Kosher and sea salt are not as salty tasting)

Put on low heat.

Yeah.

Nothing else.

NOTHING. No spices, no herbs. N-o-t-h-i-n-g.

It will boil. The water will get low.

and lower.

You'll hear a sizzle when the water is almost gone. Let it sizzle a bit, so some of the meat sticks to the pan.

The bone(s) will fall out, no problem.

There will be a crispy, salty (but not overly salty) bottom to the pieces.

The meat will shred easily. I promise.

Tender, juicy, excellent.

Serve with tortillas (on sale for $1.25 at Vons), refried beans (75¢ for the generic can or 10 for $10 if you are mathematically challenged), cilantro (25¢ at Henry's) and chopped onion. I don't like cheese or guacamole with it. (although avocados are 77¢ at Henry's). The pure, simple flavors are what matters.

The extra meat tastes wonderful on a salad or reheated for more tacos.

Cathy's Carnitas

4 lb country style pork shoulder/ribs

1/3 C Kosher or sea salt

Water to cover

Boil on low until water is gone. About an hour. Let crisp for about an extra minute or two once you hear the sizzle start.

Remove bones. Shred.

Sab-E-Lee Part 2

August 14, 2008 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

After our first few visits to Sab-E-Lee, we knew we had a "keeper". Even if we didn't find any other dishes we enjoyed than the few had tried, we'd still be coming back for more. As I got to know Koby a bit, I learned a bit more about him, and his crew. They had worked in the kitchen of a little restaurant in Thai Town(LA), and when the place was being sold, and the previous owner retired, they decided to move on.

On to the food……

Thai Beef Jerky ($6.95):

The Beef was more tender than what I've had before. It was also fairly mild in flavor, though the fish sauce-chili dip added some decent punch. It goes well with sticky rice ($1.75). The sticky rice here is on the uneven side, some of it too dry and hard, and portions of it too mushy. The Jasmine Rice that is served has always been fragrant and cooked perfectly…though there's something to be said about grabbing a clump of rice, and using it to wrap around your food, than plopping it into your mouth.

Catfish Larb ($6.95):

The chopped catfish is so crunchy that I thought it was fried (the menu says grilled). Combined with the roasted rice powder, this dish was very nice texturally. The lime juice, mint, lemongrass, and other herbs made this a bracingly refreshing dish. It had nice spice, that wasn't overwhelming.

Pad Woon Sen with Beef ($6.25):

This was a disappointing dish. Very bland, and the "glass noodles" were a bit over-cooked and mushy.

Issan Sausage (Thai Sausage – Northeastern style. $6.95):

Though not made inhouse, this was good. This style of sausage, studded with rice, and a bit of pork skin, with a nice sour finish, is one of favorites. I've had this 3 times, and it has always been prepared perfectly.

Nahm Tok (Nahm Dtok – $6.95):

Why not Yum Nuea? This type of beef salad is a Northern Thai style beef salad, prepared much like larb, featuring a generous amount of rice powder and chili. I enjoyed that we weren't asked how spicy we wanted our food; it was prepared in the manner the cook thought was best. In this case the spice level approached incendiary! Still, I couldn't stop eating it. The name Nahm Tok means something along the lines of "water falling", referring to the meat juices that form and fall from the side of the meat away from the heat when it is being cooked. There is also a "Beef Salad" on the menu. i was told that it didn't use rice powder, and was prepared a bit differently.

Bamboo Shoot Salad (Sup Nor Mai – $5.95):

This is another Issan specialty, where the meaty texture of Bamboo Shoots is substituted for meat. In many ways similar to the Nahm Tok, except that the earthy flavor of the bamboo shoots added a nice depth to the dish. It was not quite as spicy as the Nahm Tok, which allowed for the lime flavors to come through…this is something I'll have quite often.

Of course, we just had to try the Pad Thai (with chicken – $5.95):

After the Pad Woon Sen, I had some concerns, but this turned out to be pretty good. Very tangy, the Missus loved the noodles. I thought the chicken a bit dry, but this was much better than Pad Thai twice the price. I think the Missus will order this again.

