mmm-yoso – Page 372 – 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.

Three Oil Noodles

November 4, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

This is basically a very simple stir fry noodle I make at home. It's what I used to accompany my "Three Day Duck". Three oil noodle – three day duck….get it? OK, enough with the silly stuff. The foundation of this dish centers around three oils – garlic, scallion, and sesame. Premium light soy sauce and fresh Shanghai noodles finish the dish off. You can throw in greens, onions, in this case I topped it with some dried shrimp (more on that later), along with onions, sliced the thickness of noodles and left over pea shoots.

The key are two of the flavored oils….which I'll make when I have too many scallions…we always have too much garlic. Anyway, when I'm bored, I'll make these. Stored in the fridge in an airtight container, it'll keep for 3 months or more. I also use these in stir-fries, especially when using something a bit on the blander side like tofu.

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:
1 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. You can use the fried garlic for other dishes.

I'm not going to get all condescending on you and tell you how to stir fry noodles. I'm sure you can do that. Just a couple of key items; don't overcook your noodles and always use a bit more oil than you think. I use a combination of the scallion and garlic oil to get things started. Finish with sesame oil. I topped the dish off with these really tasty, slightly salty-sweet fried and dried shrimp we bought during one of our previous trips to Rowland Heights.

So there you go….real easy, huh?

I hope everyone made the most of that extra hour of sleep this "fall back" weekend!

Djerba (Tunisia): Dinner, El-Griba Synagogue and the “Tower of Skulls”

November 3, 2012 mmm-yoso Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

After an afternoon nap and basically sitting around bored in the Green Palm, it was dinner time. Places like this have a standard dining room, with usually a typical buffet and this didn't seem to be an exception.

We walked through the rather large dining area and found a little veranda out the back of the restaurant, taking a tiny little two top away from the feeding frenzy. Our server was a really nice young man, warm, with a wonderful smile. He spoke little English but we had no problem ordering us a bottle of wine. He would turn out to be one of the typical genuinely nice people we encountered in Tunisia….one of many.

As we walked pass the dishes,we noticed that there was an unusually large amount of pasta dishes…..really overcooked looking pasta dishes. We had gotten into the habit of going after more vegetable oriented dishes along with availing ourselves of the pretty decent olive oil at these buffets. We noticed that many of these typical dishes were rather "scarce". The Missus asked our server why they didn't have mechouia, the wonderful grilled pepper/vegetable salad She had gotten to really enjoy.

The reason? "Tonight is Italian night, no mechouia." Kind of a bummer. He then asked us, "you like mechouia?" Of course we answered "yes, it is very good." He pointed to the ground and said, "tomorrow, Tunisienne night…..still…." And pointed to the ground. So, that was the deal; there was a theme to every night's dinner, and tomorrow was "Tunisia night". We nodded and went on with our meal. About ten minutes later he walks up to our table and drops off this plate….of mechouia! We're just flabbergasted. He tells us, "I tell chef de cuisine, you really like mechouia, so we make you some." Say what? Shades of Vientiane! Say what you will about the politics and religion, but I've always asserted, we as people, are much kinder then the borders built by flags and rhetoric, and more alike than different. This gesture alone, made staying here a pleasure. On our way out, we wanted to thank this young man….the only thing we could think of was giving him like 20 dinar.

On our way out, the Missus noticed a line in frontof the cheese station….which by the way, was stocked with some pretty decent cheeses. So of course, my crazy wife decided to man the station….walking up and starting to serve the guests their cheese….much to the amusement of the young man who returned to find one of the guests, albeit a slightly off center one working his station.

Walking out of the restaurant, we noticed this bulletin…..listing the "themes" for each night's dinner.

I was just glad we weren't here on Tuesday ("Mardi") for "Oriental night".

There wasn't much more to do during the evening, I went down to the bar for a beer and worked on getting photos uploaded and working on a short post. The next morning we woke early, Ben would be picking us up for the last half day portion of the tour…….this being Houmt Souk and some outlying areas.

