This Week in SnackChats

What what! New SnackChats for your viewing pleasure. 

I feel like taco time should be all the time.  Someone make this happen.

Everyone do the dance!  Just in case this reference seems too obscure:

Five Favorites for July

This month is drawing to a close and I would like to say, THANK YOU to everyone who has visited and had a few reads!

The following is a list of the the five things that have been inspiring / getting me excited / I think you will enjoy this past month. I have a lot in store for you guys so stay tuned and let me know how I'm doing! As for my favorites, I should include restaurants, but I didn't really eat out much this month, I was basically trolling the Internets.

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Favorite Documentary
 Farang: The Story of Andy Ricker 
 This movie is free on Vice Munchies.  It follows Andy Ricker of Pok Pok of Portland and New York. I've eaten at both his restaurants and after watching this you can see why the food is so good!

Favorite Food Blog Other Than my Own
i am a food blog
This blog is beautiful and everything I would want my blog to be and more! 

Favorite Recipe I've Cooked:
Rachel Khoo's Lavender and Lemon Chicken

I've made this twice this month!

Favorite Instagram
@jewelsofny aka Diana Yen
This picture alone is a reason to follow! Cleo the Bunny is the bunny of my dreams!



Favorite Show You Should Be Watching:
Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook
I love her!

When: Saturdays at 11:00am EST
Where: Cooking Channel



Thanks for reading friends! 

Cookbook Tuesday: Love and Ramen

This week I am featuring a book about obsession, Ivan Ramen. You read right, it's an obsession with ramen.  Half of the book is Ivan Orkin's history and the other half recipes for ramen and other things.  I will get around to eating here, as I am in NYC once a year. Most times, I never get to eat where I actually want to eat because I go for work and usually it is the majority that wins and I am never the majority, in most situations. See Eating Out Jack's Wife Freda.

Ivan Orkin is no joke, two successful shops in Japan and a new shop in New York.  The book is beautiful and his story is inspiring. When a book has the perfect recipe for half cooked eggs, I'm all in. I love a good ramen and I am intimated to actually make it.  When it cools off, which in Southern California is in November, I plan on dedicating a Sunday to making ramen.  For now, I'll leave it to the pros. 

I need the above print on my tea towels. 

I need this meal in my mouth.

Pretty Young Thing

For the longest time I was in hate with ginger.  Being Asian, ginger is in a lot of dishes my mom and grandma would make.  The worst part was accidentally eating a piece that looked like a piece of chicken. Growing up means changing palettes and now eating it doesn't physically make me sick  It actually makes me feel better.  A quick Google search will confirm that ginger is the ancient Chinese secret for stomach aliments. 

Anyways, I stopped into Marukai to buy some lemongrass and I saw the young ginger and I had to buy it.  I already have ginger but this was too interesting.  I think it was that it was pink that sold me. I am a sucker for pink root vegetables, also this one looked like antlers. The taste was sweet and light, the very opposite of its older self.  I did use it to make dinner and in the end it tasted like ginger. 

I Cooked:

caramelised pork and sesame lemongrass skewers with coconut rice

 

Consumed on: July 28, 2014

With: Shane

Eating Out Seoulmate

 

 My first friend ever was a girl that my grandma made me sit next to on the bus.  Her Name was Cynthia.  When I asked her what her name was she pointed to her name written on her lunch box. I was 5 and starting kindergarten and the name Cynthia was to advanced for my reading level. She is Korean and her house smelled funny and I'm pretty sure mine did too. So I guess you can say we had a common bond.  

We went through K-12 together, but sometime around 6th grade we fell out out friendship, you know girls, periods and boys.  I drifted to the nerdy Asian type and pretty soon in high school our friendship turned to acquaintance.  We were not soulmates.  

Today, I am flush with soulmates, I have three.  Shane, Anissa and Seoulmate, the restaurant.   I ordered the Old Boy and Shane the spicy pork, both burritos with egg. Because when the avocado cost more than the egg, egg wins all the time.  It wasn't fusion but more traditional Korean food in a tortilla.  It is a massive burrito and we couldn't eat it all.  The best part...

 The next day, I cut up the leftovers, tortilla and all and threw both burritos in my fancy new aluminum Vollrath  pan, served it in a bowl with an egg on top. 

