fusion

It is only until the weekend where i have time to enjoy myself and create some special dishes.
After another visit to Haymarket, i bought fresh vegetables and fruits therefore, a refreshing salad would be great on a Saturday afternoon.
The new creation is the miso vinaigrette.
Cut up all the vegetables for your salad. In mine, I have romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, fried okra, cucumbers, carrots and walnut.
For the vinaigrette, i added miso, white rice vinegar, sugar, lemon, toasted sesame oil and shallots.
I don't really like raw shallots because the flavor is too strong, therefore i heat up some of the sesame oil and put in the chopped shallots to cook for a bit.
Taste the sauce and alter the amount of ingredients according to your preference.

Besides the salad, i also had the basic mozzarella cheese with tomato. My roomate is growing a small basil plant and i used some of the baby basil. Add some balsamic vinaigrette and pepper for flavor. This is a great appetizer when you have guests at home too!

Another easy appetizer. Deep fried eggplant with honey lemon sauce.

Cut eggplant into thin slices. Salt each piece and let them sit for 10 minutes. 

Prepare the batter. Pour panko (japanese bread crumbs) on a plate and flour on another one. Beat a large egg in a bowl.

First dredge the eggplant into a plate of flour, pat out the excess and then dip them into the egg mix. Then cover the eggplant with panko on one side. Cover the other side with sesame first then cover with panko and place them into the hot oil for deep fry. Fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minute. Drain the eggplant on paper towel lined plate. 

Stack the eggplant on a plate and drizzle the sauce over the eggplant. 

For the sauce, combine, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, soy sauce and pepper. Taste and adjust.

The sauce balance out the fried eggplant and gives it a refreshing twist.

enjoy!

the love of sweet

Dessert.

there is nothing much to say about it. Almost everyone loves it and it's just plain happiness.

Got back from work early and have some spare time. Looking at my ripe bananas, I decided to make a banana coffee cake streusel.

The only thing about baking is the importance of the amount of your ingredients, therefore I looked up the recipe online.

• 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/3 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2003/01/banana_coffee_cake_with_chocolate_chip_streusel#ixzz1POvD90IF

Pre heat the oven to 350F. Start with making the streusel. Mix the brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then beat sugar, butter and egg in a medium bowl. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of butter mixture. Then fold in the buttermilk and bananas. I do not like the bananas too mashed, so i didn't mix them much.

Butter and flour a 8x8x2 pan. Then pour in half of the batter, cover the first layer with streusel and add the remaining batter. Cover the cake with the rest of the streusel and it is ready to go into the oven.

It takes about 45 minutes. Check the cake by sticking in a toothpick or fork. If it comes out clean, then it is ready!

12 servings: make sure you have friends and family to share this delicious dessert with!

You can also add some chocolate chips in the streusel. Reduce the sugar if you don't like it too sweet, but try not to alternate the proportion of the other ingredients.

     

easy appetizer

Twisted some ingredients in an online recipe and created this eggplant appetizer.

Main ingredients: eggplant, cucumber, jalapeño, red pepper, tomato, onion, basil, lemon and scallion.

You could grill the eggplant, but i used the small oven instead. Cut a thick slice of eggplant and rub it with olive oil, lemon zest, thyme/basil or any other herbs (optional), salt and pepper. Put it in for about 10 min, or once it starts to brown.

While the eggplant is in the oven/ grill, mix the toppings.
Chop the rest of the ingredients into small cubes.
I like my onions cooked so i fried it in a pan.
Then put everything in a big bowl, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar/ red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and chopped basil. You could put any kind of vegetables in this mix, the more color the better.
Scoop them on the cooked eggplant and you are ready to serve. Use scallions and basil leaves for garnish.
ENJOY!

it's all homemade

The one thing that is great about cooking is you are in charge. You can change the taste of the dish, saltiness, sweetness, sourness, fluffiness, you name it.

After a whole week of work, I have planned out my weekend with delicious homemade dishes.

The best place to shop for fresh and cheap groceries (in Boston) is of course haymarket. Get off the T at haymarket and you will see a row of vegetables and fruits stands along Blackstone street.

I bought a whole week worth of fruit and vegetables for only $16!

After dinner, I start preparing my main course, pesto gnocchi.

First the pesto sauce. This is an easy and delicious sauce, of course, you would buy the ready made sauce, but i prefer making it.

Ingredients are: basil leaves, garlic and pine nuts.

There are a lot of alternative for the pesto sauce but this is the original. The amount you put in different for everyone. After you cut up everything, put them in a blender and blend until it is a texture of a puree.

I do not have a blender at hand, therefore I used a suribachi instead. (very tiring but it's all worth it). 

