mmm-yoso – Page 363 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

Stop and smell the chestnuts…

January 16, 2013 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

Well, here you are. This is the blog about food, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Vicky(SFBay area) are too busy to write today and Cathy has time to write.

It's midweek and more than two weeks into the New Year…about the time people start to slip away from their New Year Resolutions. More than ten years ago, I stopped making resolutions to 'stop' doing something (the last one was I would stop using drive thru windows) and instead have made resolutions to 'start' to do something. This year, I decided I will make an effort to patronize local businesses. So far, this has started out well. Here's one…

You see it near the front door of the smaller Asian Markets.

The small umbrella covered cart roasting chestnuts.

People patiently waiting in line to place an order, after waiting while watching the Chestnut Lady (or Man) adding scoops of chestnuts into and out of the fascinating portable heating/roasting/stirring mechanism…removing the freshly roasted, steaming hot chestnuts and placing them in the adjacent basin to stop the roasting.

Stepping up closer to read the benefits of chestnuts (on another list, "Chestnuts are a lusty and masculine food for men, and able to make women well complexioned.") and getting a good whiff of the roast…

and, finally getting to the front of the line to place your order and pay…(it's $5 for 10 ounces, $8 for 16 ounces and $10 for 20 ounces…no bargains for buying more or buying less).

The nice lady waiting on us this day was pretty precise when weighing the amount ordered, removing and adding the small hot nuts, and showing you the scale to get your approval before handing you the bag you've paid for.

It's a nice, thick bag. This is good because those nuts are still hot.

Wonderful, bite size, tasty, thin skinned. Easy to peel, easy to eat. Yummy. Good for you too!

Are you keeping your resolution for 2013?

Jinbao Chestnut Carts, near the entrance of Asian Markets all over the City.

Pork Belly Buns!

January 14, 2013 Vicky (SF Bay Area) Cooking, Recipes, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, What Vicky Eats

Hi Everyone! 🙂 It's Vicky again… blogging about my gluttony up here in the Wonderful SF Bay Area. For some time I thought I fell off the face of the earth!

Taiwan is well known for a type of "sandwich" where a fluffy slightly sweet steamed bun (think a la Peking duck bun) that's filled with a thick slice of stewed pork belly, pickled mustard (suan cai), cilantro, and a sprinkling of ground peanut and sugar. It's called a "Gua Bao" and you can find it all along the streets throughout the island country.

It used to be really hard to find these pork belly buns here in the states but in the last 5 years, it seems like everyone has their own version of it. Momofuku (NYC), Ippudo (NYC), random izakayas here and in the SF Bay Area, there's even a food truck that sells buns like hot cakes named "The Chairman" (play on words with Chairman Bao).

The concept of these buns are pretty easy to make and this past weekend I whipped up a large batch of them using David Chang's Momofuku recipe as inspiration. I brined a large pork belly after removing the skin, roasted it on high heat to render out the fat and then switched to low heat to let it slowly confit in its own juices and fat. Chilled, sliced, steamed some buns, added in some quick pickles, shredded green onions, smudge of hoisin sauce and a squirt of kewpie mayo. Voila! Luscious pork belly buns at home.

No more standing in long lines at the Chairman truck to get my buns…

Pork Belly

2-3 lbs of Pork Belly (have your butcher remove the skin)

1/2 c. kosher salt

1/2 c. sugar

1 T 5 spice powder

2 c. water

Mix the salt, sugar, and 5 spice powder together and dissolve in the water. I use the lazy method and toss everything into a large gallon sized ziplock bag and shake. Put the pork belly in and squeeze out all the air in there and let it brine overnight in the refridgerator.

Preheat the oven to 400, remove the pork belly and wipe dry. Place in a roasting pan and roast the belly at 400 for an hour and then turn the temperature down to 250 for another 2 hours. The belly should plump up and per Momofuku, "feel pillowy."

Let it cool down and wrap it in a sheet of saran wrap and chill in the refridgerator so it can be easily sliced.

