caprese on a stick

I got this genius idea from Rachael Ray, either from her magazine or when she was a guest on the Oprah show, I'm not sure which. Anyway, whenever I want Mr. G to take in more vegetables, I make this for him and he gladly eats it, without trying to put up a fight with me. Actually he's not a fussy eater, he loves veggies, but he forgets to eat it sometimes.

I've also made this for a Christmas party (the colors go so well with the holiday!), and I was surprised to see my platter empty, 30 minutes into the party. Maybe because I didn't make enough...

Caprese on a Stick
ingredients:
fresh Italian basil
grape tomatoes, or whatever small cute tomatoes you have on hand
marinated fresh mozzarella ( I get mine from TJ's)
salt, pepper,
olive oil (optional)



assemble however you like. After assembling, drizzle the sticks with either olive oil, or the marinade from the mozzarella then salt and pepper.

So simple, yet so tasty. I just remembered that I made these for my mom once. She wanted to add marinated olives, onions, whatever tickled her fancy. I told her she could do it, but on her own time.

Chicken Lasagna

These past couple weeks have been more hungry, more confusing. I'm finding myself throwing together what I can from the fridge because I don't feel like eating out, I don't feel like going to Portland, I don't feel like eating pasta, sandwiches, rice, I don't feel like anything! but I sure am hungry. If you knew me, my #1 top eaters/chums, Lambchops and Cheesecake and I usually determine what we want to eat based on what we're craving. This was an odd way of eating for Mr. G but he loves it now. Whether it is my friends, or him, a conversation starter seems to always be like this:

Did you eat yet?
So what do you want to eat?
What do you feel like?
Omg I really want...

Thanks to food blogs and food porn, it helps me determine what I want to eat. But not today... not today... Usually when I have no clue what's for dinner, I turn to spaghetti with tomato sauce, but I've been feeling a little bored with my tomato sauce. So I decided I wanted to try a recipe from Barefoot Contessa, her turkey lasagna. I had most of the ingredients on hand, except for the cheeses and the meat so I headed out to New Seasons, my absolute favorite non-Asian market.

I saved you some time, here's the link: Food Network and thanks to Ina Garten for making this recipe. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd copy and paste the recipe, but I am lazy.


I didn't have all the ingredients for the lasagna, like the mozzarella cheese or parsley. As you can see, I also ran out of parmesan cheese, which makes the lasagna look pretty depressing. So I tried to make things better by dabbing goat cheese here and there. Still looked depressing. But it still tasted damn good.


Oh yeah, I also baked it 3 hours ahead, and let it sit until 45 minutes before we actually ate, I warmed it up in the oven again because I'm weird. Plus the lasagna tastes so much better the longer it sits. I like next day pizzas and pastas, including this one.

Blue Moon Diner - Aloha, Oregon

One of these days, I'll create a post on all the places I've been lured to because of Guy Fieri's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. But for now, I'll stick to my own local places.

While growing up in the Bay Area, the closest place local diner I've ever been to was Denny's. If it wasn't that, it was another big chain "diner-style" restaurant, like Lori's, or Johnny Rocket's, or Mel's Drive-In. Places like these never gave me that homey-diner feel, but more of a "eat your food and get the F out". But it isn't fair for me to hate on big chain restaurants. Especially because the Bay Area isn't about waitresses calling you "babe" while smacking bubble gum in their mouth, or getting to know the greasy guy that cooked your food. Which is why I could appreciate small towns with local mom and pop shops.

Anyway, this cute little diner is tucked away, a little hidden behind Hollywood video on TV Highway. Mr. G was the one to suggest eating here 3-4 years ago since he drove past it everyday. One thing I like about Mr. G is his desire for small unknown hole-in-the walls. He's the reason why I stopped eating at Cheesecake Factory, Chili's and the like. Anyway, this place isn't a hole in the wall, it's a big shiny diner-car shaped restaurant, but it's a little hidden, so it counts. I don't have a picture of the front of the restaurant at the moment, sorry!

When you walk in, there's a sign that says "Please Seat Yourself" if it isn't busy, or "Please Wait to be Seated" if it is. There are menus at the tables already, and clumsy me, every single time I eat here I always hand the menu back to the waitress! So we came here to order chicken fried steak (food network tends to influence my cravings) but I ended up with something else. My pictures could tell a story by itself.

his coke

my oreo milkshake

fried zucchini sticks with ranch dressing

his country fried steak w/ mashed potatoes, potato salad and corn bread

some how I ended up with chicken pot pie

a closer look at my chicken pot pie.
the end.

not bad for pigging out, wouldn't you say?

Blue Moon Diner
20167 SW Tualatin Valley Hwy
Beaverton, OR 97006
(503) 649-8666

Oden - Japanese hot pot

According to wikipedia, oden is a dish consumed in during the cold winter seasons. I could imagine this being true, but I enjoy this delicious hot pot year round.

One thing I love about oden is the different kinds of fish cake floating around. From rubbery to sponge-like textures, some being more savory or the other more sweet, it's all delicious to me.


I threw in things I found in the fridge. Bok choy, yam noodles, green onion, tofu, cabbage.
You can buy an oden set with the broth included, or you could buy packaged fish cakes individually as well as a seperate oden broth mix at any Japanese market. it was delicious.

Banh Kep - that mysterious green waffle

I was forced to learn how to make these. It took awhile, and it was so worth it.

