January 5 Favorites

Time does not seem to be slowing down.  It's already the end of the month! The beginning of the year, people usually try to reset from the crazyness of the holidays and try to undo all the damage done from eating too many fudge squares but that last part might only be true for me. This is also a good time to set some new goals and resolutions.  Whatever they may be, I hope you stick to them! 

And now, on to my Five Favorite Things for the month of January. 

Favorite Website Update: Lucky Peach

I started to get anxiety looking for certain magazines. Yes, I still read and buy magazines.  It's nostalgia I guess. The few I go on quests to find are Cherry Bombe, Kinfolk, Lula and Lucky Peach.  I ended up getting subscriptions to a few of these magazines because the anxiety was really getting intense.  I have every issue of Lucky Peach, including Lucky Peach Issue 1. They did a recent update to their website and it is pretty amazing.  Some of the features and recipes are from the magazine but there is also a lot of original content and new videos.  This month is was ramen month.   I check it daily and I am pretty much in love with this video/recipe from 2013:



Favorite Instagram: Sunday Suppers

I featured her cookbook on Cookbook Tuesday this week and today, I feature their Instagram.  Seriously, she can make a over ripe banana beautiful.  Karen Mordechai makes we want everyday to be Sunday but in a good way and not like Morrissey.

A photo posted by Karen Mordechai (@sundaysuppers) on Jan 24, 2015 at 10:08am PST

Favorite Stories Regarding the Repeal of the Ban on Fois Gras in California:

I have two actually. The first story is from Eater, and it details an independent farmer that is trying to make humane fois gras.  The other is a documentary from Vice.  That's all. 

Favorite Food Blog: Local Milk

Beth Kirby from Local Milk, just like Karen Mordechai from Sunday Suppers, can make anything beautiful.  She is a great photographer and cook and it shows in her blog. It is like a dream that I would never want to wake up from. 

Snackchat of the Month:

Cute eggs win every time. Congrats girl! 

This Week in SnackChat

 Happy Post Hump Day!  Better late than never, here it is all your delicious SnackChats! 

I don't know if you are telling me that I should be jelly, or that you really hope that the stuff on top of the bread is jelly. 

I tried this, it is good.

GIVE ME YOUR TOTS!

 

Snaps on the perfectly cooked egg.

My mind would too.

 #healthybrag

Like five minutes after I saw this I saw the person that Snapped this. #meta

Hands down, best candy holiday is Easter. True, I have a bias towards eggs, but it is very true that the candy made for Easter is better than any Halloween.  My only gripe is that Easter is a jelly bean holiday. I fucking hate those things.

My hangover juice.

Are the SnackChatters trying to out healthy each other?  It's like healthy bragging.  #healthbrag

 I don't like cake, but I love Frosted Cupcakery.  I can only eat about a fourth of a cupcake in one sitting. I can't do whole thing. It's a weird quirk because I don't like cake, but I like the idea of cupcakes. It's the cute thing and that you are not fully committing to a single flavor.  You can't make cakes look cute.

Fusion bro. 

Looks like a Limp Brisket.

 

God I'm glad I got that monkey off my back. I know this isn't brisket, but I've been dying to write, "Looks like Limp Brisket."  But I was starting to fear that this day will never come.  It doesn't have the same ring if it read, "Looks like a Limp Flap Steak" or "Looks like a Limp London Broil." So there it is folks!

 A thank you.

 #plategame

The Return of Cookbook Tuesday

 

It's back! Cookbook Tuesday is back for the new year!  I also picked a new background.  Today, its the covers on my bed. 

Today's selection is Sunday Suppers by Karen Mordechai.  I love the Sunday Suppers blog and it was only natural that I had to get the book. It was on my Amazon Wish for a day and realized that it needed to be on my shelf.

The recipes are arranged by parts of the day: Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Evening.  Each day's recipes are arranged by type of meal.  So for example, the morning section has recipes for early breakfast and a Winter Brunch.  This book is inspiring and partly inspired what I want to accomplish in the new year.

