The Mess In The Kitchen

Morel Mushroom Risotto

2010-12-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

True to form, Choi and my most vivid memory of the night we got engaged revolves around food. We got engaged on the L'Enfant map of DC on Freedom Plaza. After that we walked over to The Willard Hotel to have dinner in the The Willard Room. During dinner the waiter told us a story of how the mushrooms in the risotto were available only to the Willard room because they buy every mushroom that a secret farmer in a secret location finds.
Needless to say our pallets were ready for some secret mushrooms in risotto. At that time in our lives neither of us had ever had Morel Mushrooms. We quickly joined the ranks of Morel devotees. I highly suggest them. They're delicious. Here's a photo from our latest batch of Morel Mushroom Risotto. We used an adaptation of Michelle Walton's Mushroom Risotto Recipe. Thanks Michelle!!

Kiwano Fruit

2010-03-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

The commissary is a great place. With all the different ethnicities in the military family, the commissaries try there best to bring different foods from around the world to make us happy. We like to indulge in these every once in awhile. We picked up a new fruit the other week just because they looked cool. Bright orange with spikes. After looking it up online we learned that you eat them like natural push-pops. The little sacks of yummy goodness rise to the top as you squeeze. I advise you eat them outside (see image three: "Oops... too hard").

Mango Rice

2010-03-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

We had this at a Thai restaurant one time. After we ate it we came home, found a recipe, made it at home. It's absolutely delicious. The mango and coconut flavors really play well together and the texture is wonderful. Highly recommend it.

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaidesserts/r/thaidessert.htm

Crispy Kale

2010-01-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Bon Appetit had an article on Kale. One of the things it said you could do is bake them and they become a healthy alternative to potato chips. We've been meaning to try it. We finally did tonight. Yummy... as long as you can stand the greeny flavor. Kind of like a cross between potato chips and seaweed.

Wash and Cut the Kale into bite size pieces
Place on a parchment lined pan
Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until crispy.
Enjoy. They're very loud to eat.

The Rise of the Souffle

2009-12-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

One dark and cold friday night I thought it would be fun to make a souffle. Souffle's remind me of the episode of Recess the cartoon when Vince became the teacher's lounge chef. He challenged the lunch ladies because how hard could it be. He turned out to be so good that he ended up making lunch for the superintendent. He made a souffle. Because of that I think souffle's will always have a special place in my heart (because Recess was one of the greatest cartoons ever). It was quite fun. Just like Julia says, a quick chef can have it ready for the oven in 20 minutes. Then the fun begins. I prepared a photo collage. Enjoy. There's a surprise at the end... and many souffles in the future. Hopefully they don't deflate.

Yeast Banana Bread

2009-08-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

I love bananas. On days I don't eat at least one I feel like junk. They're good in a lot of stuff... cocktails... cereal... cocktails (mmm... brings back memories of a Banana Margarita at Margaritaville in Key West we're I almost at the glass)

and bread. But for almost all my life I've only know banana bread as a dense piece of bread that you warm up spread so butter on and enjoy. Although good, I think my inner foodie (not to be confused with my outer foodie) has know there's more to this.

So after a quick google search.... wham... bang.... Yeast Banana Bread. The lid is off the can. There's so much you can do with a nice fluffy banana bread.
PB&J with a hint of banana that you can't really find.
Stuffed french toast.
Normal french toast.

I going to try and put so chocolate chips and pecans in it to. I love this. But it puts me in a dilemma... eat the bananas or let the ripen until they're ready for bread.

Happy eating.

Adam

Drunken Amish Friendship Bread

2009-07-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

So two weekends ago I started an Amish Friendship bread starter. After the 10 days of waiting I made a cake. Before I started the cake though I noticed the starter smelled like alcohol. Don't know why, but the cake didn't turn out well. Kind of tasted like a vodka version of rum cake.

Any ideas?

Let the Cheese Begin

2009-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I decided that Cheese Making would be a awesome hobby. What would top pulling out two year old cheese for a dinner with some friends???

