mmm-yoso – Page 124

Recently Consumed – The Online Ordering Edition: Cheese from Stepladder Creamery and Salumi from Salumi Chicago

May 7, 2020 mmm-yoso Cheese, Online Food Suppliers

One thing I'll say about our current situation is that I've finally started ordering foodstuff online….and no, I don't mean those food delivery apps….. What I'm referring to is going thru various lists and references to fill our larder and our stomachs……if you're reading our little blog; you know I'm already sold on the quality of Rancho Gordo's beans and nixtamalized corn. It's amazing how quickly the dried beans cook, the flavors are amazing, and it's definitely worth the price.

Having dipped my feet in the water and with the recent almost record setting heat, I went and ordered from two other producers, with success.

Stepladder Creamery:

Well, you know how the Missus and I enjoy a cheese board when the weather gets warmer….and yes, I do keep a Cheese Journal. We've done the Sonoma-Marin Cheese Trail and cheese has become a large part of our travels; we even did a fun cheese tasting in Paris…..I'll get to that post soon.

So, why not order cheese directly from the cheesemaker? I saw this fantastic post on Madame Fromage's Blog and noticed that one of the cheesemakers mentioned was Stepladder Creamery, which is located in Cambria. So, I placed an order for the Small Cheese Plate Bundle – $50. Free shipping with orders over $50. It was shipped overnight (they ship on Mondays) and arrived in beautiful shape.

Wasn't sure about how we'd enjoy the Fromage Blanc, but the spicy fromage blanc is quite good smeared on bread! Nice and smoky.

The interesting this was; we probably got too excited when this first arrived and set it out right away, with only a 15-20 minute time to bring to temp. It was still a bit too chilled and we weren't too impressed.

But, on our second meal; it was warmer and the cheese came up to temp nicely and we really enjoyed the cheese.

I took to the Paso Vino, which had a nice richness, along with an almost stone-fruit/"pruniness". Loved the texture once it reaches room temp. The Missus really enjoyed the Big Sur, which was smooth, rich, with a nutty finish.

Stepladder Creamery Website

Salumi Chicago:

I first read about Greg Laketek and Salumi Chicago in this wonderful post on Fooditor. It's a great story, quote the Chicago Salumi website; "Greg Laketek quit his day job and booked a one-way ticket to Parma, Italy, the home of Prosciutto, seeking to train under the best salumiere in the world." Awesome. Parma? Oh man……memories of eating Ciccioli and Culatello di Zibello in the steps of San Petronio Basilica! Anyway, there was a free shipping with orders over $50 on the Salumi Chicago website. I placed an order….and waited until our package arrived. These products are shelf stable, so it handles the priority shipping well.

We bought an extra Salami Tartufo for Frankie's auntie "Alle"…who, being half Italian, loves all the good stuff from the "old country". We also got Chorizo for the Missus who loves the stuff and a Soppressata (all uncured).

All three were wonderful! The soppressata was a nice surprise as it had a good "kick" from the Calabrian peppers. Nicely balanced pork-salt-fat, great texture….perhaps the best I've had outside of Italy! Only heritage hogs are used, these are really delicious high quality products and we'll keep ordering. Can't wait to try the 'Nduja!

Salumi Chicago Website

So, a hundred bucks later, I felt both purchases were well worth the money….you got excellent product from the producers. Shipping was free and this was totally worth the money.

Have you been ordering food/products online directly from the producers?

I'd like to know how that's working out for you.

As always, any recommendations are much welcomed!

Covid-19 Takeout – LouZiana Food

May 6, 2020 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

**** LouZiana Food has closed

I was wondering if LouZiana Food was open during the current pandemic. I went ahead and called just to see and the nicest gentleman answered the phone. So, I ended up placing an order and fifteen minutes later (man, no traffic on Miramar Road) I was walking into the restaurant.

I decided to get the Red Beans & Rice and the Gumbo. Really liked the gentleman working the front counter, so friendly and warm….so when he said I really needed to try the Bread Pudding….well, even though I'm not a "sweets" guy, I ordered it.

The Red Beans & Rice here is solid, slightly smoky, good amount of sausage this time around…..decently creamy.

I ordered the Gumbo because I really didn't care for it last time. I enjoyed much more this time around; it wasn't quite as greasy this time around and the chicken wasn't reduced to stringy bits, the Gumbo was nice and rice, without the bitter tones I detected last time.

The bread was too dry and crumbly for my taste.

And my coworkers enjoyed the bread pudding!