Pickles

2-3 persian pickles thinly sliced

1T sugar

1t salt

Slice the pickles and toss in the sugar and salt mixture. Let it sit for about 20 minutes and then rinse. Do a quick 5 minute soak in fresh water to remove the excess saltiness. Squeeze dry and set aside.

Assembly:

Slice the pork belly into slices and reheat on a good cast iron pan to crisp up the edges, steam some store bought buns, shred green onions, and get the hoisin/kewpie ready. Put a dollop of hoisin on one side of the bun, tuck in the hot pork belly slices, squirt some kewpie on there and top off with the shredded green onions and enjoy!

Pho-raging around Kearny Mesa: Pho T Cali, Pho Mignon and Grill, Pho Cali, Pho Fusion, Phuong Trang, Pho Convoy Noodle House, and Viet Bakery and Pho

January 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of months ago, I was having a particularly terrible bowl of Pho in the Kearny Mesa area. Thinking I'd try to be especially witty, I texted "aw-pho", sorry, it was a bad pun exacerbated by bad soup, to a bunch of my friends. Which started a terrible round of bad phopuns lasting almost two days….I think it ended when I texted something using "pho-lam-bouyant", yikes! The one sane person in all of this, "Yummy Yummy" set me off on a mission with one profound statement, "yes,it's sad that there's no good pho in Kearny Mesa." Really…..really??!!?? Then I stopped and thought about it…..perhaps she was right. I had to find out for myself. So I ended up going to seven different pho shops in the next two weeks….sorry, at the end, I just couldn't see myself going to Quoc Te….I was "pho-ride"…my apologies for that one!

After all of this, I had to think about how to do a post……I mean really, there was the possibility of maybe 2,000 words (I'm alread past 170). So pardon me if I just kind of blaze through these, ok? Plus, I'm still suffering from P(ost) T(raumatic) M(SG)D(disorder).

Pho T Cali:

**** Pho T Cali has closed

This is the place that got me posting "aw-pho".

Broth that looked, and sort of tasted like dishwater…..salty dishwater, with very little beef flavor, and not much else. Mushy overcooked noodles. Though the cuts in this, flank and brisket especially were decent, but I had to send out a search party for my tendon. Oh, let's add insult to injury, the scallions in the broth were turning brown as well.

Actually, this is almost exactly the same as my last bowl here, so this can't really be a fluke, right?

Formula in the perfunctory service. Sad….

Pho T Cali
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Mignon + Grill:

I gotta say, the service here is nice….perhaps not efficient, but very nice. Still, I haven't had much luck here. It's kind of bad when the best item you've had from a shop with Pho in it's name are the french fries. I've struck out twice on the filet pho, so I went with the "trolley bowl", which according to the menu is "flank, well done steak, tripe, tendon, and meatballs".

Man, there's something about this broth that I find strange, beyond how it's totally defatted. This time around it had a burnt shallot flavor with a "tinny" finish.

The noodles were fine, the proteins mediocre, except for the tendon which was pretty good, and I still haven't figured out why the ngo om with pho? I'm missing something here.

Sorry, I just couldn't do the broth at all……I hate to waste, but this just doesn't agree with me.

I love the idea of craft brews…..the service is sometimes a bit scatter-brained, but always nice. But man, I just don't like that pho.

Mignon Pho + Grill
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Cali & Grill:

**** Pho Cali and Grill is now Pho Duyen Mai

Man, it's been a while since I've been here.

This would have been totally MOR (middle of the road) pho, if not for the super salty broth…..super salty, as in there wasn't enough lime to cut the salt. And the meat being on the dry and tough side.

The noodles were clumped, but fine….but man, this was salty.

Pho Cali and Grill
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Pho Fusion:

Man, here's another place I haven't been to in a while.