I researched it a little and, surprisingly, its really not that complicated. Pretty much warm some milk, add some acid and wait for it to curdle.

This weekend I did my first two cheeses. A Mascarpone and Fromage Blanc. Just two simple soft cheeses. Nothing to rave about. But a lot to learn.

Del Posto (New York)

2009-04-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

People have different hobbies. Some like to run. Some like to work on cars. Some like to paint.

Choi and I like to eat. We had an experience right up there with working on a '59 Chevy or running the Boston Marathon (shows what I think about marathons). We decided while we were planning our NYC trip that we definitely wanted to hit up a great restaurant. Googling "best restaurant in NYC" gets everyone's top ten list that quickly gets you head spinning. After much drooling and moaning we decided to search based on a famous chef. We landed on Mario Botali and settled on his Del Posto Restaurant on the lower west side of Manhattan. This was a great choice. We went with the five-course tasting menu and some how got an extra cheese course (awesome).

One of the best things about this place, the one thing that earned a really good tip, was our main waiter. Not only was he nice. Not only was he knowledgeable. Not only was he dressed well. But this guy had one of those voices. One that made me want to kidnap him and make him read children's books to my kids years from now. It made me want to curl up and suck my thumb. But, most importantly, made me want to order anything he told me to and then subsequently inhale it. On to the food...

Anti-pasta:

SUNCHOKE Crudo with Truffled Fonduta & Walnut Gremolata: Different, but good. Once is enough.

Mozzarella di BUFALA, Salted Beets & Pistacchio Spuma: Kind of a twist on the caprese salad, the beets were a nice addition.

Primi:

CARAMELLE di Robiola with Black Truffle Butter: Little presents of pasta and cheese. As they say, impersonation is the highest form of mimicry (we've tried this one twice already)

Potato GNOCCHI with Pork Shoulder, Spiced Prunes & Pine Croccante: Little puffs of deliciousness on a bed of the moistest braised pork ever.

Secondi:

Artic CHAR with Calamaretti, Romanesco Cauliflower & Truffle Passato: Good, nothing outstanding.

Sliced DUCK alla Scappi with Sweet Pumpkin Polenta, Trevisano & Campari: Best duck I've ever had and I like duck.

Cheese:

4 Amazing Cheeses: Great cheeses. We didn't catch the names though. Scored an extra cheese because we let the cheese lady choose for us and she couldn't leave us with three. We're going to play dumb everywhere we go.

Dessert:

Chocolate Ricotta TORTINO, Toasted Sicilian Pistachios & Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gelati: The EVOO Gelati was a surprise. Great in small quantities. The tortino also rocked. This desert definatly crowned the whole meal.

The Donut Plant (New York)

2009-03-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

There are points in your life when you know that things will never be the same. I'm going to share a story of one of those moments...

So there I was... July 2006, New York, New York. Jeff and I had headed to the big apple to blow some of our 60 days after graduation. The trip was great but one experience stood out. I had heard about a donut shop that made other donut shops cower in fear. Enter the Donut Plant. Since 1994, the Donut Plant has been gracing the island of Manhattan with deep fried floury goodness of all sorts. From that day forward, other donuts were just inferior pieces of sugary goodness. I remember having the coconut cream donut. It tasted like a coconut cream cake... only a donut. Yum. Their filled donuts are square but they have a ribbon of filling around the whole donut. Pure genius! Try as hard as you might but you can't get a bight without delicious filling. Take that boring round donuts!!

Zoom forward to a late winter day in early March 2009. I drag Choi all over the lower east side looking for a parking spot. By this point she wants to ditch the donuts and get some pizza (see future post). I pull a messer special and throw some stubborn attitude at problem. Alas, a parking spot is found. The good Lord blessed us on this day, as it was one of the days that the Donut Plant made the Creme Brulee donuts. These small delicious pieces were filled with the custard. But the coup de grace that 'Mark the Baker' achieved was flaming the top of the donut to create the burnt sugar flavor that epitomizes a good creme brulee. A tear left my eye when I tasted this. Kind of like a beautiful donugasm.

