Oh, humble chickpea, when we met at the Sizzler salad bar when I was seven, you were called garbanzo beans, and you were just an alternative to kidney beans in…
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Main Course
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Last week I posted a one-off with a photo of some char siu chicken legs we had in Kauai. I don't know what the secret to char siu is aside from the red food coloring, but I'm determined to crack it. I went to Uwajimaya yesterday to check out the jarred and packet marinades and see what was in those, but the plan was to make the marinade myself. So, while some Chowhounders said there's no way a restaurant uses ketchup and hoisin, an old recipe in the Honolulu Star Bulletin said different.11
There's almost nothing more comforting than a bowl of noodles. No matter what country it comes from -- China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Italy, heck, even America -- noodles fill your belly and soothe the soul. So it should be no surprise that after a 6-hour flight from Seattle to Kauai, our first stop was Hamura Saimin in Lihue.06
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The last few days have been completely amazing in Seattle. Sunny as all get out. You don't know how exciting sunshine is until you haven't had it for awhile. On Saturday in all that beautiful sunshine, we headed downtown with a plan to stuff our faces, first at Sweet Iron, a newish liege waffle place we hadn't yet tried, and then to hit The Berliner, a doner kebab joint in Pioneer Square.30
It's almost February. We're in the thick of winter, when a slow cooker should be getting a real workout. But strangely, I haven't been using mine that much. I like doing soups and chilis on the stove, but the truth is, the slow cooker is almost a magical appliance. You throw in a few things, cover it with the lid, abracadabra and 6-8 hours later, you have something amazingly delicious. It took this Coca-Cola Braised Pork shoulder to remind me just how magical it can be. I'm not even going to feign modesty and say, "Oh, it's pretty good, you might like it." I'll just say it, this pork shoulder is super tasty. It's not just good, it's gooooooooood.30
I think it was seeing Rick Bayless win Top Chef Masters season 1 with his Oaxacan Black Mole that pushed me over the edge. If we go to a Mexican restaurant and they have mole, I'm definitely ordering it. It's great sometimes, and others it's a flame out. But at home, unless you're going to make it from scratch, Dona Maria mole in a jar is usually your only option. But now that I've made Bayless' mole, there's no going back.
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My first "Build a Better Burrito" post was more for meat eaters and focused on Alton Brown's Taco Potion #19. This time around, I'm doing a vegetarian burrito -- starring home-cooked black beans.
I was a hold out on dried beans for a really long time. At New Year's, I'd make red beans and rice (yeah, I know it's technically supposed to be black-eyed peas), but I never just made beans on the regular to have them ready to go. And then, I made this pot of black beans and a light finally flicked on in my head. It took a little time, but they tasted better, cost a fraction of the canned version and froze well. I'd heard all that before, but like I said, a light flicked on.
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Have you ever stood in the pasta aisle at your grocery store and noticed they carry 4-5 different brands of spaghetti or farfalle? Then they've got capellini, fettuccini, linguine, orecchiette, penne, orzo, and then you get down to the bottom shelf and there are the egg noodles. But where are the large elbow macaroni? Small elbows, check. Large elbows? Nope. When did the large elbow fall out of favor? Did it get pushed out by the whole wheat and rice pasta?
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The La Palma Chicken Pie Shop in Anaheim, California is an institution (an institution without a Web site, so you know they're old school and proud of it). I haven't been in years, probably double-digit years, but it doesn't look like it's changed much, still a classic 50s-era coffee shop/diner with naugahyde booths and counter seating.