So just today, I walk into Sab-E-Lee to place a take-out order, and Koby tells me; "Kirk, I have what you want, I have it today!" What was he referring to? It was this:

It's Koi Soi (Spicy Raw Beef on the menu – $6.95). When I first inquired about the dish, Koby said he couldn't make it because he wasn't able to source the appropriate grade of meat. And having had a very good version of Koi Soi (at Lotus of Siam), which was good. And one bad version, at a restaurant in LA, that I've blocked out of my consciousness…it was that bad…take my word for it! So I wasn't about to insist on getting some Koi Soi before its time. So this evening I lucked out….Koi Soi. Now, the beef has been "cooked" a bit with the lime juice, and the quality of meat, spices, and herbs have cut out any metallic or "raw" beef flavor. In fact, if I served this to you, you probably won't even know it's raw beef. The texture is a bit firm, in fact it reminded me somewhat of Maguro(Bluefin Tuna). It was pretty spicy, but just as the Nahm Tok, I just couldn't stop eating. I'll be having this again soon, and hopefully Koby will have the Pork Tongue Jerky, I guess good pork tongue is hard to find.

The dishes at San-E-Lee tend to be more savory and spicy than the usual overly-sweet stuff that is served in San Diego. Mainly due to the Northeast Thai roots of the Owner and cooks. Even if you enjoy the standards, I think this place is worth trying, in fact I think it belongs on our rotation. The restaurant is small, and you never know who you'll run in to. I ran into Captain Jack this past evening. How was the Koi Soi CJ? San-E-Lee is a small restaurant, and sometimes there may be a wait…but you can't beat the prices, everything is under 7 bucks. Like I said before, it's not LOS or Renu Nakorn, but it's my favorite here in San Diego. You may even run into me getting my Thai food fix.

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Part one can be found here.

Thanks again for the rec SomTommy! I owe you one.

The Lamb Noodle Soup Experiment – Yang Rou Mein

August 13, 2008 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I usually don’t do cooking posts during the week, but since we seem to be doing "wall to wall lamb", I thought this would be a bit interesting. I’d grown weary of all the different Lamb Shank preparations, and wanted to try something different. About this time, I’d had some "eh" bowls of Niu Rou Mein. So after preparing some Lamb Shanks with Lemon, Tomatoes, and Olives for the Missus to take to work. I thought I’d try to make some Chinese style noodle soup. But with lamb instead of the classic beef. What the Missus dubbed "Yang Rou Mian". So I searched around, but could not find a recipe. So I simply "winged it". And the result is what you see here:

It’s not so much a recipe; I’m only going to list ingredients, and how I prepared the soup. I started trying to measure stuff out, but I had to make adjustments along the way. Overall, I think it was a good test to see if I could actually "cook". So I hope you don’t mind this type of post.

I bought 3 good sized lamb shanks from Siesel’s. I’ve found them to be pretty large, and have good gaminess. I also purchased 4 pounds of lamb bones. I decided to make both a stock out of the bones, as well as braise the shanks. I’d strain and mix the liquid from the braise with the lamb stock. Mostly because I needed a good amount of broth…since I knew I’d have a good quantity of meat. I’m sure you can make this in one pot, but I enjoy the texture of slow cooking shanks in the oven. In addition, the bones need to be simmered for a good long time. Because of the amount of fat, I made this a 2 day project. I skimmed off the fat on the second day before reheating. Plus, it always tastes better the next day, doesn’t it?

For the broth:

4 lbs Lamb Bones
2 stalks Green Onions, the white parts only, very coarsely chopped
2 1" slices ginger smashed
6 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped
3 Star Anise
2 tsp Five Spice Powder
2 Tb Toasted Whole Sichuan Peppercorns
1 tsp Ground Red Chilies
2 Tb Dark Soy Sauce with Mushroom
2 Tb Light Soy Sauce
Chopped Cilantro stems
Salt and White Pepper to taste.

– Cover lamb bones with cold water and add green onions, ginger, garlic, star anise, five spice, sichuan peppercorns, ground chilies, and cilantro stems.
– Bring mixture to a light simmer(do not bring to a hard boil), reduce heat to keep at a low boil.
– Simmer for 3-4 hours.
– Once the stock is ready, strain the broth.
– Pour back into the pot, add dark and light soy sauce, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Meanwhile…….you need…..