Life is now just something that gets in the way before my next Donut Plant visit.

Adam

Baklava (Iraqi Style)

2009-03-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

A few times when Choi was in Iraq she would mention how good the local cuisine was. They had a native linguist that would bring them food from off-base. One of her favorites was the Iraqi Baklava. From what she could figure out, it differed from normal Baklava in that it had less layers of phyllo and filling. The filling was just simply a Pistachio and Simple Syrup Mix.

The Recipie:
7-10 layers of Phyllo each brushed with Butter
1 Layer of Pistachio and Simple Syrup Concoction
7-10 Layers of Phyllo; each brushed with Butter

Cut into desired shape before baking; Bake at 300 for 30 minutes. Broil on High until top layer is browned (don't walk away!). Drench the puppies in simple syrup, let stand for 20 minutes and serve.

Enjoy,
Adam and Choi

Potato Donuts

2009-03-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

I'm going to share a secret. A secret as old as time. (Time being the age of the donut). The best donuts are made with potatoes.

Throw some mashed potatoes in for some of the flour and make them just like normal. (The recipe I use is someone else's).

Also, flash freeze them and you can eat them one at a time after a quick zap in the microwave.

Disclaimer: Don't hold us responsible for the life changing event that happens when potato donuts are made. You'll scarf 6-10 of these down before you know it.

Who's looking now, four eyes...

2009-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

So I often joke that my glasses are safety glasses and for once they were. So to all you losers that aren't cool enough to have poor vision... you would have been blind (maybe, probably not). That's hot flour-less chocolate cake batter straight out of the oven. When I was using the tongs to pull it out they slipped and flung it straight at my eye.

Maybe we should all cook with safety glasses, or at least klutzes like me.

The Great Turducken

2009-01-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

So maybe you can count it as a New Year’s Resolution, but let’s kick off a year off awesome food blogging with a mouth watering entry.

I had Thanksgiving up in PA with Ashley, Andy, and their family and some friends. The weekend was full of fun times. I found a shirt that I’ve been looking for for over a year at Express. Freaking AWESOME! I know my fashion advisor (I love you Choi) will approve because we had seen the shirt before but it wasn’t in my size. Next time I suit up it’s going to be legen (wait far it)… DARY!!!

Anyways… I digress. On Thanksgiving, not only were we blessed with many good dishes and desserts, I got to partake in my first turducken. The turducken as been a mythical entity to me for a long time since I first heard rumors of such a delicacy. For any lover of poultry, this will blow your mind. Instead of stuffing a turkey with bread pieces that get all soggy and such (I’m with Alton Brown on the hatered of stuffing) that can be unhealthy, some wise man thought why not just stuff a smaller bird in the large bird. Enter the turducken. Prepared by deboning a turkey, duck and chicken, and then magically (yes, this is culinary magicianship) the chicken is stuffed in duck which is then stuffed in the turkey!!! WOOO!!!

Blows my mind. Check out more pictures in our gallery.
Adam (sounding a lot like John Madden)

Five Guys

2008-10-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Haven't blogged for a long while, so here ya go...

I'm going to go out on a limb with this post. And by limb I mean one of the largest, most robust limbs of the food critic forest that exists. When you roll into any Five Guys you're greated with article after article praising this place as one of the greatest places to eat a burger in any metro area that Five Guys has seem fit to grace with its presence. I suggest that if there's a five guys within an hour radius from you it is well worth the drive. They use high quality ingredients to pump out wondrous burgers, hotdogs, and fries. They tell you daily from where in Idaho (or sometimes the Northwest) what town the potatoes are from.

When you throw down on a hamburger they throw back. You can get pretty much any condiment a relatively 'normal' person would ever want to put on their burger: BBQ sauce, fried onions, fried mushrooms, just to name a few of my favorites. All at no extra cost. And just in case that doesn't tempt you, they throw scrumptilicious fries in your face by the bag full (literally, a large is a good brown lunch sack full).