 I want to start making my own ricotta cheese. Not only make my own cheese but make things that I would normally buy as a finished product.  Last year I dabbled in the DIY stuff by making creme fraiche. This year I want to try to go full blown DIY.  Butter, almond milk, sorbets, I can go on and on but I'll save those for future posts.  There is something that is gratifying in making your own shit. It is also good to know what is going into your food. I dream of the day when I can have my own eggs but I'll save that dream for the farm.

This book also is about communal eating and not limiting it to the home, but also to the outdoors.  Especially living in Southern California, it is easy to take for granted how good it is. No blizzards, endless amounts of year round hiking/running, great selection of fruits and vegetables season after season and beaches. Another new year goal is to have more picnics and be more outdoorsy. 

Recipes worth noting:

Homemade Ricotta

Swisss Chard and Bone Marrow Gratin

Tea and Ginger-Cured Sea Bass

Market Watch: Southeast Farmers Market

The Southeast Farmers Market is not my favorite farmers market in Long Beach, but it is one of the more popular ones.  It is always crowded and the selection is not as varied as I would like it to be.  But it was a beautiful day and I like to see what is in season.  Also support local culture and all that other hippie shit.

 I haven't been here in quite sometime because the market on Wednesday is so good.  Other than the selection of vegetables, nothing has really changed. The mushroom lady is still there which makes me happy.  Right now, it's all about root vegetables and citrus.  I was hoping there was a last batch of finger limes, but I wasn't sure any of these vendors would have any and they didn't  I was so tempted to buy some blood oranges though.  They are just so pretty.  It was also the last of the persimmons so get them while they are around!

Since I wasn't really looking for something specific, I was able to take in the market and just enjoy the sights, smells and sounds.  Like the giant carrots. They were as wide as my wrist and as long as my head!  

Purple kohlrabi? Fucking aliens is what they are. Get the fuck out! Not the best rainbow chard in the market, but the best illustration of rainbow chard hands down.  But I love the color and I was very tempted to get the purple kohlrabi.

Let's file these under sexy vegetables. 

The gold standard of California Strawberries.  I may have a hometown bias. They were so fragrant it was ridiculous. 

I found some watermelon radishes that I am pretty excited to eat.  Other than that, I got a beautiful bunch of rainbow chard for the 13 bean soup I made.  Get this, you can boil a ham bone for like 8 hours and make a tasty broth! I also tried a Chinese artichoke.

It's always nice to see people out and about supporting local farmers and apparently a lot of our friends were there.  We didn't see them but it was nice to see other people out.  The isles are narrow and you do have to kinda fight your way into tents. When I say fight it's really waiting for the older folks.  For me this isn't a market I would frequent, but it is nice knowing that is there every Sunday.

This Week in Snackchat

Oh hi! It's everyone's favorite day of the week.  I got some shit on the ole Facebook last week because I was "dissin Snackchats" from a particular user. I wasn't disin SnackChats.  I see a 1-10 second window of your snack and I'm just creating a commentary on what I see.  Kinda like Talk Soup. 

Snackchats are about roasting you, pun intended and what you eat.  Why? Because I love you.  I call it like I see it and I can only imagine how good everything tastes.

Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.” -  Kaiser Wilhelm

...in the pants. 

Panteera is the name new sandwich restaurant that plays metal and makes and awesome clam chowder.

Looks a little too healthy Chef Erik.

More like dessertchat.


The uncertainty. Will they will ever get eaten? Are they bored because they are waiting to get eaten?  


Classic. 

Find me on SnapChat username: log.lady

Last Night's Dinner: Ramen (kinda)

Last night I made something that I would like to think is a ramen. I mean bought ramen noodles for this specific dish. But I guess you can say that the broth isn't really a ramen broth. Adn I ate it out of a mug that I got at a ramen/sunglass colab party at Port.  The egg was a bit over cooked to my liking; I let it boil too long.  There was no bone in the pork loin roast. I used a pork loin roast. I used the pulp from the green juice pulp in the both. I used powdered konbu and katsuobushi. I used a vegan bouillon cube. Dear ramen Gods, please forgive me for I have sinned.  I'm sorry Ivan Orkin. I went rogue.

You see, as a part of a new year resolution, I was given a mission to try to use up what we in the larder. I guess you can say I kinda failed because I bought ramen noodles when I knew that we had buckwheat soba noodles. I guess I needed a reason to actually call it ramen and I didn't want to anger the Gods any more than I already did.  I already had the powdered konbu and katsuobushi. I also had this roast in my freezer.