2-3 Large Lamb Shanks, or 5-6 Small
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Ground Sichuan Peppercorns
Ground Red Chilies
1-2 Tb Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Shaoxing wine
3 Stalks Green Onions Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
1 Tb Ground Red Chili
3 Star Anise
2 tsp Five Spice Powder
Water
Dark Soy Sauce with Mushroom
Light Soy Sauce
Salt and White Pepper

Heat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
– Season Lamb Shanks with Salt, Pepper, Sichuan Peppercorns, chili, and cumin (my salute to the Uygher)
– Heat a Dutch Oven or similar pan (I used an old wok) over high heat, and sear the lamb shanks.
– Once lamb shanks are nicely browned, remove the shanks a place on a large plate.
Pour off excess oil, leaving just about 1-2Tb of oil in the pan.
– Add Green Onions, Garlic, and Ground Chili. Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
– Add Shaoxing wine and deglaze the pan, making sure to remove all the nice brown bits from the bottom and sides.
– Add water. There should be enough liquid to cover all but about an inch to an inch and a half of the lamb shanks. Bring liquid to a boil, add soy sauces, five spice, and star anise.
– Place lamb shanks back into pot, and cover well. Place in the oven for about 2 hours.
– Once Lamb shanks reach desired tenderness, remove the shanks from the stewing liquid.
– Strain liquid and add to stock. This will be your broth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add in any other flavorings you desire, chili, ground sichuan peppercorn, sugar, more cumin etc….
– Remove meat from bones (this should be really easy if the meat is soft and tender). Place bones back into broth.
Place meat into a container along with 1-2 cups of broth. This will keep meat moist, and prevent drying out. Leaving the meat separate makes it much easier to portion out, and the meat will not break up as much.
– Once the broth is cool, place in the refrigerator overnight.

Before reheating broth for serving, skim off as much fat as desired. I heat the meat in the microwave, but you can do whatever you want. I used some store bought Shanghai style noodles that I think is pretty decent. In the North, where the Missus is from, they like their noodles a bit al dente, with a doughy chew.

Garnish with whatever you wish. I used thinly sliced onion, green onion, cilantro leaves, and because this was for me, baby bok choy(the Missus hates Bok Choy in soup). The soup was rich and hearty, and the Missus ended up taking my bowl away and started eating it all up. You can even make a hot pot with Napa Cabbage, Tofu, and bean thread. This little experiment turned out pretty good. I hope you enjoyed it.

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant Part 1

August 11, 2008 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

It has been a pretty busy couple of weeks for me. It's during these times that I'm so thankful for having great FOYs (Friends of Yoso) like Cathy and Ed, who allow me a break. I'm pretty sure that mmm-yoso, would not exist without the help of Ed, Cathy, Mizducky, Vicky, and Omar. They, along with all of you, keep things humming along. It's also pretty easy to get in a rut, I mean really, after a while, mediocrity blurs things……I have a ton of photos of "eh" places, and even more places I need to visit a second time before doing a post. So it's great to be able to post on something the Missus and I really enjoyed. So we'll just have to push those other PIPs (posts in progress) to the back of the line here. I hope you don't mind. Now, it's off to the post:

I'm always amazed at how quickly, and how many, recommendations I get. Several days after I posted on a new restaurant in the former Linda Vista Food to Go, Mo Ngoc So 1, and Thai by Tara location I get an email. From "SomTommy" (you gotta love the name), who, in spite of the rather difficult to understand email, made it very clear that the new restaurant makes really good Thai food. Which meant that the Missus and I had to check it out.

The small sign in the front was in Thai, so I wasn't quite sure what the name of the place was. The interior looked exactly like Thai by Tara, with the same postage stamp sized dining area. But when the menu arrived we were surprised! Over 100 items, and stuff I've never seen on menus here in San Diego. The Gentleman running this tiny place was very nice and friendly. I noticed a few items on the menu I was interested in, so I inquired as to where he was from. "North Thailand", which made me even more excited. Next question, "what kind of food, Issan or Lanna?" This raised a big smile, as he replied "I'm Issan, and my cooks are also Issan!" Which got an even bigger smile from me. So I automatically went for a few items from the menu…unfortunately, they were out of the Issan Sour sausage and Koi Soi(raw beef salad). But we were told that the Pad See Ew and Som Tom(Papaya Salad) was really good.

So we started with the Pad See Ew with Beef($5.75):

When the plate arrived, I knew that whomever cooked this really knew what they were doing. The balance of soy to sweet was perfect for my taste. The dish was neither oily, nor where the noodles mushy. And what shocked me most of all, was the "wok hey"! The noodles had the wonderful smoky umami of a well seasoned wok…..

The beef was decent, and though the Missus liked the GaiLan, I thought it a bit undercooked. Still, the best Pad See Ew I've had in San Diego…..

When we ordered the Papaya Salad($5.50), the Gentleman asked, "Thai or Lao?" Then, he looked at me, and asked, "maybe Issan style?" Was that even a question?