This really looked like a lighter version of Pho Mignon….I really didn't have high hopes for it. The broth had a very mild beef flavor and was pretty weak overall. The noodles were done well and I gotta say, this was the best tendon I had while doing this. The rest of the assorted protein wasn't too bad, though the flank cuts are on the dry and tough side.

I also should say that the service I received was very good. My water refilled twice and when I looked at the rather skimpy amount of herbs and bean sprouts, the young man told me, "please let me know if you want more, we'd be happy too…."

Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Phuong Trang:

What to say about the poster child for MOR (Middle of the Road) Pho, other then man, has it really been three years since I had Pho here?

This place has usually been consistent, though on this visit the broth was rather cloudy. The broth is rather light on the beef, but at least you can make out hints of anise-onion-clove. Noodles were fine.

The meat was meh…….flank tough, tripe soapy tasting and scant in quantity, tendon tough and not much of it….you get the picture.

The older gentleman who always used to make me laugh wasn't here. In his place was a very friendly young man……..who I thought was quite charming….until he brought me a fork for my pho? Lets call it what it is….a "pho-pa"….

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

This used to be a dependable stop, but I was sorely disappointed on my last visit. I wondered, was that a fluke? So I had the same thing, #2, well done steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, and tripe.

And while the broth had recovered a bit…..slight beef flavor, mild anise, still a mere shadow of what I recalled; the meat, especially the already chewy flank….was almost inedible and without flavor.

The noodles were fine….but I still remembered the pho being much better here. I'm not sure what happened.

Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Viet Bakery and Pho:

*** Viet Bakery and Pho has closed

Based on my previous visits, I really wasn't looking forward to having pho here. But since the place had "pho" in its name (though probably based on pho ga), I thought it only proper to grab a bowl here. The shop had undergone a major overhaul with regards to looks since my last visit. It looks less like a bakery and more like a proper restaurant.

There really fussy menu has been replaced with something perhaps a bit too spartan, but perhaps that's the right fit. And i'm sure you can get any combination of items you really want. I went with the "Pho Viet", with rare beef, brisket, and meat balls.

I really don't like having preconceptions when having a meal at a restaurant, but based on history, perhaps I expected the worst. This was actually not bad….not good, but not bad. The broth was on the cloudy side, but had a decent beef flavor. It was light with regards to the anise-clove component, but at least wasn't too salty.

The meat, being the rare steak or the brisket didn't appeal to me, being tough and dry. The meatballs tasted exactly the same as what Mignon Pho served. The noodles were a bit overcooked for my taste.

Still, this was much better than anticipated.

Viet Bakery & Pho
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there it is…….. and after having all these bowls of pho, I can only conclude that "YY" is pretty much correct. And after thinking about it; whenever I think about having a nice bowl of pho, places in Kearny Mesa never come to mind.

What do you think?

Fish 3 Days, Fish 3 Ways Day3: Porcini Crusted Halibut with Truffled Polenta

January 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

After having the delicate Olive Oil Poached White Sea Bass, the Missus wanted something a bit more "earthy". Her request for the next day was, "something with mushrooms…..lots of mushrooms……" This one was easy for me….well to conceptualize. Getting it done after work in time for dinner….well, that was going to be fun. This was actually easy since I had about an ounce of dried porcini mushrooms on hand. So for a play-by-play….

Step 1 – Soak about 3/4 of the dried mushrooms in two cups of warm water

Step 2 – Slice cremini mushrooms, 2 shallots, and grate 4 cloves of garlic.

Step 3 – Place the rest of the dried porcini, salt, and pepper in a coffee grinder and pulverize to a powder.

Step 4 – Combine mushroom powder with 2 Tb potato starch and spread all but 1 Tb of mushroom mixture on a plate

Step 5 – Place halibut on mushroom-potato starch mixture making sure to coat only one side, well.

Step 6 – Season the undusted side of fish with Spanish paprika, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper. set aside.