Then i start making my gnocchi. The enjoyment of making everything from scratch is very personal. There is no way to explain it but I started 10 and worked until 2 in the morning. This does not usually take that long, i was taking my time and slowly working through my gnocchi.

So the main ingredients: potato, flour and egg.

You can either bake the potato or boil it. It gives a different texture and it's all personal preferences. 

I boiled the potato and it turns out to be a heavier gnocchi but still chewy. 

REMEMBER! let the potato cool down. The heat in the potato create more water which makes it harder to combine forcing you to put more flour than needed. Do not rush this step. You can make these gnocchi beforehand. Wrap them in parchment paper and put them in a ziploc bag and stick them in the freezer.

First, cook the potato (about 1 1/2 pound) and peel the skin off. Put them through the ricer and spread them out to cool.

After they are cool down, beat in a large egg yolk and add about a cup of flour and some olive oil. Mix them in and flour your working area and put the dough to knead. Add flour if the dough is too wet to hold together. Then roll then into a 3/4 inch thick rope and cut them into tiny pieces.

Cook them in salty boiling water. They are ready in about 4 minutes or once they float. 

Pesto gnocchi.

Add a lot of olive oil in the pan then add in the pesto. Once it start boiling, add some milk and a little bit of the pasta water. Taste for additional salt and pepper. Put in the gnocchi and mix it up and you are ready to eat.

Voila! Enjoy.

a random creation

It's only the second day of summer intern and i am exhausted...
Starving on the bus on the way home, I did not want to make anything too complicated. I used whatever i have at home and started cooking.

I usually like to make butter soy sauce pasta, which is a japanese fusion dish. I picked orzo instead because i ran out of pasta. Stir fried the onions with butter and add in the other ingredients. Don't be generous with the butter, the more the better. Add in the cooked orzo and toss them together. Add a little bit of soy sauce and stir. This time, I added a little mirin, milk and wasabi. It made the orzo a little bit more creamy and the wasabi enhance the flavor of the dish. Be careful not to put too much in. 

This is just a short recap of my dinner. Will have more restaurant reviews and home made dishes once i am fully charged. 

LOBSTER PT. 2 (home made, Neptune, Summer Shack)

Neptune Oyster, the pearl in North End. Walking distance from government center and Faneuil Hall, this tiny restaurant is packed every night. They do not take reservation so get there as early as possible and write your name down. 

We arrived around 7 thinking it would not be packed on a Monday night but we were wrong. We waited close to 2 hours and at last we were seated. The restaurant was cosy and you could see the man cracking open the oysters one by one. 

Oysters are of course the main dish, they were around 2 dollars each depending on the area. I personally like the Island Creeks.

Besides oyster, the main dish would be the Maine lobster roll. You could have it hot with butter or cold with mayo. We ordered the hot one and it was divine. 25 dollars lobster roll was worth every penny. There were over flowing of lobster chunks accompanied with fries. Just a reminder, it gets really filling so share some of this deliciousness with friends. Definitely worth it.

Next up, Summer Shack. It is in the back bay area and walking distance from the Hynes T station on the green line.
The restaurant is pretty big and great for a casual family dinner or friends gathering. They also have a bar and televisions so you could watch some of the games while cracking lobster shells.

We ordered 3 different kinds of lobsters. First the special pan roasted lobster(1 1/2lb). They used bourbon, chervil and chives for the sauce. It was delicious. I did not even care about the lobster that much. The sauce was amazing! The lobsters were really hard to crack open and at the end of the meal we were all exhausted.

My friend ordered the clambake. It comes with steamers, mussels, chorizo, corn, potatoes and of course a lobster (this is a 1 1/2lb). The seafoods were fresh and nothing could beat that.

My other friend has been a lobster fanatic. Whenever he comes to Boston, I take him for a lobster feast. In Summer Shack they offer a 3 pound lobster and that was his challenge for the night. The lobster was huge but at the end, he was overwhelmed by the bits and pieces of lobster.

Last but not least, home cooked lobster.I got these lobster in Chinatown and they were priced by weight which is usually cheaper than eating out in a restaurant.

So how do you pick a lobster. In the market, they give you a tongs for the live lobsters swimming in the tanks. I usually pick the ones that has strong claws and fight back because their meat tend to be more muscular and therefore bigger and chewier. I am not sure if it is just me or not, but I "help" them pee before they got into the boiling water. Just stick a chopstick at the end of the tail and release the liquid. Putting them in boiling water for about 10-13 min per pound for the first pound. Add 3 min for each additional pound thereafter. You can melt any kinds of butter you have at home to add some saltiness to the lobster. 