A nice and simple Papaya Salad, just the way we like it. There was a pungency that approached, but did not reach the very strong and potent Lao style salad. There were bits of salted crab for flavoring…tiny pieces, I just crunched away. This was more of a savory dish…good with sticky rice. There were some good long beans and a few tomatoes. It was quite spicy…..funny, it didn't burn my lips, but it fried my tongue. It was not sweet enough for the Missus, as it lacked the palm sugar flavor the Missus enjoys in the Her Thai Papaya Salad…so I kept telling Her; "think Lao……"

Which meant more was in order. The Thai Sausage (Naem) Fried Rice($6.50):

The Missus loved this. A great combination of flavors, and the rice came out cooked exactly how She enjoys.

The Spicy Shrimp and Basil Noodles($5.95). The menu says "Mint", but there was Thai Basil in this dish:

Of all the dishes we had sampled thus far, this was our least favorite. On the good side, there was a good amount of Thai Basil, much more than the 2-3 leaves usually found in these types of dishes. The noodles were again cooked with expertise. We found the overall flavor to be on the bland side…but maybe it was because everything else had so much flavor. The shrimp were a bit overcooked as well.

Funny thing; to this point, I still hadn't bothered to get the name of the restaurant. So I asked, and the nice Gentleman told me laughing, "I forgot to have them put the English name on the sign". He then grabbed a business card and wrote:

So there you have it. No, it's not Lotus of Siam or Renu Nakorn, but the food is well prepared, and not your average American-ized Thai Food. The menu is large, so there is much to try.

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Which begs the question….where's the Koi Soi? Well there's more to come…….

Silly Blogging Day-Cathy eats unusual food at all these places too.

August 10, 2008 Cathy Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog. Kirk doesn’t want to blog today, neither does ed (from Yuma) that leaves me to let you have insight into my little life…

Hi again. It has come to my attention that some people think because I live in the East County of San Diego yet contributes to this blog, that I am not overly adventurous with my eating, seeing as how a majority of my posts center on Mediterranean foods and taco shops…but that is so untrue. I just try to not ‘overlap’ posts with Kirk. Truth be told, he and I have extremely the same palates and before I started blogging, I accused him of ~~stalking~~ following me and The Mister to restaurants, since we had both been there for a meal and then Kirk posted about them a few days later.. like for 3 months in a row…

Anyhow, these are photos just to show you I eat at all these exciting places also, and like it.

The Mister and I chose Crab Hut for our anniversary dinner.

Garlic bread.
Shrimp with half lemon butter, half Old Bay…medium heat level.

Half a pound of corn. A meal.

Last week, we went back. We could not decide, wanted something fried…so just got the Appetizer Boat ($14) cajun fries, fried okra, onion rings, fish fillets, fried shrimp, potato poppers(potatoes, cheddar and jalapeno), Crab Hut rolls (crab meat, shrimp, pork, taro and carrot in rice paper, fried) served with a variety of sauces…The fry cook here deserves to be paid more. Always, *always* the fried foods here are so perfectly prepared! Here are the accompanying sauces for the boat of fried wonderment! Here is the same old same old 1/2 lb of shrimp…medium heat, 1/2 Old Bay, 1/2 garlic butter… and here are leftovers… As a treat, here is an Old Bay seasoned whole Blue Crab. This brought back such memories. Many, many years ago, when living in Virginia, The Mister and I would get a dozen of these and a six pack of beer and sit on our deck, cracking crabs, getting really messy-and drunk. The taste of fresh blue crab is …perfect…

Ah, other places I eat… Most of you recognize this place setting- Little Sheep. Kirk took The Mister and I here for our first visit, and we have been back on our own…many times. This is an average meal- two broths, 3 meats, 2 types of dumpling (one is always lamb), tofu in some form, some sort of green and then something to eat without cooking (in this case the lamb skewers)

We really like it here.

Then there was the day- the infamous day not that long ago-when Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and I met for lunch. For first time. Ever. The magic of blogging. What did we order? I got the tapioca noodle based shrimp and ‘crab’ soup… Both Kirk and ed got the Bo Kho. Kirk says this place makes a mean Bo Kho.

Oh, where did the three of us choose to eat? Not saying.

Then there is my latest passion, Yum Asia, (with clear noodles, please) from Asia Cafe. Great in the hot weather.