The sun was already shining brightly, but the restaurant was completely empty except for us. I'm guessing most folks were sleeping in after a night of partying. When I went upstairs to our room the previous night, folks were coming down to go to the nightclub in the resort.

Breakfast was simple and light…..I've come to enjoy the tomato-cheese-olive and bread type of breakfasts.

As usual, Ben met us promptly at 8 am and we headed off. The first stop was the town of Midoun. This was Friday, the day of a large market in the town.

We arrived pretty early, so many vendors were still setting up……most of the booths were just filled with tourist stuff. I'm guessing many of the tourists some here in cabs from the resorts to buy souvenirs……

Our next stop was on a sleepy street in the town of Erriadh, also known as Hara Seghira ("small ghetto"). Many people are not aware that Djerba once had a rather large Jewish community which some say dates back to 586 BC, following Nebuchadnezzar's taking of Jerusalem, making this one of the oldest outside of Israel. El Ghriba Synagogue, located in Erriadhis the oldest in North Africa and the site of a major pilgrimage in May of each year.

After arriving, we had to wait across the street from the Synagogue for a detachment of soldiers to arrive and the "Fat Man" who held the keys to the place. Each visitor has to go through a metal detector and possibly some screening before visiting. The reason is written on the right; on April 11th, 2002 a natural gas truck fitted with explosives drove past the security gates and detonated; killing 19.

Though the first Synagogue was first built here when a "holy stone" fell from heaven and a mysterious woman appeared instructing people to build the synagogue, this building was constructed in the 20th century.

The colors are strikingly Mediterranean, with bright blues and whites. The interior is also full of the striking blues, but is somewhat tempered by its design.

I was told that one of the oldest existing Torahs is kept here and also the story that, "when the last Jews leave Djerba, the keys to the synagogue will fly to heaven……."

After this rather somber visit, we headed off to Houmt Souk, the largest town on the island. We stopped at Borj El K'bir Fort, also known as Borj Ghazi Mustapha.

This fort was the site of a huge massacre in 1560 when Dragut (Turgut Ries) the Ottoman Commander defeated a coalition army of Phillip II of Spain, over-running the fort.

According to the story, there were about 6000 of the garrison killed and their skulls were stacked up on the shoreline as a warning. The monument was taken apart in 1848 and the bones buried and this was placed at the site.

You really wouldn't give it but a brief glance if you didn't know what once stood here.

Ben told me that to this day, Houmt Souk is never shown on any tourist maps in Spain. not sure if that's true, but it sure makes for a heck of a story, huh?

Pasadena Farmers Market and lunch at The Slaw Dogs (Duarte)

November 2, 2012 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Hot Dogs, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy blog here, with the primary subject 'food'. Today, Cathy is blogging, because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are just plain busy.

This is a continuation of our Saturday road trip to watch a road test of the 2013 Rose Parade floats. When we got to Euro Pane, The Mister grabbed a few of those free newspapers stacked at the door and was reading while we were eating while I was checking my phone for spam on the blog. He saw that The Pasadena Farmers Market was held on Tuesday and Saturday and we knew the exact location- in the parking lot of Pasadena High, on Sierra Madre Boulevard, where the Rose Parade floats line up end to end, after the Parade.

So we drove until we saw vehicles parked on the street, parked, walked across the median and into the vendor area.

and enjoyed the vast selection of fruits and vegetables in the two long aisles of booths.

I must say, the selection and prices were overwhelming- we walked through, noting prices, taking a few samples,
enjoyed the three musicians (two with guitars and one playing a zither) spread out in separate areas,

as well as checking out the fresh seafood vendor-

There was one 'taco stand', several vendors selling baked goods, one egg rancher, one olive oil stand and a honey vendor.

Then I saw these, and learned what fresh picked jicama looks like! We made some purchases and started driving East, knowing we were heading home.

At some point, we were on the Original Route 66 and in Duarte. I spotted this building

drove two blocks and turned around. The name alone…

We walked in and looked at the menu…and it was overwhelming. Because the possibilities of combinations of available ingredients and preparations is overwhelming.