Step 7 – Strain the porcini soaking liquid. Make polenta using all but 1/3 cup of the mushroom liquid, olive oil, and water. Between stirs, chop the soaked porcini, reserving 3 Tb as a garnish. When polenta is almost done, add all but the reserved chopped porcini mushrooms. Finish with truffle oil and set aside.

Step 8 – Pan fry the halibut in a combination grapeseed-extra virgin olive oil. When the fish is almost done, start step 9.

Step 9 – In a dry pan over medium high heat, place the sliced porcini mishrooms. When the mushrooms start to soften and give off their moisture add extra virgin olive oil, shallots, garlic, Turkish oregano, and reserved mushroom powder. When fragrant add reserved mushroom liquid and white wine and let bubble away. The fish should be ready by now. Set aside. Taste sauce and season (remember, there's salt and pepper in mushroom powder) with salt and pepper. Reduce……

Step 10 – Plate the baby up…….

Somewhere along the line, the Missus chopped some parsley for garnish. I also used some of the chopped porcini as well. I test for doneness using a sharp paring knife.

Man, this was really tasty…and moist.

I put the rest of the polenta in a pan greased with olive oil and then unmolded and stored for future use.

I ended up making this again, this time pan frying the "polenta cakes" a couple of days later.

Not bad for a Thursday night……

So there you go…….Fish 3 ways in 3 days. Whew, I needed a break. Though things started up again the next week, but I didn't work quite as hard.

Though this one is just pan fried halibut with a warm white balsamic vinaigrette.

Thanks for reading!

Fish 3 Days, Fish 3 Ways Day 2: Olive Oil Poached White Sea Bass topped with Tapenade

January 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

I felt rather triumphant, having exceeded the Missus's expectations….basically pulling a recipe out of my….well, you know where, and making something She really enjoyed. The following day, the Missus sent me a text, telling me She, "wanted fish made totally differently from anything I've made before….no salt baked, no fried of any kind, no simmered, no baked, no saute, no stew, no pan fry, no stir-fry." No way!!! Not really knowing what to do, I picked up some olives on the way home…..I really don't know why.

I came home and started leafing through some of my cookbooks……some of the recipes were too elaborate to pull off on a weeknight. Until I went through Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore's Fish Without a Doubt. I found a recipe for Oil Poached Halibut with Gribiche. Sauce Gribiche is a classic French sauce, with cornichons, capers, vinegar, and such. Think of it as an unemulsified tartar sauce if you will….though I've come across recent versions of Gribiche that has been blended and it really did seem to be tartar sauce. Instead of that route, I used the olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and basically made my tapenade minus the anchovies and artichoke hearts.

The fish itself was pretty simple……the one item being, even though I used the tiniest cast iron pan I had, we ended up using quite a bit of olive oil for this. Still it came out rather well.

There are just four ingredients needed to prepare the fish:

Fish
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

– Salt and pepper fish filets and let sit for 45 minutes
– Heat oven to 175 or the lowest temp. Our circa 1959 oven's lowest is called "low" and bottoms out at 190 according to the oven thermometer
– Place fish in skillet/pan and add enough oil to cover. Remove fish and set aside.
– Place pan in oven and heat oil to about 125 degrees. I could still place my finger in the oil and it just felt hot…..you may just want to use a thermometer though. I don't want anyone coming after me after burning their finger!
– Add fish back to pan, cover (I used aluminum foil), and place in oven. Check after 15 minutes to make sure oil is not too hot….i.e. no deep fry action going, just a mild poach.
– Check after 20-25 minutes.I use a very sharp paring knife and insert into the fish. If it goes in cleanly, almost with resistance the fish is done, or will be done by the time you get in on the plate. White Sea Bass is pretty dense. This took about 35 minutes.
– Remove fish, blot dry, and serve.

The fish is very moist…almost melting away in my mouth. The flavors are mild. Texturally, this didn't do it for the Missus, even with the tapenade. It was a nice experience for Her…..even though She probably won't want me to make fish this way again, at least She tried it.