Overall, I enjoyed the food more this time around and really liked the guy working.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Covid-19 Takeout – Sushi Tadokoro

May 3, 2020 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

I know we're all making sacrifices during this time. And I know it can get to you. We all need to find that little pocket of comfort that can add some normalcy to our day. Work has been grinding the Missus down, the long hours, and when you do get a day off, well, you need to stay at home…so perhaps it's just better to keep working. So, it was quite a happy moment when FOYs "Yummy Yummy" and "Yummy Kiwi" (I know…what's up with the name….well, they are sisters…..I guess I'll call them the "Yummy Sisters"?) told me that Sushi Tadokoro was opening for take-out starting on May first. So, on Friday, the first, I called in an order for Saturday. The post I saw said they had lunch hours, but the young lady told me they were currently only doing dinner, Thursday to Monday 4pm – 830pm.

I placed my order for a 430pm pick-up.

There's a makeshift pick-up area set-up and I walked on over said hello, paid, and got my order to go.

I got the Omakase Set and the Omakase Sashimi…it ain't cheap, but this Tadokoro…..and as a whole, I don't go for cheap sushi/sashimi. And boy, this was a lot of food……which looked almost too good to eat….

We busted out the tokkuri we had in the cabinet and our chilled bottle of Yaegaki Mu and had ourselves an awesome dinner. It was quite a bit of food.

The Missus and I smiled, enjoying our meal….while the Missus does enjoy my cooking, well, this gave us both a nice break, a bit of an escape.

Man, that buttery toro sashimi……..the scallops……that little mini ikura-Hokkaido uni gohan…….whoa……real wasabi

As we finished dinner; the Missus told me, "we need to do this again".

I replied, "sure, anytime".

She said "like tomorrow….."

And soon I was on the phone ordering tonight's dinner. The young lady laughed when I gave my name and number; "did you finish dinner already?"

Which found me returning this late afternoon at 430 again.

This time we ordered a more manageable amount of food.

The Chirashi Box and the Nigiri Plate….and two pieces of Toro…….oh man…..

Two wonderful and special meals, over two nights, made our weekend where the Missus got called in twice; once at 330 in the morning. It gave us a nice moment of shared enjoyment as we're not able to go out. While it's not quite the sushi bar experience….half the fun is going to a place where the Itamae knows and interacts with you….where, because he understands your tastes and preferences, designs a meal that fits your taste. Still, this is as close as we can get right now and we'll gladly take it.

As I grabbed my to go package and said my thanks to Take-san, the nice young lady bowed slightly and said; "we'll see you tomorrow!"

And if you know the Missus….well, anything is possible!

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Where are all the travel posts?

May 2, 2020 mmm-yoso Blog

Is a question I've gotten in a few comments and to my surprise in a couple of emails as well.

In some ways, it was quite nice knowing that at least a few folks like those travel posts…….I never quite knew if people actually did. Thanks especially to "Kerri" who made my day with a lovely email.

There are/were a couple of reasons why I've held off on doing those posts.

The first being, that I wasn't sure how all this travel stuff would come across….folks not being able to go anywhere right now. Having to cancel our planned trips really drove home how sad and depressing being unable to travel right now is. But one sentence in Kerri's email – "Love your blog, can't wait to hear the stories because we can't go anywhere right now." Really changed my mind about that.

Secondly, when doing my travel posts, I try to "get things right" as much as possible. So this means those posts actually take 2-3 times as long as my basic "stream of consciousness" restaurant/cooking posts. Things have been pretty busy for me, though I've now had three full days off since mid-February and my weekend work now comprises of just a couple of hours. So, I'll soon have more time.

And I do enjoy doing those posts, whether it's a place that is well known, iconic, a landmark.

Or places a little less known…..

And oh my, the history!

I've had the honor of sharing those places with you……

I've had the privilege of visiting places that a young, poor kid from Honolulu could only dream about.

One that never left the state of Hawaii until the age of 30, crazy huh?

And the Missus always has some interesting adventures in mind……

So let me get my act together as things are starting to somewhat "normalize"…….

I often consider my blog posts as sort of entries in my own personal diary of food and travel experiences……

And I thank you for visiting and sharing in them with us!

Covid-19 Takeout – SuperNatural Sandwiches (Miramar)

May 1, 2020 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches has closed

Man, it was a hot couple of days, huh? Record high temps, 20 degrees above the norm. It was definitely sandwich weather. I decided to call in and do some takeout from a regular on my "sandwich rotation", SuperNatural Sandwiches.

I arrived a quarter after eleven, it seems that their current hours are from 11am to "between 230 and 330 PM", Monday to Saturday. There were already three people in line waiting for their order.