-There are five dog types(1/4 lb Vienna, natural casing Vienna, 1/4 lb turkey, Kosher beef or veggie)

-Six choices of links (Vienna Jumbo 12" all beef, 7" spicy Polish, 1/4 lb spicy chicken or chicken apple, 1/4 lb Bavarian bratwurst or 1/4 lb ghost pepper pork hot link) types, three preparation choices(steamed, charbroiled or 'ripped' (deep fried and the casing bursts).

-Then there is a choice of 11 Sauces: ketchup, mustard, BBQ, curry ketchup, spicy sesame aioli, chipotle mayo, roast garlic aioli, horseradish mustard, dijon and buttermilk ranch

-Three from a list of 15 (or 39¢ for more than three) toppings: diced onions, grilled onions, relish, pickle chips, dill pickle spear, jalapeños, sport peppers, pepperocini, sauerkraut, cole slaw, diced tomato, celery salt, chopped Romaine, garlic salsa verde or habañero pickled onion…

-And you can choose from 23 custom toppings for 99¢ each: Beer chili, veggie chili, bacon, pastrami, ground beef, jalapeño bacon, fried egg, Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Parmesan, Nacho cheese, Goat cheese, Feta, Blue, Kimchi, avocado, guacamole, mushrooms, sauteed bell peppers and onion, olive mix, truffle oil or roast garlic pieces.

Fortunately the menu is not only "Build Your Own", but does have a choice of ten 'Slaw Dogs'. Of course, we decided to share "The Traditional"

1/4 lb Vienna beef dog, beer chili, cheddar, mustard, onions and slaw ($4.99) (the only choice was between Cole Slaw or Thai Slaw, and we decided on Cole Slaw).

A cross section view- the chili was really good and the slaw was excellent- crispy and lightly dressed with mayonnaise and a bit of spice (The flavor could have been Lawry's Seasoned Salt…very pleasant and mild)

Then there were Sides available. Not only fries and sweet potato fries, but onion rings, tots, potato salad, slaws, chili cheese bowl, small tossed salad…but 1/2 skin on fries 1/2 sweet potato fries as well as chili cheese fries, truffle fries, parmesan fries, garlic fries or, our choice…Kimchi sweet potato fries ($5.99) (yes, more than the Slaw Dog). Sweet potato fries, perfectly nicely fried and topped with spicy sesame aioli (the 'spice' may have been Sriracha)bacon pieces (large, real bacon pieces), fresh made kimchi (not too spicy; a great version) and an over easy fried egg.

There were burgers and salads on the menu also- the salads all came with a choice of butterflied, chargrilled link. The kimchi fries was a perfect melding of flavors and textures and was a meal in itself. So glad we stopped.

When leaving, I asked about breakfast , since the sign out front advertised it Friday, Saturday and Sunday only…not only French Toast, pancakes (buttermilk or seven grain), oatmeal, and egg dishes (all served with fruit and either rosemary potatoes or potato tots), but some of the omelet selections contain available links (a Ghost Buster omelet using a ghost pepper sausage, with bell peppers, onions and fresh jalapeño and cheddar cheese is $7.99) and the bottom of the list- a Belly Buster scramble (diced pork belly, cilantro and green onions ($8.99)) has the only mention of pork belly on the menu.

The Slaw Dogs 1355 Huntington Drive (the original Route 66) Duarte, CA 91010 (626)358-8898 website

Turo Turo Thursday: Revisits to R&B Filipino Cuisine and Manila Fast Food and Desserts

November 1, 2012 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

Here's more steam table goodness for your Thursday.

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Being kind of off the beaten track, it's easy to forgot about R&B. One weekend I was driving around Mira Mesa and R&B suddenly came to mind. Not sure why….but it was enough for me to take that right turn on Camino Ruiz……

They were doing pretty good business when I arrived. Taking a quick glance at what was available, it was easy to make a decision.