Where: Seoulmate

4712 E. 7th St. Long Beach, CA 90804

Consumed on: July 25, 2014

With: Shane

It's Everyone's Favorite Day of the Week After Cookbook Tuesday

While there isn't really any backing to the title of the post, This Week in SnackChat is pretty consistent.  I sent out that top image.  It is a meal made from farmers market goodies.  It has been really hot so salads and anything that requires a stove to be on for less that 10 minutes have been the meals we've been eating lately. As a bonus, I am including a recipe for that dark mass of Shishito peppers at the bottom of the post! 

This week the SnapChats come from three friends, Travis, Mike and Chucho. It almost plays out like a joke. Send me SnackChats via SnapChat: log.lady

BONUS ROUND!

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Sausage

10 Shishito peppers (the current statistic is that 1 out of 10 shishito peppers is hot, so at this point you are playing Russian Roulette)

1/2 lbs or less of sausage ( I used Filipino longganisa because that is what I had on hand. I also think Spanish Chorizo would work well too)

half of a lemon, juiced 

salt and pepper

1. Since the sausage I used was already cooked, I cut them into bite size pieces and fried them in my cast iron. Let them get a little char on each side. Remove from pan. 

2. Use the fat that is left in the pan, if not a lot rendered out, add a little more, and add peppers. After about 2 minutes add juice from half a lemon. Cooked till blistered. 

3. Add sausage. Mix around. Season

4.Consume. 

Quantity

If quality of life were to be measured by the food you eat, would you be able to say you had a good happy life?   

Cookbook Tuesday

 Last week I featured a classic book and this week a modern cookbook.  

Today's selection is called Home Made by Yvette van Boven.  Keeping in tradition with last week, I have not made anything from this book nor have I marked anything. Strange because I have the two other books from this same series with recipes marked. Yes, there are two others that I will eventually feature.  I bought this book because it is just beautiful.  The illustrations and pictures are amazing and while I can't vouch for a recipe in the book at this time, I feel like they would be delicious.  

What you can't see is that this photo is taken in my bathroom. 

My cookbooks are arranged in three sections on three shelves.  One section is restaurants and periodicals, the other is vintage and miscellaneous, and the one closest to the kitchen is what I like to call the reference section.  This is where you find the Joy of Cooking, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Home Made.  

This photo was taken on my kitchen table. 

While I have not made anything from here I do reference it from time to time for ideas and to get inspired.  I am not a cook that follows instructions very well, I blame my mother for that. 

 Every page is playful and because of that I love it and it has a worthy spot on my bookshelves.

Freakin' Weekend

This past weekend I was a bridesmaid at my sister's wedding. Right before all that, I ran 12 miles and pretty much wanted to eat everything in sight.  The wedding was quaint and perfect for the both of them. My sister's alls growns up. 

The tomatoes are from my mom's garden in Oxnard.  I forgot how good garden tomatoes are.  There is nothing like it. 

  

I guess there is a metaphor about life and growing and stuff but that would be cheesy. 

This Week in SnackChat

This week in SnackChat of what I now like to call, Fear of Missing Out On Other People's Meals, or #FOMOOOPM, is on the smaller side. 

This work of art comes all way from New Zealand. It is pretty much my favorite SnackChat of all time. Who can top that shit?

Not seen in this SnackChat is me.  I am seriously one seat over and I saw the picture being taken.  The best part was that I received it the next day, when said person was over at my house for brunch. I should start taking pictures of people taking pictures of food. 

The new summer classic, hot dogs or legs. I come to expect these now. 

Humpday

I made some cookies this morning.  They are cardamom and rose water shortbread cookies and they are pretty good.  They also complement my apartment well.  

If you have not been over, it's really small and when the oven comes on in the summer it makes the whole place warm, and unbearable.  Is it Fall yet? 

We bought this print in Portland. 

I have a vintage American flag that Shane found at an estate sale. That plant is my house plant that I affectionately named Plant.  Watching plant grow over night is my favorite thing.  His vines are almost touching the ground! 

I made the cookies in hopes of getting over the work hump, but sometimes doing things you enjoy can't make everything better. Like this traffic for instance.  This is the 405 south at 9:45. Guh. 

Recipe

It's Cookbook Tuesday

With the flux of alliterative hashtags for the days of the week,  I figured why not buy into them and create one of my own.  Friends, I introduce Cookbook Tuesday. It's doesn't have the same ring as Throwback Thursday or Side Boob Sunday but hey, there are no days of the week that start with C.   I even looked in a thesaurus to find alternate words for book.  When I say look, I mean go to thesaurus.com and search book.  