I have been here once a week for the last five weeks, each time with a different man. Never mind. I have had cravings for the Nem Khao ever since ed (from Yuma) brought me here the first time.

The pork larb is particularly juicy flavored and made with just enough heat so you can taste the meat as well as enjoy the spices.

The fried spring rolls are mostly meat and served with mint and parsley as well as lettuce, which is also used for the Nem Khao.

So, anyhow, that’s it for now. I didn’t have enough to do a single post about any of these places, and might not have said much except I love the way the food tastes, so you get to just vicariously enjoy. Links to Kirk’s bloggings about all but one of the above restaurants:Crab Hut Little Sheep Asia Cafe . The first five people who can correctly guess which restaurant was chosen as a meeting place for the three of us for our first lunch together will get an e-gift certificate from Peets.

Curried chicken salad

August 8, 2008 Cathy Cooking, Recipes, What Cathy Eats!

Yep, the blog mmm-yoso!!! is where you are. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

Hi. A few weeks ago, I was having lunch with Kirk and Carol and we were brainstorming about different things to blog about. I do cook and eat at home..and I have had this habit, for years, of only buying sale items and making a meal out of them(along with some staples I always have in the house). I was going to do a series of "$5 Fridays" but figured that would obligate me to always be doing something, plus not all of you who read this blog have access to the same stores and sales we do out here in Sunny Southern California…so, I decided to show you some of my easy meals that I am making coincidentally with sale items and post something once a week. Hopefully on Friday.

Oh, and I have been on this 'curry craving' kick lately. Maybe it is just turmeric, since a curry is just a blend of spices, one of them always being turmeric…

This week, Henry's has chicken breasts (with skin and bone) for 99¢ a pound. So I bought a four pack and boiled two of them, cooled, skinned and tore the meat off the bone, chopped it up.

Then I mixed : mayonnaise, orange marmalade (assume these are basics in your house), curry powder (bought in the bulk bin at Henry's-one scoop cost 18¢), some fresh lime juice(they are on sale 5/$1 as opposed to 39¢ each for lemons) and some salt and white pepper(again, assume those are basics).

It looks this way because the marmalade has all the skins of the fruit in it, but you can taste and add or subtract the amount of ingredients.

Then I fold the above sauce with the chicken and some green onion tops (25¢ for one bunch this week) until just blended.

Sometimes I chill it, to get the flavors to meld…but depending on the heat of the curry, it doesn't matter…sometimes we just sit down and eat it at room temperature. With rice. Or greens. Or some naan from Trader Joe's.

Cathy's Curried Chicken Salad

3 C cooked diced chicken (or really any meat or fish that is cooked)(leftovers?)

2 green onions, chopped

Put with each other in bowl and set aside.

Whisk together:

1/2 C Mayo , 1/2 C orange marmalade, 1 Tbs lemon or lime juice, 1 tsp curry powder, salt and white pepper.

Stir in with chicken and green onions until just blended.

Quick, simple and, at least this week, less than $5 for at least two servings.

Que Huong Revisited…many times Part 3 – Maybe it is all about the Jackfruit Salad?

August 7, 2008 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Que Huong has closed

After our previous visits to Que Huong, you'd have thought that we'd had our fill. But the Missus thought the menu had some potential, and so in future visits we tried a few different items. So here they are:

Banh Xeo($5.95):

This is something I remembered from our first visits to Que Huong way back in 2005. It was still delivered with a pile of fresh herbs and lettuce. It was still crisp, and not oily in the least. I do think that they've cut down on the amount of shrimp and other "fillings", but it's still my favorite in version in San Diego.

The Catfish Clay Pot($8.95):

It looks large in the photo, but it was more of a "personal sized" version. The strong fish sauce- maggi-lemongrass flavor was great, but the fish was a bit too "muddy" for my tastes. The Missus enjoyed it, and there was one added "bonus" that I liked. The bottom of the pot was lines with pork belly..soaked in the sauce and caramelized…delici-yoso!!! I ordered this during another visit with Ed from Yuma, and the most wonderful Tina (thanks for putting up with us!). I knew this was right up Ed's alley, so maybe we'll find out how he enjoyed it. You'll need some rice for this one.