The beef steak (bistek) had just come out and I recalled that I'd had the tapas on a previous visit and didn't think it was too bad. The meat was pretty tender considering it was pretty low grade round or sirloin. It was too salty for my taste and whatever citrus they had in this really didn't help balance things out. The worst was the flavor I can only describe as "scummy", that weird almost offal-blood like flavor of low grade meat cooked in its own scum.

I also got the sisig (duh), which was nicely flavored, decent vinegar and heat. It was just a bit too bitter and mushy, but not bad overall.

The folks here looked pretty beat on this day, but they were nice enough. I still haven't run into the hamonado my friend's husband recommends, so hopefully one day.

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

I can say with some confidence that Manila Fast Food is probably the busiest of the turo turo joints in the area. Being near Seafood City helps, there are always people in the place, which makes for decent turnover. Looking over things I went with the sisig and beef mechado, easy picks. Though they had just brought out the lechon, which I've had mixed success with here. After talking to Kirbie about her rather recent experiences with the lechon here…..I probably made the right choice.

The Beef Mechado was very mild, but at least it wasn't too salty. The stew quality beef was pretty tough. Overall, it could have used a bit more flavor, perhaps a bit of al onger cooking time.

I've always thought the sisig at MFF had a decent balance of flavor, the sour-salty-spicy. My problem was how watery, mushy, and waxy the whole deal was. Well, no complaints about texture this time around. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a trade off with regards to flavor. The usual bright tones of the dish, especially the spice was now AWOL. I guess you have to choose between flavor and texture with regards to MFFs sisig?

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Thanks for reading. I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante revisited (again).

October 30, 2012 mmm-yoso Salvadoran Restaurants

It had been a while since we'd been here and even longer since my last post on the place. The Missus is sure craving Her Latin American dishes. She had been mentioning returning here for close to three weeks before we finally made in back. In my last post, I mentioned how the place had been "freshened up" a bit. Now it's pretty much returned to the look of old….a bit mismatched and worn, but we really don't come here to gaze at the design and furnishings.

The service was fairly unorganized, but very nice….it seems like the customers were more of the problem as one of them kept walking to the counter and shouting to whomever was in the back! Sheesh….

The Missus loves the curtido, the pickled vegetables that accompany pupusas. But not on Her pupusas…She eats them with Her chips! She also misses the large communal container of curtido,which has been replaced by a bowl. I'm figuring code violations probably made this come about.

We started with Pacaya Forradas, basically the the flowering portion("male inflorescense") of a species of palm. The pacaya look much like tentacles of baby corn.

This looked much different then what we had here before. I thought the sauce tasted much like the salsa we had with the chips. It lacked body and didn't have enough of the tangy tomato flavors. It wasn't bad, in fact the Missus still loved the slightly bitter flavor coupled with the nice crunch. I thought it wasn't quite as good as before and not nearly as good what we had in Honduras, though I didn't expect that since what we had in Copan was fresh and this was obviously bottled. Still, it didn't seem too different, perhaps just a bit more tough and bitter. If you order this dish, make sure to get it with hand made tortillas, which are like pupusas without filling.

While I thought the pacaya was not as good as before, I believe the pupusas were better than I recalled. Very moist and well put together. The Pupusa con Chicharron almost squirted molten juice on me when I cut it open. Nice rich pork flavor…a little goes a long way.

And while I enjoyed the pork a lot, perhaps the queso en loroco was even better. Loroco is the green bud of the Fernaldia pandurata, a vine that grows in Central America. You can find jars and bottles of these, as well as pacaya at Northgate Market. I really like the unique, pungent-artichoke like flavor that comes through clearly.

Though it could easily be said that in spite of the cheese, you could really make out all of the different flavors in the pupusas…the Missus had three Herself.

I had a taste of the jalapeno and cheese and thought it as pretty good. The curtido also helps cut the richness of the fillings as well.

Consumption of masa will usually put me into a pre-coma state and my two pupusas were no exception. The Missus took it a step further and had an entire tamale elote en crema….a sweet corn tamale!