It is really hard to mess up a steam lobster but there are many other different ways to eat a lobster also. If you have any suggestions for a new style of lobster, or suggestions of restaurants for lobsters, lobster roll or seafood please feel free to email me or leave me a comment!

Neptune Oyster                              

63 Salem Strett #1

Boston, MA 02113

T: 716.742.3474

http://neptuneoyster.com/

Summer Shack

50 Dalton Street

Boston, MA 02115

T: 617.867.9955

summershackrestaurant.com

LOBSTER (lobster hut, chinatown)

I looked through my albums and realize LOBSTER is the main theme to start off my hometown, BOSTON's review.
This would be a 2 part post just on LOBSTER.

Plymouth, MA

Plymouth, sightseeing and of course some seafood. We arrived at Lobster hut, and it was open seating. The weather was great and we sat next to the sea enjoying the birds and seagull. 

steam clam, fish and chip

lobster and scallop

before

after 

Everything was fresh and feeling the sea breeze better the experience.
There is no better way to taste the freshness of the seafood besides steaming them and dipping some melted butter and lemon.

Lobster Hut
25 Town Wharf
Plymouth, MA
T: 508.764.2270

Next up lobster for dinner in Chinatown.
In Boston Chinatown, you would usually see small signs in the restaurant with cheap double lobster (雙龍). Chinese cook lobster in different ways. We order the ginger leek lobster. Ginger and scallion/leeks goes well with pretty much anything. It is full of flavor but it covers the flavor of the lobster. With the cheap price, you can taste a different kind of lobster.

The Rotunda

   

Last day in San Francisco. My friend highly recommended the Rotunda in Neiman Marcus. As the name illustrates, it has a circular ground plan and a dome top. The interior was grand and the big windows brighten up the restaurant. When you arrive, you are served with a complimentary hot chicken broth, popover, strawberry butter.

Just the broth and the popovers are worth. The broth was home made and you can taste the freshness of the chicken. It was low sodium so it's perfect to start off your meal. The popovers was hot and fluffy. Strawberry butter still has the buttery flavor adding the sweetness of the strawberries. Great combination.

I order the lobster club. There is applewood smoked bacon, avocado, arugula, lemon aiolo on toasted brioche. It also comes with taro chips. There is a decent amount of lobsters and the sandwich was packed with freshly cut vegetables. It is the first time i tried taro chips. They were harder than potato chip and taro taste was not too strong. 

My mom ordered a cheeseburger with white cheddar. She was craving for a burger and this was a great choice. It looks like a regular burger but the special aspect is the bun. They used a scallion bun that adds a lot of flavor. The fries were great too. 

The Rotunda closes at night so everyone is there for brunch. The interior design is gorgeous and relaxing. The food is great and the view is beautiful. It is perfect for a cocktail also before or after shopping around in Neiman Marcus.

The Rotunda

150 Stockton Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

T: 415.362.4777

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/info/restaurant.jhtml?rest=200010

SCALA'S bistro

 

Our family friend recommended this restaurant to us. Located on Powell street where the cable car starts and runs through those famous steep roads. It is a bistro so the price was average but the food but totally worth it for this price. 

Bruschetta: fava pesto, duck prosciutto, pecorino, mint, pine nuts

The first time I tried duck prosciutto. It was not too thin. It was chewy and had a very strong duck flavor. The pesto and pine nut gave the bruschetta a nutty twist. It was a great combination.

Moules Frites:
PEI mussels, leeks, pastis










Seafood is always a good choice when you are near the bay area. The mussels were big and juicy. The pastis added tons of flavor and the soup was addictive. This also comes with pomme frites. It was skinny and freshly made fries that was crispy and not oily at all. A new twist of combination which was delicious

Linguine & Clams   manila clams, garlic, roasted tomato, white wine, calabrian chilies

Once again, you will never be wrong by picking the pasta with seafood. The clams tasted fresh from the sea and the chilies spiced it up. This was a simple dish but each aspect of it was perfectly done. The pasta was al dente, the clams were fresh and the white wine brought out that freshness.
Delicious.

Potato Gnocchi: field mushrooms, tuscan kale, spring onions, garrotxa cheese

I am a fan of gnocchi and mushrooms therefore this dish is perfect for me. These gnocchi are big and the smell of mushrooms rushed in all your pores when it arrived. Kale is also the healthiest vegetables, low calaries and highly nutritional. It was a little heavy but nothing could stop me from cleaning this plate.

This restaurant is always packed so definitely make a reservation beforehand. It is a perfect restaurant for a date or just a nice dinner with your family. Everyone was nice and the food was worth it for this price. Highly recommended.

Scala's Bistro

432 Powell Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

T: 415.395.8555