The Jackfruit Salad ($12.95):

Most of the versions I've had of this dish(Goi Mit) tends to be on the milder side. And this dish would be as well, except that it has a nice amount of Rau Ram, peanuts, and a Nuoc Mam Cham that runs on the sweeter side. If you've never had Jackfruit before, and have some preconceived notions about taste and texture….the jackfruit is very mild, and has an almost "meaty" texture. There a nice amount of pork and chopped shrimp in the dish, and the portion size is pretty large. It comes with sesame-rice crackers. The only real problem, and I've noticed this with some of the dishes here….there always seems to be that "one thing". There are many hard peppercorns in the dish…real hard…chip your teeth hard, so tread carefully.

On one visit, we decided to try the Goat Hot Pot (small – $22.98). I had thought it was a bit on the expensive side, but it was enough for 3 people. The broth is laden with dried Jujubes, and has a very strong lemongrass flavor.

The best item is the taro, which has been fried before being added to the hot pot, giving it a nice texture and flavor.

I really wouldn't order this if you're a meat lover, the chopped goat was an after-thought, tough and flavorless.

A plate of Mi (egg noodles) is provided, along with some vegetables, in this case a plate of Bok Choy. The soup is "never-ending", in that you can request refills of the soup (but not the noodles or veggies…that'll cost you). After a refill, we needed to add some water to the broth, it was getting pretty salty. For the final refill, they provided a bowl from which we could just refill as desired. You can see how much "stuff" is in the broth, just by looking at the bottom of the bowl:

The jury's still out on this one.

It's an interesting crowd at Que Huong, during the earlier hours, it's Vietnamese families(for the hot pot, and other family style dishes), and an occasional Hispanic visitor (they seem to enjoy the fried rice and pan fried noodles). As the evening gets later, the group gets younger, and people start ordering the wings, and other smaller dishes.

One of the Young Men, by the name of Jay is fabulous. He'll come by and answer any questions you may have, and tell you about some of the other menu offerings.

Que Huong Restaurant
4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Siem Reap: Palm Sugar, and Everybody has a Durian story, right?

August 5, 2008 mmm-yoso Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

As I noted at the end of my last post, we had just finished a repast of Khmer Noodles (Num Banh Chok), and the Missus had wandered off. It seems that She had been unable to ward off the temptation of fresh Durian. And having been suitably tempted, She purchased a nice fresh Durian. I’m sure that all travelers to Southeast Asia has at least one Durian story, and here’s ours.

The Missus has this Durian, the smell of ripe compost wafting in the air so thick I could have cut it with a chainsaw. She brings it into the car…now you must remember that we have a whole, hot, humid day ahead of us.

And though Narin thought it humorous that the Missus would be so excited over Durian, I was kind of worried about having the smell of stewing sewage permeating the car for the entire day. Which led to a conversation:

Me: Did you really have to buy that Durian?
The Missus: Looks good, huh? And I didn’t see any "no Durian" signs around the hotel.
Me (lowering my voice): You realize that this car isn’t Narin’s, right? He’s probably renting it. And he’ll return the car smelling like Durian.
The Missus: Oh…..

Suddenly, the Missus brightened up…it had all become clear, a solution presented itself. The Missus reached over, opened my backpack, placed the Durian into my backpack, and zipped it up tightly. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. To this day, Sammy will be walking past my backpack, he’ll suddenly stop, sniff, and look up at me with an expression that says: "Daddy, did you poop in your backpack?"

Along the way to our first destination Kbal Spean, we passed numerous stands; each with woks, or pans simmering over fire. Narin, seeing our interest, stopped. These stands were making Palm sugar:

Narin showed us the various Palm Sugar products.

And even went over the fruit and differences between the male and female palm. Unfortunately, I flunked Palm anatomy and physiology, so I don’t know which is which.

There was also a Cashew Tree, which fascinated me. I’d never seen one up close before.

The nice lady even had the Missus taste a cashew fruit…..I could tell by the sour look on Her face, that I wanted no part of it.

As our way of thanking the lady for being so gracious, as we found most all Cambodians to be, we ended up buying two tubes of palm sugar.

This palm sugar is darker than the palm sugar I buy at the market here in San Diego.

The flavor is a much more condensed "complex" sweetness. I used some in a Beef Salad I made, and because I used the usual amount of the stuff, it overpowered everything else in the dish!

As we headed up the 25 or so kilometers to Kbal Spean, it started raining pretty hard. Narin smiled, turned to us and said: "this is quite unusual, it is early for the rains to start, you must be good luck."

Here’s another Durian story, some friends of mine have a bunch of siblings…so many that I think I’ve lost count. When they were young, their Mom, always so resourceful, used to lock up the Durian in a cabinet with chains and a padlock!

So what’s your Durian story?