After which we headed home for a nice Sunday nap! On the drive home, the Missus mentioned that we haven't been to El Salvadoreno in a while. We always preferred this place….but will probably need to check them out soon….just for comparison sake, right? Especially since the Missus is still on Her Latin American food kick!

El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante
3824 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Revisits to The Original Sab E Lee, Sab E Lee Santee and Koon Thai

October 29, 2012 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Here’s a trio of revisits to various Thai places we’ve been to in recent weeks.

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** TOSEL has closed

You know, we’ve been here tons of times since they opened in August of 2008. We miss Koby, who used to own this, then Sab E Lee in Santee dearly. There have been times when our meals…usually when doing take-out has been less than stellar and there seems to be a group of young kids often running the front of house, but they’ve always been pleasant, if a bit inconsistent.

I’ve found that my heat tolerance, once leveled off at “Thai spicy”, a 10, is now about a 7. And what we usually get here is a rotation of our favorites, sometimes throwing in something we hadn’t had in a while. This visit was no different.

We started with the grilled duck larb:

One need to look no further than this for a savory, tangy, sour, and satisfying dish.

The Missus was wanting something like the Shrimp Pla from SEL2, so we went with the Shrimp Larb:

This was pretty weak by SEL standards, not spicy enough at even a 7 heat level, too much lime interfered with any other flavor, and not enough really going on. We thought the Shrimp were a bit overcooked for this type of dish. At the most, we’d prefer shrimp just barely cooked.

But all was right with the Shrimp Pad See Eew.

Nice flavor, shrimp cooked quite well. There’s some “wok hei” going on….. great flavors from caramelization and the combination of ingredients, high heat, a well seasonedwok and the now ever popular and over-used “Maillard Reactions”.

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sab E Lee 2 (Sab E Lee Santee):

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

After our visit back in May, I received and email telling me the place had gone downhill. A couple of weeks ago, the Missus wanted Her fish fix, so we decided to head back.

The gentleman, whose name, if I recall is something like “Chud” still remember me from the days when Koby was here and our San Diego Beer week dinner in 2010. His daughter is now working there; it’s become a real family affair.

We started with the Shrimp Pla, with it’s spicy-sweet-sour-savory tones, this really perks us up and gets us ready for the rest of the meal.

Instead of my usual Garlic Rice, I went with one of my favorites at TOSEL, the Salted Fish Fried Rice. This version was much more mellow, but really delicious, and less salty. You could make out the fragrance and taste the salted fish, but it really didn’t over-power the dish.

The Missus went with the Volcano Fish, instead of Her usual the House Signature Fish.

This one had a bit too much going on for me, but the Missus enjoyed it, and that was the main thing.

We also ordered one of those typical, you pick the protein, you pick the preparation, Thai dishes…..

Which would be ok from your neighborhood Thai take-out joint, but was nothing special.

We’ll probably be coming again, the Missus enjoys the fish here…..and I want more salted fish fried rice.

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

Koon Thai:

Based on my previous post, you can figure out what I order here, right? The Nam Khao Tod of course.

This is pretty “wet” and I still prefer the Lao version, but the gingery-sour-salty flavors, topped by some spice I find quite refreshing.

And of course that simmered pork leg dish, the Khao Karr Moo (Khao Kha Moo), which, when done well…..about a 50-50 shot during my last couple of visits, takes me back to Thailand.

At least it’s now on the permanent menu.

On a recent visit, the Missus went with the…are you ready….pla nuer onn tod kra tom. Can we just call it crispy whole fish? Anyway, this thing took about 15 minutes longer than both of my dishes….no mention of anything amiss, just dropped my dishes off…and we waited. Finally the Missus told me, “just eat you food….if it takes more than five more minutes, we’ll be getting it to go and never coming back.” Luckily, the fish made it’s way to the table….again, no indication that anything was out of the ordinary….I guess it’s SOP here. We’re used to the “appetizer sin”, which really doesn’t bother us, but this was strange. Anyway, this wasn’t just a whole fried fish….it was 11 whole fishes!