I was a bit confused about where the walk up window was as the "order here" mark on the ground was tight in front of a closed door and folks waiting just seemed to be hanging out with no social distancing. But all was fine once the nice young lady arrived at the makeshift counter to the right and greeted me. From there, it was a fast process and my order was ready to go.

There was no confusion as to how good this was. And as "FOY" Loren recommended before, the fries are quite good and hold up rather well for an hour or so.

Plump, moist shrimp, the roll held up well.

Delivered as expected. I actually wished they still did their sandwiches as salads during this time, but totally understand the limited menu.

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd. #122
San Diego, CA 92121

Hope everyone is in good health and staying sane during this challenging time!

Noodling Around City Heights, Before the (Covid-19) Storm – Minh Ky and Pho King

April 28, 2020 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

I had to go to Northgate Market on Saturday, March 14th and I was wondering how shops in City Heights were holding up with, at that time, the first positive Covid-19 in the region reported just five days earlier. So, on my way back home I decided to make a stop at Minh Ky.

It was 10am and the crazy-horrible parking lot where Minh Ky is located would usually be full; but there were a few stalls open and I found parking.

At this time of the morning, MK would usually be packed; especially on a Saturday, but for my entire meal, I was the only customer in the place.

I got my usual – the Beef Sate Egg Noodle Soup "dry" – soup on the side. And as usual, all the savory flavors, nicely prepped egg noodles, it really did the job.

Still, it felt really strange to be eating in Minh Ky, with no customers, no takeout, it kind of gave me the heebies……

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

It was so strange that I decided to head back to the area the following day, Sunday, March 15th and since it was just 9am, I chose Pho King. I ordered my usual here – the Hu Tieu Mi Kho.

There were some strange things about this bowl; first the soy sauce broth lacked the usual ground pork in it; it was also more salty than usual; lacking the sweet tones that add balance to it.

Notice anything strange about the noodles?

Yep, where's the Hu Tieu?

Wait…hold the presses, I found one….strand of Hu Tieu…..

This was a rather strange bowl overall….and maybe appropriate considering how weird things felt with no customers in the place, nor the old-timers drinking coffee outside.

And perhaps it was just fate that my last meal out, before the edict came down on March 16th, was at place named Pho King.

Pho King Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

I'm not sure how the Covid-19 outbreak will change things regarding the future of the restaurant business….I'm not sure how many places that I frequent will still be around when we get to the other side of this. I can only hope that we "do the right thing" which will enable us to get past this. And perhaps my next bowl of Hu Tieu Mi Kho at Pho King will be perfect.

Be safe everyone!

Covid-19 Takeout – Homestyle Hawaiian

April 26, 2020 mmm-yoso Plate Lunch

I recently managed to just work a half day on a Saturday. I needed to pick up some groceries from Carnival Market on the way home. The Missus was working so I had free reign over what my choices would be. On my previous venture to the area, I chose Mien Trung. It dawned on me that the original location of Homestyle Hawaiian was basically right around the corner. Man, has it been over a decade since Mo opened the first location near Mesa College? Time sure does fly. I called in my order right before heading into the market.

After shopping I drove on over and there was a short line outside the place….only three people allowed in the place at once. The really nice young man….who talks really, really fast peeked outside and asked if anyone had phone orders and what they were……I raised my hand, he waved me in. I walked on in, paid, and left.

And even though I knew it was much more than I could handle for one meal I got the combo; Korean Chicken – Chicken Katsu.

Calories be damned during times like these….we all need a bit of comfort. It did end up being two meals and change…..the Korean Chicken is still my favorite thing at HH. The rice was a bit on the hard and dry side; but the mac salad was perfectly chilled, even as I arrived home. The sauce for the Korean Chicken….they even gave me two without asking, was on the side, so the chicken wouldn't go soggy. The chicken katsu was still crisp and passable.

I've been making it kind of game of sorts; to figure out what take-out I'm able to do on my way back from shopping excursions….so far, so good.

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Entering my car, plate lunch in hand; I suddenly recalled a moment, a lunch, back in December of 2011…….back when Dennis, Carol (from Cabcooks) – we miss you both, and Cathy, went to Homestyle Hawaiian, in memory of the passing of fellow blogger "Nate" of Hwn Pake in Okinanwa. Man, how quickly time flies…..

Recently Consumed (and some cooking tips) – Covid-19 Edition

April 24, 2020 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'm pretty much bushed; so just a quick post of things that came out of our kitchen.