This place is so good my brother called me in utter excitement when he found out they were opening one in the Portland metro. Andy and Ashley argued (very convincely) for a good 5 minutes about whether the fries or the burgers were better (my mouth was too full with both to chime in).

The only thing that is ever lacking at five guys is conversation when the food is at the table.

Adam

Rita's Water Ice (*****)

2008-09-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever I think about Rita's it brings back memories of childhood. The prominent memory being when after you say you love something the resident smart alec chimed in with, "Then why don't you marry it." I can almost positively say that if I were a polygamist Rita's Cream Ice would be my second wife (they say you always love the first one more and it would be true). I find myself sneaking off during odd hours to get it. Rest assured, though, that Choi knows about our relationship.

Rita's offers something for everyone. There heavy hitter being there Italian ice flavors. Ranging from Mango to strawberry to tropical punch. These things are great for when you don't want something heavy but need that refreshing summer treat. Then they through in there Cream Ice flavors. I love these things. You have berry banana, fudge brownie (yummy), Mint Chocolate Chip, and Pumpkin Pie. Talk about yummy.

Now you're thinking I'm done. Any simple dessert based restaurants business plan could probably survivie on this. But Rita's ain't done yet. They throw some yummy custard (chocolate, vanilla, and other flavors. Then to throw the whole thing over the top the let you mix them together and let you indulge in that childhood delight of mixing your food together. SWEETNESS.

Adam's favorite: Fudge Brownie Cream Ice with Chocolate Custard Gelati

Choi's favorite: Mint Chocolate Chip Cream Ice

You want to hit this place up if you ever have a chance.

Website: http://www.ritasice.com/

Adam

The Main Ingredient (*****)

2008-09-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Promised Choi I'd write this post awhile ago...

So thanks to Choi parents we were introduced to a great restaurant... The Main Ingredient in Annapolis.We've had both breakfast and lunch at this place and it was AMAZING.

First, Breakfast: These guys rock the greatest meal of the day! I had the best french toast of my life (don't tell the Hudson's Bar and Grill in Vancouver). They took french toast and turned it into a module based meal. The base is excellent french toast. Cinnamon swirl with the perfect amount of egg bath and cook to perfection. About the time you're ordering something amazing goes through your head... "what if I could something that made syrup seem like a cheap substitute for excellence?" The Main Ingredient delivers... and they do it big... pretty much anything you could want (including something that I should have thought before and will never forget BAVARIAN CREAM!!!). In-case you didn't figure it out that's what I had. They do eggs Benedict with the best of them too (Choi had the margharita benedict with sliced tomato, basil leaves, fresh mozzarella, and a sweet basalmic drizzle)! Pretty much awesome!

Second, Lunch: To quote the great Barney... the do it Legen........... (wait for it) dary. Took us about an hour to settle on what to have. I settled on the Sultan's Salad and Choi rocked the Greek Chicken Caesar. Both salads had unique approaches to the salad that made them memorable and highly suggestible. But what topped this lunch off were two (yes two) orders of sweet potato french fries that had the texture of a fluffy donut. These thing exploded like rock songs in your mouth. Makes you just want to die and go to sweet potato heaven! I have seen it... and its a good place to be.

Adam

Link: http://www.themainingredient.com/

Cook's Lobster House, Bailey Island, Maine (****)

2008-08-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, this one is a bit overdue, considering it was a place Adam and I went to on our honeymoon back in March, but we feel it warrants a post anyway... Cook's Lobster House, home of lots and lots... and lots of lobster! I admit, the week we spent in Maine, we felt obligated to scour the state for the best of their bragging rights, and we weren't disappointed. Although the Breakwater Cafe at the Samoset Resort in Rockport had the best lobster corn chowder (so good, we still wish we'd had it for every meal until they suspiciously "ran out"... that was a sad day), Cook's just felt like a lobster house and their menu simply reinforced the feeling. I ordered what I considered something traditional (boiled lobster tails, shown below), while Adam opted for something a little more contemporary (stuffed lobster tails). Both were quite yummy and came with sides of crispy french fries and tasty coleslaw. One should not worry about leaving this place hungry. Prices were variable, as typical with most seafood, but not terrible. If there were one thing we wish we'd done differently, it would have been to order the 4lb steamed lobster... because frankly, that would just be fun to see ;)