These were sheathfish and the Missus told me they were fried and seasoned perfectly as She ate all 11 of them! She also enjoyed the sauce and asked if we could have more….and they wanted to charge us $2……really? Whatever……. I’ve had some kind of weird service here in the past, I guess that’s the norm.

I will usually come here for lunch when I have the time, not sure the Missus would want to come back, though.

Koon Thai Kitchen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go, three down and a couple of more to go……stay tuned!

2013 Rose Parade Float Road Test-and breakfast at Euro Pane Bakery (Pasadena)

October 28, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy do things and eat, just like you. Today Cathy is writing about why, where and what she had for breakfast.

As you (may) know, The Mister and I grew up back East watching the Rose Parade from our snow covered homes on January 1 (or 2nd, if the 1st was a Sunday) for most of our childhood. At some point, we were able to fulfill one of our "when I grow up" goals. We have volunteered decorating floats for a few years now and know that the parade does not happen overnight. Planning for next year starts almost as soon as the parade ends. One of many steps is the "road test" of the floats. I've posted about the July and the August road tests from this year and skipped writing a post in September, but did, once again, wake at 4 a.m. (so the dogs could all be let out) before leaving our home in East County so as to be on Raymond Street in Pasadena at 7 a.m. to view the floats. We did it all over again on Saturday. So, here are some photos of the September and October road testing..and our breakfast.

The Banner Float-the first one you'll see, showing the Theme of the 2013 parade. It will have so many different items to match and contrast all the colors painted on here as guidelines.

The LAX float was just a shell of rebar in August. That's the new Tom Bradley Terminal, which will open in March.

The HGTV float last time was kind of difficult to picture, but now, all the different home styles are clear.

This little guy, in his own home, will be on the "camera" side of the float.

So those were the 'completed' floats from September.

After we saw all the road testing, once again, we stopped at Lucky Boy and pretty much ordered what apparently has become our "usual". I didn't think you'd be interested in another post, especially containing the same meal…

But I did think you might be interested in seeing a September road test of the rebar-only floats and the resulting October completed floats…

All we knew about this float was that it was the Farmers Insurance Group entry in the parade. It looks like some sort of centerpiece or that something will be featured on the top of the vessel.

It turns out that one lucky couple will be getting married on this float during the parade! (There was a contest to pick the couple, entries ended October 14). The people are on the float to test how it moves/turns with weight, as there will be people riding on the float during the parade.

In September, seeing this…

pulling this, with our only clue being this was the RFD-TV float, had us guessing what was what (other than we knew the front item was a tractor).

Amber waves of grain- so surprised to see such a beautiful result.

Here's the "camera" view…

The Donate Life float appears to be one long mobius ribbon forming hearts along the float. The riders will all be recipients or families of organ donors, as always.

<–This is a closer look at the float, while the riders were exiting on a fire drill.

There was only one 'bare' float being tested and I'll save it for next time. (Hint: Honda)

After this early day, we headed out to seek breakfast 'somewhere on Colorado Boulevard'.

and since it was before 9 a.m., only had to look where we saw vehicles parked…and Euro Pane Bakery looked like a nice place.

Not very large inside (I counted 12 two person tables, and one that could seat eight). When we arrived, only five tables were occupied.

The two photos show all of the display cases and breads available (those are very large macarons in the photo above). Of course, I didn't want any sweets, and chose a slice of spinach quiche:

It came with a currant filled eggy roll… fresh-soft and lightly chewy, which went well with the unsalted butter.

The quiche is very spinach-y, without addition of other flavorings (i.e., no onion or nutmeg). The custard part of the quiche was smooth and eggy, like flan (there was an opposite of a custard:spinach ratio in the pieces near the edge). The crust was light and flaky…and gosh, so fresh.

The Mister saw this item on the counter and asked what it was and the nice Lady said "ham and cheese". Turns out there was also bacon, onions and carrot inside this fresh, crispy crust. It was very much like an Alsace Onion Tart (or the Tarte d'Alsace sold at Trader Joe's), but rolled and inside a crust. The onion was a carmelized sweet and inoffensive (The Mister only eats onions if they are battered and fried or in French onion soup and he did eat some of these, although a nice stack was on the side of the plate when we traded.).