We finally got our delivery of beans and lentils from Rancho Gordo; yes, they are swamped and out of a lot of items and delivery was delayed a couple of times; but believe me, their product is worth waiting for.

Made a Lentil and Kale Soup….made with…well, bacon fat of course.

And the missus just "needed" a couple of poached eggs. I've learned a couple of key points when making poached eggs over the years:

1 – The fresher the eggs; the better the outcome is. The older the eggs are, the more runny the whites are, which will make for very "wispy" poached eggs.

2 – Strain your eggs before poaching. This will remove the really runny whites

The Missus requested Katsudon a favorite of Hers a few nights back.

She will even eat the leftovers cold….I think She might even prefer them that way!

For me; one of the key steps is a short 15-20 minute brine of the chicken breast. I use a basic brine similar to what I use for smoking chicken.

For one pound chicken breast; cut and pound to an even 1/3 inch thick, then brine is a solution of 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/2 tsp granulated garlic, 1 quart water for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to dry the chicken well before initiating the breading process.

You'll find that you won't need to add much more seasoning when breading the katsu.

Here's something I made for myself when the Missus was working – Kimchi Fried Rice with Chashu Chicken and of course….it just needed an egg!

Hope everyone has been eating well!

Have a safe and delici-yoso weekend!

Covid-19 Takeout – Island Style Cafe

April 22, 2020 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** Island Style Cafe has reopened in Santee

My dry cleaning lady sold her business back at the beginning of the year and decided to just do alterations at a dry cleaners in Tierrasanta….and you know how I am about loyalty and stuff; so of course my dry cleaning is now done there. I decided to run away during a lunch time and pick up my dry cleaning, but the place was closed. So, in order to have some consolation and not waste the trip I went to Rite Aid to pick up some necessities and also made a call….to Island Style Café; it was too early for the Homestyle Hawaiian location in the area and heck, with all that's going on; I wanted some comfort food. I headed to Island Style Café right after Rite Aid.

They had the "Covid set-up" going, my lunch was ready when I got there….in and out in less than 5 minutes. The Owner "Terri" was so nice and told me "Mahalo for giving us business during this difficult time". So nice…..

Of course I got the Kaloko Loco…..

And while the crepe didn't travel real well…perhaps I should have ordered a regular loco……everything else was good; from the not massed produced, beefy hamburger patty, to the fried rice, to the egg that was still nice and runny.

No complaints…..though I wish they had Tabasco….and I didn't have any back at the office; so I had to make due with Cholula. That's ok, it worked out fine.

And while my appetite these days isn't what it used to be…..I polished it off. How did that old commercial go? You know, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing".

A little bit of comfort goes a long way these days.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124
(858) 541-7002

Be safe, be good to others, and take care!

Covid-19 Takeout – Menya Ultra (Clairemont)

April 20, 2020 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

On the first Sunday of this month; I managed to escape work at around 1030. I'd heard a bit about doing take-out from Menya Ultra (you can read FOY Jason's opinion in the comments of this post). I decided to call in my to go order right before I left work….they picked up on the first ring; I placed my order – they were giving away extra noodles for free! And was told to come pick my order up in 15 minutes! I was told that they didn't open for walk-up or online ordering apps until eleven, but took phone orders from 1030. I arrived, they had things nicely set-up, hand sanitizer right by the makeshift counter in the doorway. I was in and out in less than five minutes.

I got the tonkotsu chashu with a tamago.

This was probably the most well put together take-out I've had so far during the outbreak.

A couple of key points:

1 – Put the broth into a pot and get simmering….not boiling, simmering.

2 – Get another pot of about a quart-and-a-half of water up to a rapid boil

3 – Put noodles in a noodle strainer or colander

4 – About 2-3 minutes before serving place egg into broth

5 – Pour half the boiling water into the bowl you'll serve the ramen in.

6 – Pour the other half of the water over the noodles, quickly shake and drain well, separate noodles. No wants the dreaded "clump"; especially with nice, chewy noodles.

7 – Pour the hot water out of the now warmed bowl.

8 – Dip the chashu into the simmering broth quickly.

9 – Arrange the well drained noodles in the bowl and pour the broth over the noodles

10 – Arrange the rest of the bowl

11 – Eat!!!!

This was very good….and like Jason said: "I've been enjoying Menya takeout, I actually prefer it more than eating at the restaurant! Don't have to deal with waiting in line or checking in early." Thanks Jason!

And Menya has something called the "Stay Home Ramen Kit"; which is basically four orders of Ajitama Ramen, which might be worthwhile for a family or major "ramen heads".

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111