As we took care of the dishes after dinner, She turned to me and asked, "so what are you going to do with the halibut for tomorrow night? I want something really good…….something with mushrooms!" Stay tuned for the finale!

Fish 3 Days, Fish 3 Ways Day 1: White Sea Bass with a Oyster Sauce-Chinkiang Vinegar-Honey Glaze

January 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

In my New Year's post, I mentioned the Missus's new found love of shopping and markets….we now share our weekend mornings grocery shopping, something that was a solo job for me less then a year ago. She even shops on Her days off, most Thursdays you'll find Her buying a thousand bunches of kale and chard from the Linda Vista Farmer's Market. Since Catalina changed their set-up, She'll even shop for fish and seafood, often texting me what She thinks is good…..often buying more then She thought….I guess it always looks smaller on the other side of the counter. There is one thing that sometimes makes this a challenge…….She'll often somewhat vaguely request "something good for a change". On the Tuesday after Christmas, She went to Catalina and ended buying a good amount of fish. The wheels were turning…..when I got home from work I received the request. "I want something with Asian flavors that I like….something you've never made before…." On a Tuesday evening?

Luckily, I have some idea of the flavors the Missus enjoys….the "suan-tian-ku-la-xian" thing. Plus, I had a surplus of scallions and a ton of garlic on hand during the Christmas weekend and made scallion oil and garlic oil:

Scallion Oil:
1 cup peanut oil
4-6 bunches green onions, green parts cut into 1 – 1 1/2" pieces, white portion roughly chopped.

– Heat wok until smoking
– Add peanut oil. when oil slightly shimmers, add scallions
– Lower heat. Let scallions lightly fry under low heat until the oil turns a greenish-brown, about 20 minutes. Do not burn scallions!
– Strain into a heat proof container

Garlic Oil (more concentrated then usual):

1/2 cup peanut oil
3 whole bulbs of garlic, cloves peeled, and sliced thinly lengthwise

– Heat wok until smoking
– Add peanut oil. when oil slightly shimmers, add garlic slices
– Lower heat. Let garlic lightly brown under low heat. Do not burn garlic.
– Strain into a heat proof container. Save can use the fried garlic for other dishes.

I also had some baby bok choy on hand. The rest was pretty simple and the result was this:

The Missus had bought almost two pounds of white sea bass….nice, meaty, and mild. I used half of it, going for the typical Chinese fish marinade….you could almost think of this as the traditional step one - marinating:

2 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2 Tb Grated Ginger
White Pepper

Add ingredients to fish. Gently coat and let sit for 15 minutes.

Right before cooking, I added 2 Tb potato starch to the fish to coat, the traditional step two.

While the fish was marinating, I put together a simple glaze/sauce:

3 Tb Honey
2 Tb Oyster Sauce
3 Tb Premium Soy Sauce
2-3 Tb Chinkiang Black Vinegar
1 Tb Hoisin

– Soften honey in a microwave for 10 seconds
– Combine ingredients

I pan fried the fish in a combination scallion/garlic/peanut oil. At the end, I poured half the glaze over the fish and carefully turned to coat.

I poured the rest of the sauce over the baby bok choy….I went for a pretty classic, old-school, Chinese banquet dish presentation. I topped the bok choy with sesame seeds and fried garlic saved from making the garlic oil.

She enjoyed t so much…..I made this again the following week. This time with halibut.

I was feeling pretty happy putting this together on the fly on a weeknight…..but this just meant that the Missus had to come up with another "challenge"…….. stay tuned!

H Mart Food Court- hot pot and soup

January 8, 2013 Cathy Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Well here you are, back at mmm-yoso!!!, the blog o' food. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy today, finding places to blog about. Cathy is writing because she found a place.

Now that San Diego finally has H Mart, the Mira Mesa Boulevard location has probably been visited by a lot of you. There are only two other businesses located within the store, Paris Baguette and the "Food Court"- to the right when you enter the store.