Both items were heated-in an oven in back-for us and brought out to our table. Heating made the flavors even better. I neglected to take the receipt and only know that these two items plus one coffee cost a bit less than $13. I must say the quality was there and the sandwich menu board looked extremely interesting…and now I wish I had grabbed a sweet, or a loaf of bread…

Euro Pane Bakery 950 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 107 Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 577-1828

PL Bagels-(Point Loma)

October 26, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are out and about running errands today. Cathy was out and about running errands and this place caught her attention. She is writing about it today.

A few years ago, I was working in the Point Loma area on an Election Day. When I had time to take a break, I stopped in this parking lot on Voltaire Street, anchored by this Stumps Family Marketplace, a 'fancier' Market. The Mister and I now make regular trips here, mainly to purchase their various house made sausages, which are coarse ground and have just the right amount of spices.

It's a very nice market, selling a good variety of items and I would shop here regularly if I lived closer. On the same block, but around the taco shop and in the next parking area East (closer to Point Loma High School) I discovered this humble looking bagel shop.

It's owned and run by a very nice Asian family who make what I think are the best bagels in the County.

Eight tables inside the building. A limited menu. A limited number of bagels made daily- usually sold out before 1 p.m. (the store opens at 6:30 a.m. daily). Bialy (my favorite) are made on weekends only. Mini bagels available for 35¢ each. These are not huge, fluffy, chain store bagels; each one does have a hole in the middle. Handmade, with great chew yet soft and always fresh is what is served here. I have heard people say the bagels here are as close to New York Style as you can get on this coast.

Toasted and with butter is how I've always enjoyed a bagel. You can see the size on these smaller (6 inch?) paper plates. The Mister's (on the right) is his favorite- a salt bagel. Mine is a (wheat) everything (white everything is also available). (I order an everything as a default because I am easily overwhelmed when having to choose, and an everything has a bit of…everything… on it.)

What really sets these bagels apart from others is this- this is a photo of the bottom of each bagel. The 'toppings' are really 'surroundings' of flavor. Just perfect.

I hope everyone is have a good weekend!

PL Bagels 3704 Voltaire Street, Suite 107 San Diego 92106 (619)223-4788 Open daily 6:30-1:00

Turo Turo Thursday: A Revisit to Conching’s Cafe

October 25, 2012 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

*** Conching is now Erlinda's Filipino Cuisine & Ice Cream Parlor

Over the course of the last twelve weeks I managed to revisit a couple of turo turo places, which I'll post on over the next few weeks. Actually, I dropped by Tita's twice during this period, but they didn't have any sisig, so I decided not to wait in those massive lines. I've heard that they actually changed the sisig recipe when AZ(not you "AZ", the other AZ) visited; I always thought the sisig there was terrible. So it took a television thing to get them to make a better product? I guess even they knew their sisig wasn't up to par….. Well enough of that. Here's enough saturated fat for a week or so.

There was a time not too long ago, when I thought that Conching made some of the best turo turo sisig in San Diego. As of a couple of years ago, I felt that the sisig had slipped a bit. It just wasn't as good. Those thought were percolating in mi cabeza as I parked.

No matter how many times I visit, walking to the turo turo ("point point", a reference to steam table cuisine) counter, I can't help but be amused at the ice cream parlor look. Someone asked me to describe the interior once and the best I could come up with was "Farrell's meets patis". Because I had just come from the long lines and cold stares at Tita's, the stark emptiness of the place really made an impression. There were no other customers during my entire meal.

Looking over the steam table items, I saw something I never recalled seeing before, so I ordered it.