So love it or hate it, today on Eizelle Eats Out, it is Cookbook Tuesday. The first book I chose is The Joy of Cooking By Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer, 1964 Edition.  Not only is it complete with a whole sections on how to remove the fur from game such as rabbit, squirrel,  it also kinda sexist.  I guess times have changed and multiple reprints later, sections have been added an removed. The game section is no longer found in newer editions. Which is a bummer because I would have loved to see the live action pictures on how to skin a beaver tail.  

We can all learn a few things from this:

Removing fur is like taking off a pullover.

Apparently beer was a man thing. 

The cuts of meat!

Have I cooked anything from this book? Nope. I think I find more joy in reading this than I do actually thinking about cooking anything from this.

When Other People Eat Out Apartment 7

I tend to get really restless when I have nobody to cook for.  I think I just need to make things. It keeps me sane. So I hosted a brunch at my house for some friends. I had some killer utensils and plates and other things.  I had three amazing recipes and three willing testers that I, being half drunk, invited over for a Sunday brunch one night at the bar.  

I knew what I wanted to make and I had to prove to myself that my birthday party wasn't a fluke and that I can properly prepare a meal for four people.  More dinners and brunches are in the future for Apartment 7. If you find yourself at the same bar as I, you may find yourself dining at Apartment 7.

Menu

Start: Wild Mushroom Pate with baguette

Middle: Quiche Lorraine, salad, potato ball stuffed with Brie cheese

End: Rose water and cardamom shortbread cookie

  

Easy Baked Oven.

Living that single life for just a week has made me do things I wouldn't normally do.  For example, bake.  

First off, when my oven gets turnt up, it makes the apartment like 100 degrees. But I saw this recipe and I had to try it.  A savory cake with pistachios, prunes and goat cheese? Duh! 

I took half the loaf to the bar and got some glowing reviews. Let's file this under confidence booster. 

If you want the recipe, send me your address.

Market Watch: Local Harvest Farmers Market, LBC

I am very lucky.  I live in a great neighborhood in the LBC. Running paths at my disposal, quiet and most important, the walking distances to bars is less than a mile.  We also have amazing farmers markets.  There is one on Sunday that I used to frequent because I didn't know any better.  Then I discovered one right down the street from our house.  It is AMAZING and it is every Wednesday. The vendors never cease to amaze me.  Seasonal produce, fruits that I have never tried or seen.  For example, the selection of stone fruits took over two tables!  I saw green onions the size of normal leeks and I saw leeks the size of baseball bats!  Don't ever get me started on the egg dude that basically GIVES AWAY chicken livers and I was not there to reap the benefits. 

My favorite part is seeing my neighborhood outside doing stuff. I usually run in the morning and I don't see anyone out so this is a nice change of pace.  Kids running and playing stick ball, picnic blankets spread, people carrying reuseable bags full of veg, older couples sitting at a small tables drinking wine, it's a sight to see really.  And it is all because of food, people eating out, gathering around the market.

L to Right: chioga beets, golden beets, purple carrots, mixed greens

My Life in SnackChat

The following SnackChats are from March through July 2014. They were sent to me and I took screencaps. 

Send me your SnackChats via SnapChat: log.lady  

Oh Hay! That's meee!

Living that Single Life

The above snapshot is just a little bit of the things I bought today.  If I were to pan out, you would see a bag of Jolly Rancher chews, a tube of pimple cream, Carmex and a Julie and Julia DVD.  Can you tell it's just me and the plants at home this week? Living that single life.

On a random Saturday after a long run, I stumbled upon a little show called the Little Paris Kitchen with Rachel Khoo on the Cooking Channel.  It was a game changer my friends.  I watch all the shows on yourtube and now I have the book.  I am seriously like a year late on the game and since then she has another show that I am planning my long run around on Saturday. 

This show/book I think is showing me in the right direction as to what I really should be doing. The tea cup was a gift from my bestie in Portland and it is very appropriate for the holiday that just past and I love Kinfolk.  I am still looking for CherryBomb keep your eyes peeled friends. 

Speaking of holiday, this past July 4th, Shane and I made a shit ton of Thomas Keller fried chicken.  It was the SHIT and it was a hit with the family. We also made salt and pepper skirt steak and I hand mashed, HAND MASHED 5 pounds of potatoes.  That was a hit as well. Lots of complements on the meat and how it tasted great.  But it was really just salt and pepper nothing fancy. But then I questioned, do people not know the taste of meat? Has the taste the meat been masked by marinades and rubs?