It's really only one business with a limited menu, fairly large seating area and food that hits the spot, especially on cold days. Walk up, order, pay, grab chopsticks, water, some kimchi find a seat and wait for your number to be called.

It opens at 11:00 and gets crowded fast. Everyone always has large bowls of good looking food.

Even though we were here on a Friday before noon, we got the last two seats available. Just a note to whomever designed the counter- two people can't sit at the inside corner seats at the same time; one of those will always be empty.

When our number was called, The Mister brought the tray of bowls to our barstool seating area and the smells emanating were wonderful! This is #14- the soybean paste vegetable stew hot pot ($6.99). It was still bubbling in the heavy cast bowl. The mild saltiness of the soybean paste complimented all the vegetables in the bowl-a variety of squash, a lot of tofu, some onion and carrot, one piece of potato as well as the sliced jalapeño with the rice all combined into a deep rich flavored wonderful, satisfying meal.

The #5-Noodle soup with seafood ($7.99) was served in a very large bowl. Shrimp, squid, mussels, clams and a random piece of white, firm fleshed fish was served in a wonderful broth with noodles and vegetables.

Here's a better photo after a lot of the broth had been consumed while waiting for everything to cool down.

These were both refreshing and filling and so very fresh. Since the menu only has 11 items, everything will be tried in due time. I'm looking forward to it. If you are here and see a seat, grab it and order something.

Food Court at H Mart 9440 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858)577-0060 Open 11:00-8:30 daily

Starting 2013: Pasadena. Rose Parade float viewing, House of Basturma and Carmela Ice Cream

January 7, 2013 Cathy Desserts, Festivals & Events, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for reading mmm-yoso!!! the food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are doing some research for blog posts. Cathy is doing some blogging today.

Well, the first day of the New Year has come and gone and the holidays are almost over (we take down our decorations on the 12th Night after Christmas). The Mister and I had an interesting Day One of 2013 and here's a bit of it.

We woke early, had a nice breakfast and watched the Rose Parade on television and as the parade ended (10 a.m.) got in the car and started the drive North. We got to Pasadena, found a place to park just North of Sierra Madre Boulevard and then headed to the mile long fenced in area, where the 42 floats that participated in the parade were lined up end to end.

There were already about 100,000 other people there.

Here's part of the HGTV float, which won the Grand Marshal Trophy (for excellence in creative concept and design).

The Trader Joe's entry won the Extrordinaire Trophy (most spectacular float).

Here's some detail of the back end, with the electric beater making a 'meringue' out of egg whites (see the half 'eggshell' with yellow 'yolk'?). Every inch of every float you see is covered with something that is or was alive- the 'rope' is made of white onions and the 'toothpick frills' are orchids.

The Department of Defense entry, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, won the National Trophy (best depiction of life in the USA, past, present or future) was replicating parts of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., using silverleaf to mimic the bronze of the original sculpture. This float was impressive.

Here's part of the Shriners Hospitals float, which won the Judges Special Trophy (most spectacular in showmanship and dramatic impact). The teddy bear looks soft and cuddly, even though his body is made of dried straw flowers and the bottom of his feet are dried artichoke bottoms. You can see the louver in his belly, where the 'viewer' sits and communicates with the driver of the float, who is in the back of the float in the dark.

After more than two hours of braving the crowds, The Mister and I began walking the streets just North of Sierra Madre Boulevard and saw this. The sign under the 'Chef" is the name of the restaurant- House of Basturma.

Stepping inside, there is a small deli counter and grocery shelving to the left, the area where you order is at the cash register and so is the grill and open kitchen area. There is indoor seating to the right and straight ahead is the outdoor seating and hookah area.

We looked at the small menu, determined the food was Armenian/Turkish/Lebanese, and then ordered and paid. Soon the chef came out, made our food and brought it to our table.

I wanted to try the babaganouj ($4.50) and we wanted to share a Basturma sandwich ($4.99). The babaganouj was quite a large serving, fresh, not too smokey and not too garlicy-really nice and creamy and just really good.