I guess it's the purple tinted red color that got me…plus this had slices of pork belly in it. Well, even more than the color, catching a whiff of it as I brought this to my table really got my nares out of the morning doldrums. I actually liked this; it was salty, in a good way, very savory, obviously from a good amount of bagoong alamang. It was also fairly spicy, a rarity in most Filipino dishes that I've had….the possible exception being bicol express and some versions of sisig. Still, I didn't know what the heck this was and the woman behind the counter wasn't in a particularly chatty mood, so I took a photo and sent it to my former coworker "MG". Who informed me that this was a dish with the catchy name of Binagoongang Baboy. The combination of pungent bagoong, garlic, chilies, tomato, and green bell peppers, adds up to salty-savory,tangy,spicy, and pretty delicious in my book. I have another dish to be on the look-out for in the future.

Of course I had the sisig.

Which was disappointing. Oh how the mighty has fallen. This was soggy, lacked vinegar, and had rather unpleasant bitterness to it.

On a positive note, I have a new dish to look out for. On the flip side, it seems that the sisig here has gone downhill. I asked MG when I saw her a couple of weeks later. She told me that the food at Conching hasn't been very good for the last six-eight months. Sad.

Conching's Cafe
3400 E 8th St.Ste 115
National City, CA 91950

Pangea Bakery Cafe

October 24, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Pangea has closed.

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy usually share their adventures in eating here. Your being able to vicariously experience is a bonus. Cathy is writing today.

Well. The Mister and I were some of the first people to go to Pangea Bakery Cafe when it opened, in about May of 2011. We went here a few times and I was ready to post and looked around on the interweb and it seemed that just about every San Diego blogger had done a post. So I put the photos in a very special place. Finding some of them brought back some memories and since The Mister and I chose this for one of our eight days of birthday snack stops, more recent photos should make this post complete.

Located on Convoy Street, just south of Engineer Road, right next to Tea Garden the visible storefront has a small driveway where you can park for 15 minutes if you are just running in to pick up a snack. Otherwise, passing through the gauntlet of cars leads to a small parking lot. The one way parking lot exits onto Brinell Street, which usually has plenty of parking (depending on the day and time you are there) and since the lot is small, the walk isn't bad.

When the store first opened, the display racks of baked goods were pushed up against the walls and a small center island contained breads and trays. This Taiwanese bakery is filled with an ever changing variety of baked goods.

The display racks have now been brought inward and tables and chairs line the glass walls

and the center table now mostly holds day old baked goods. In this above photo, you can see a heated glass display case on the coffee/check out counter in the background.

On the other side of the cash register counter are refrigerated cases.

On the inner display racks are trays with individually wrapped selections. The above are garlic knots. Buttery…

Although, from this 2011 photo, you can see that items were not always individually wrapped.

There are trays stacked at the end of the cases are so you can place your selections separately without crushing any of the delicate pastries.

Above is what we ordered on our very first visit. There was a paper sign at the register after we had selected the sweets we wanted, offering pan fried dumplings and a choice of beverage for $2.49. Beverage choices were coffee, tea and hot soy milk. We chose the soy and also a coffee (there is (and was) an extensive list of espresso drinks available).

Above is a cross section of the dumpling. It was wonderful, crispy and not gummy, filled with ground pork, cabbage, carrots cooked in sesame oil. At some point, they stopped offering the beverage special, as well as the dumplings. You can still order a hot soy milk, but it isn't listed on the menu.

Here's a cross section of a cheese filled pastry.

Above is a photo of our birthday snack- at 12 o'clock is a red bean paste filled pastry, the item at 2 o'clock is pineapple filled and in the 6 o'clock position is a hot cheese pastry which came from the heated case on the countertop, next to the register. Fresh, still warm and all very good. Sometimes there is more of a pizza in the hot tray; it's good.

Above is a little snack/meal we brought home the other day. The 11 o'clock item is another red ben paste filled goodie, in the 5 o'clock position is a three pack of almond puff pastry…and that item placed at 1 o'clock

is a quite large loaf of ham and cheese bread. We can get 3 nice slices from this bread and always grab it when it's available.

The prices here are reasonable (the puff pastry was $1.25 and the cheese bread was $2.50). There is a lot of seating and it's a nice place to share a snack and talk.

Pangea Bakery Cafe 4689 Convoy Street, Suite 100 San Diego 92111 (858)560-0688 website