And now for the important part, the broth. I made use of my slow cooker because it was Tuesday.  
The night before, I made an equal part combination of salt and sugar and some pepper.  I covered the the pork loin roast with this mixture, set in in a bowl and let it sit overnight. In the morning, you will notice a bit of liquid excreted from the meat, drain that shit. I got my cast iron nice and hot and seared the pork all around in bacon fat for about 3 minutes on each side. 

Meanwhile, I worked on getting the ingredients into the slow cooker. I dissolved the vegan bouillon, konbo and the katsuobushi, added a carrot, scallions, white parts included, celery, and onion.  I added about 3 cups of water and a dash of soy and rice vinegar. 
I stated making my own green juice, and the byproduct of green juice is the vegetable pulp. You get a lot of it.  So I freeze it for later use. I had a little log of green juice pulp so I threw that in there too. Add the browned pork roast, set cooker to low, and then get yo ass to work. 

11 hours later...

Remove the pork and strain the broth. I strained it two times in a fine mesh strainer. I returned the broth and pork to the slow cooker and set it to high for about an hour, I went on a run. 

Cook the noodles and egg.  I used the same water because we're in a drought.

 Then I added the following:

It was so good and comforting, especially when it's cold out and cloudy out. Then I realized that, I made something was good and it's mine, all mine.  When I was looking for recipes for a slow cooker pork loin roast, I noticed it was a lot of tacos and pull pork bbq. It seemed like it was all anyone ever makes in a slow cooker. I didn't want that shit. So I read a few posts on broths.  Took some ideas here and there and boom! My DIY slow cooker ramen was born. Not traditional but functional for a working bitch like myself and my friends. It's Eizelle's way.  And you know what, fuck the ramen Gods, because I think I just made them up.

But, if you do want a kick ass recipe for a legit ramen broth, check out Momofuku Ramen 2.0.  It's also Ramen Month on luckypeach.com so you can educate yo self!
Or check out Ivan Ramen at the library.


Things to note for next time:
I have a pile of chicken neck bones in my freezer, roast and use those. 
Get a pork roast with a bone in, it will make for a meatier broth. 
Used dried shitake mushrooms. 
Consult Ivan Ramen and Momofuku books on my shelf
 
 

Praha

This marks the last installment of Eating/Drinking Out Eastern Europe.  Because I got sick here I didn't drink as much as I had hoped to.  It was two days into our trip that we FINALLY had a Pilsner Urquell.  I know, start judging.  We were kicking ourselves not getting a flu shot. Yeah, it might have been the wrong one, but I could have protected us from something.  But we still fought it though thanks to the over the counter medicines that we had to look up on the Internet to see what is safe.  I did have some mulled wine here as it was cheaper than tea. 

 
This is a picture of the latte that unsettled something in my belly.  Maybe it was the four other lattes that I had consumed or a combination of all the meds I was on. But it was a 3am wake up call.  As I was drinking this, I thought to myself, "I really like lattes.  I should give it another chance." Ha. I should have know that since the latte art was not on fleek that it was bad news.  I swore off lattes.  It's not me. 


Because human bones. It's creepy but beautiful too. I guess I'm just weird.


This is the man's portion of beer. 

Through all the sickness we were still able to make it to the AnonymouS Bar and sit in the smoking section because there were no seats in the nonsmoking. You had to be seated like a restaurant. It was V is for Vendetta themed.  The staff occasionally wore the Guy Fawkes mask. Like pictured above.  This was a table side Manhattan making and it was out of a leather pouch thing. As this was being made, the light turned off and the soundtrack from the movie played and the other bartender had the Guy Fawkes mask and mixed a drink that was on fire! It wasn't too crowded either.  I could only imagine a cocktail bar like this in LA would be super crowded.  

AnonymouS Bar was also the only place in Prague you could get free water. I also took the napkins home.

Then absinthe happened.  I thought I was going to become a better writer or that I was going to write the best blog post ever like in Moulin Rouge. But no. I think I just passed out. 

Then we went on a hike. Just kidding. 

Then we decided to go somewhere warm for our next vaycay.

The End.