Basturma- an Armenian Lebanese pastrami-ish air dried beef. It's coated in a paste of spices, including cumin, garlic, fenugreek and hot paprika. Sliced thin and then placed on this wonderful plain toasted semolina bread with just sliced tomatoes and pickles was absolutely wonderful. The bread was crunchy on the edges and soft and flavorful and the Basturma was so darn good. A simple, savory meal to start the year.

When we walked out of the House of Basturma, we turned left and on the same block, saw this signage. We had to stop.

When you walk in, you are there; it's tiny. The water vessel is in front of you and the available flavors are on the chalkboard to your left.

We decided to try two scoops ($4.50) of contrasting flavors and textures: cranberry orange thyme sorbet and the fresh mint with cacao nib ice cream.

Wow. Distinctive flavors: fresh mint, fresh thyme, fresh cranberry and orange and then biting into the crunchy cacao nibs… delicious and a contrast of creamy, smooth and those nibs. Simply nice, pleasant and popping. Really a great find.

Carmela Ice Cream 2495 E. Washington Boulevard Pasadena CA 91104 (626) 797-1405 Website

I hope everyone is having a good year.

Sunday Sandwiches: Supernatural Sandwiches

January 6, 2013 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

***Update SuperNatural Sandwiches now has a brick and mortar shop. you can read an updated post here

**** SuperNatural has closed

Sometimes it can be strange……I'll get an email from and "friend of a friend of a friend"…..inviting me to drop their restaurant/coffee shop/deli….. I try to avoid being put into that position by just not going. Our not doing freebies policy works in our favor as well. It helps us to be honest when no strings are attached. It keeps things simple…."we eat, then write about it."

However, on occasion something interesting comes down the pike. As is the case with "Anthony", who knows my good friends John and PeterL. He and his partners own a stand called Supernatural Sandwiches. Anthony has commented on a couple of posts and shot me an email, which I answered, getting a very….how should I say it, enthusiastic response. Bread from Bread and Cie, fish from Catalina Offshore, produce from Suzie's Farms…all of which sounded great. Even though I haven't posted on it yet, we've been dropping by the San Diego Public Market on just about a weekly basis….so I thought what the heck? Of course there was the issue of Anthony knowing the twins….. which put me into a bit of a position. John assured me that whatever I had to say….or write would not put him or his brother into a bad position with Anthony, and heck, they didn't like him anyway (Anthony, if you're reading this, that's a joke, ok?)!

So on my next trip down to SDPM, I drop by the stand, and a really, really, friendly young man greets me and takes my order. It's got to be Anthony of course. Very nice fellow and all that. Then of course, he asks me my name for the order ticket…….. well, I'm not much of a liar, so I tell him "Kirk" and he doesn't blink an eye and writes my name down on my order. Great…..

The menu is a nice, tight, seven sandwiches….all of them named after mythical water creatures, kind of cute. So of course, all of the sandwiches are based on seafood.

On this day, we had two sandwiches:

And let me first say, I loved the bread, sort of a brioche toasted to perfection, not overly oily or buttery, with a hint of sweetness, and very light.

We started with the "Nessie" ($9), which at it's core is a white fish with a miso based glaze.

The sandwich itself was kind of wet, but the bread held up well. I wasn't too sure about this when I saw that it was halibut….we love halibut, but having made misoyaki style fish just about my entire life, I know that halibut was too dry to stand up to a miso glaze……

So what I had was a sopping sandwich with dry fish and a very mild miso based glaze at its core. It also looked like it could have spent a bit more time on the flat- top.

I'm sure other folks will like this…..I'd prefer something with a bit more oil and fat…..like black cod, which Catalina Offshore often has.

Our other sandwich was the "Hydra" ($9). This one is a blackened tuna (in this case albacore) with a spicy aioli and an acidic avocado based sauce.

After the previous sandwich, I wasn't too sure about albacore, which can be a very dry fish. But in this case I was wrong. It was nicely seared, nice crust, I loved the seasonings, the aioli had a mild "zing" and the avocado sauce tempered the heat.