George's Giant Hamburger - Tigard, Oregon

For the longest time whenever Mr. G and I drove past this little burger shack, I'd stare and wonder how big their burgers really are, with a name claiming to be giant. I had more interest in the name more than the burger, because I never felt it was necessary to eat hamburgers outside of fast food chains. So one day we decided what the heck, let's stop by here. I've been hooked ever since. Never in my life have I ever ate a burger and continue to think about that burger 2 days later.... until I met George's burgers.

So this is the type of place where you walk in, read the menu in front, order from the counter get your number and sit down. This is the kind of place I like. I don't feel it is necessary to be catered to, just to eat a burger.

I like how they just cook your meat and let you dress it up however you like, because people don't understand my love for ketchup in my burgers. I usually load extra ketchup to make up for the dry and flavorlessness. not here. I don't add fresh onions or load up on any extra condiments because I actually want to savor the natural (or enhanced) flavors of my greasy beef.


Started off with a strawberry shake. Vanilla ice cream, milk and strawberry syrup. It's so fake, it's delicious.
I ordered bacon hamburger ($4.35) with an extra egg (75 cents extra)

After adding a bit of ketchup, lettuce and tomato, I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to get a nice big bite. I even took the bacon out to eat on the side.

He ordered "The Big George" which consists of cheese, grilled mushroom, grilled onions, and bacon. Added an egg for kicks.

His burger after dressing his up.

disgusting...must savor every last bite!

I went here several days ago, and I'm still thinking about the burgers! The meat is so thick, crumbly and juicy. I'll never know what the secret is, but I don't care to know, I just want to eat.


George's Giant Hamburgers
11640 SW Pacific Hwy
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 639-8029

Katsudon

While I never grew up eating this, there's something about a donburi that's so delicious and comforting. I've had my fair share of donburi while living in the South Bay Area, but I've never met a donburi that ever called me to come back for more, until eating at Ikenohana in Beaverton, Oregon. While I may be crazy for the katsudon and the sukiyaki, and the nabeyaki udon, sometimes the service and the wait doesn't make me crazy enough. So I resorted to trying to duplicate the dish at home, which became a success with Mr. G.

Katsu (fried pork cutlet)
2 servings

4 pork cutlets (i like a thinner cut)
1 egg
Japanese panko breadcrumbs, flour, salt pepper
oil for frying

1.) Prepare your breading station. one plate with flour, salt, pepper. one plate with a beaten egg. another for the panko breadcrumbs.



2.) Rinse and dry your beautiful pork cutlets. I'm so proud of these cutlets because I found it in the meat clearance for 50% off, which came out to $2.25 per 4-pack. super awesome.
3.) Coat pork cutlet with flour, lightly dusting off excess



4.) dip floured cutlet in egg bath



5.) coat egg batter into panko breadcrumbs (isn't it funny how you need to stick something to something else to something else, on top of something else in order to get what you want?)



6.) cover cutlets with plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 2 hours for breading to harden, or freeze for 30 minutes if your in a hurry. I usually do this the night before and let it set overnight since I'm impatient when I'm awake.

7.) after hardening process, take the cutlets out for about 30 minutes. In the mean time heat your oil in a frying pan, or your deep fryer. In this case I used a frying pan since 4 cutlets isn't enough to take out my FryDaddy.

8.) I'll be honest and tell you that I don't know what temperature my oil goes up to, I just test the oil with a wooden chopstick, or throw in something fry-able to determine if the oil is ready or not. Anyway, fry up these bad boys, but do not over crowd the pan. I fried two at a time and wait until golden brown, flipping cutlet may be needed.

9.) end result



I rarely deep fry, but when I do, I start looking for random things to fry. In this case, I found my package of banh phong tom (shrimp chips) and leftover breaded zucchini sticks I prepared one football sunday.



Ok so I got the katsu part out of the way, now on to the donburi.


Simmering Sauce consists of:

1/4 c. soy sauce (I use Yamasa)
1 3/4 c. dashi stock
2 tbsp. Mirin Simmering Sauce
2 tbsp. Brown sugar
1/2 Regular onion cut in small wedges
1-2 stalks of green onion sliced on a 1 in. diagonal

1 beaten egg
1 1/2 cups of rice (my bowl is big)

Again this is approximately. I tend to add and reduce according to my taste. I like it stronger with fish stock and slightly sweeter.

I make the whole batch in a regular pan and transfer half of the sauce in a smaller frying pan, one that has the same width as the finishing bowl. Simmer the sauce on med to med-low for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are softened and the sauce has reduced. Transfer half of the sauce to a smaller pan.


*cut katsu by width and lay in the simmering sauce.

Pour egg mixture into pan. simmer for about 5 minutes, until set.


I find myself using the broiler to cook the top of my egg mixture.


Use a rubber spatula to loosen the edges for easier transfer.

Mr. G decided to throw on the green onion for the picture, but its normally garnished with pickled ginger.

Awhile back I made katsu-curry over rice. When I eat Japanese curry at a restaurant, I never receive thick chunks of potato or carrots, but I'm used to Vietnamese-style curry with chunky ingredients so, I adjusted to my own liking.

Happy Valentine's Day

I could careless for this Hallmark invented "holiday" but I need a reason to show off my pizza. Even though I don't give a hoot about Valentine's Day, I'm a big sucker when food is involved. Heart shaped pizza?? I'll take two please!


Not only was this pizza super delicious, but it's a better alternative from the heart-shaped box of chocolates. I could do without all those sweets (although i love buying them at 75% off AFTER it's all over with) just give me a beautifully hand-crafted take-home pizza....

I made an attempt to bake him a turtle brownie, thinking he'd appreciate our initials squirted on the brownie...
This is why we pre-order our baked goods.