Blueberry Cobbler!!! (***)

2008-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everyone! Adam and I have been experimenting again... this time with fresh blueberries (the commissary had pints on sale for $1.33! Amazing, I know). Here's what you need for blueberry cobbler for two... this is by no means an exact science (in fact, we have yet to determine whether it will even turn out a second time... but it sure was yummy the first go-around!):

2 soup-sized ramekins (oven-safe bowls)

1 pint fresh blueberries

1 lemon

~4T sugar

1.5 cups bisquick

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/4 cup milk

Pre-heat over to 375*F. Split blueberries between the two bowls... sprinkle ~1T sugar into each. Squeeze 1/4 of a lemon and a tiny bit of water into each and mix around. Mix Bisquick, milk, remaining sugar and all but only a little bit of the butter together and dollop on top of the blueberry mixture (a few small dollops vice one big dollop seemed to work well... covered more area, anyway). Sprinkle sugar and a teeny bit of salt over the Bisquick and add a little pat of butter on top. Place bowls directly on middle rack... cook until berry juice begins to appear around a browned crust (I think this took about 30 mins... honestly, I completely forgot about them, but remembered to pull them out right about the time they were done).

Happy Eatings!

-Choi

Monte Cristos, French Toast, Pineapple Strawberry Compote

2008-06-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

While Choi was "busy" this weekend I had a craving french toast. This turned into a craving for a Monte Cristo.

A short soliloquy on Monte Cristos: Even though I had my first one about a year ago, Monte Cristos are amazing for a very important food mathematics equation:

French Toast + Grill Ham and Cheese Sandwich <>

The sum of the parts is great than the parts themselves.

Pineapple Strawberry Compote:

1 Cup Fresh Pineapple

1 Tbl Strawberry Jam

1 Tbl Simple Syrup

Put the ingrediants in a food processor and blend. Spread over anything and enjoy!

Braised Ribs (***)

2008-06-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Food Network Recipe

Tried this recipe today. Nothing particularly amazing about it. Good diet buster though. Would recommend more sweet potatos but that's just me and my sweet potato obsession.

Enjoy!

Worst Buffet Ever (0)

2008-06-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Virginia Beach, we swung by a local joint thinking we'd get some great seafood. They had a father's day buffet.

We regret not just going to Wendy's.

The food was unflavorful with a twist of dry and over cooked. It reminded me of Mitch's, which is bad because Mitch's is free.

Moral: if you're ever just driving around the Eastern Shore, stay away from the Island House.

Adam

A find in Austin TX... (*****)

2008-05-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.fliphappycrepes.com/

So on the advice of my brother, Choi and I stopped by Flip Happy Crepes just south of Downtown Austin. One word... Legendary. More than just your run of the mill crepes with fruit! I had a shredded pork, carmalized onions, and greyere crepe and Choi had the spinach, feta, and aioli one. Its as easy to eat as a hot dog but flavor like a fancy french restuarant.

They were so good I actually heard these words come out of my mouth in between bites: "I feel like I've been lost in food sin and I've been found"

We've added this to our must stop by list whenever we're in Austin... you should too!!

The Journey begins...

2008-05-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Choi and I love to cook. Choi and I love to eat. Cooking, baking, mixing, and everything else that goes into making wonderful edible concoctions is what we do during our free time. Since most of the amazing output goes into our stomachs (sometimes we share), we want to share some of the recipes and lessons that we found that turn out well. This will be a lot like my Tips for single people facebook note that spoke about "Pantry Soup." We don't necessarily guarantee that this stuff will turn out, but that's part of the fun.

So bring the computer and let's start cooking...