I really enjoyed this sandwich. It gave me a reason to return……

Last night, John joined us for dinner, and tells me right off, "hey, my friend Anthony told me you dropped by his sandwich stand a couple of weeks ago"……. And I had to crack up. Not too many Asians with a good Scottish name like Kirk I guess….

So earlier today, we're at SDPM, and I stop by Supernatural Sandwiches….of course Anthony is there and we chat a bit. Then one of the guys in the back asks me, "didn't I see you at Catalina Offshore yesterday?" Sheesh….these guys are everywhere!

This time around I ordered the "Siren" ($8), the garlic shrimp sandwich. I know this is made with Mexican White Shrimp from Catalina Offshore, so as long as it's not overcooked it'll probably be pretty good.

And it was. The shrimp were very moist, plump, and sweet. Even the Missus was impressed. The bread was the same, except this time it was expressed in the form of a lobster roll type bun, which was just perfect.

Everything went well, perhaps too much of a good thing with the garlic aioli, but I'm sure most folks will just love that. I'm thinking a bit more acid would help as well. But overall, no complaints.

I enjoyed this last sandwich, so I'll probably be back. And though I'm not one of those preaching "farm to table", I do appreciate the fresh and local ingredients. Sadly, as far as I know, you can only get these on Wednesdays and Sundays at the San Diego Public Market….for now….

Supernatural Sandwiches (In the San Diego Public Market)
1735 National Ave
San Diego, CA 92113

Wed and Sunday 9am – 2 pm

Big Island – Keauhou Farmer’s Market

January 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Hawai'i - The Big Island

We left for Hilo on a Saturday morning, so we decided to drive back to the Keauhou Shopping Center on our way out of Kona. We had read a banner about the Keauhou Farmer's Market on Saturdays and had decided that maybe doing a bit of self catering might be the way to go for dinner. Of course there's still the Hilo's Farmer's Market, but the Missus was really enjoying the local produce…so why not? Also, I thought I'd grab something for breakfast as well.

The market is located in the "Long's side" of the shopping center and didn't seem very large…..but we enjoyed the range of merchants.

The stand that seemed to be getting the most attention was this one.

And with good reason. We bought a bag of tomatoes and a couple of cucumbers…they would be the best we would have on the trip.

Most of the folks here seemed to be regulars….the vendors knew a lot of them by name.

In the end, the Missus and I split up….She went to find some kale and other stuff, while I decided to get something to eat from here.

We didn't have anything in the way of a cooler or anything, but the weather wasn't particularly hot. I decided to buy a saussicon, a cured sausage which would hold up for dinner.

This shop made a nice variety of charcuterie, so I thought why not grab something for breakfast? The had an Asian influenced sausage and made something called a Banh Mi Royale…..I know, I'm not a fan of sticking anything in a roll and calling it a banh mi, but thought why not.

So while th Missus had cucumber, tomatoes, and other stuff, I had the banh mi royale.

The sausage itself was pretty tasty as was the chili mayo, but there was just too much of it slathered all over the rather routine roll. Way too much cilantro as well. The saucisson, however was delicious and would be a nice part of our dinner.

The Missus had found a stand selling this.

It's called a tamarillo, also known as tree tomato. And is also from the nightshade family. It has a very thick skin, which is slightly bitter, the pulp is very much tomato like, nice acid and a bit sweet. We would see this fruit several more times while on the island, so I guess it's being grown here now. Apparently, the fruit, native to South America, is now being grown, harvested, and exported from New Zealand as well. We may start seeing these more in the near future.

We really enjoyed the short time we spent here and will return when in the area in the future. We were eating, sitting on the parking lot wall, and admiring this view……..

Talk about a nice morning……

Keauhou Farmer's Market in the Keauhou Shopping Center
Saturday 8am – 12pm
78-6831 Alii Drive
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740