Category Archives: Dining

Bites and Finds, Dining

Going nuts for almonds

I have to profess admiration for the folks at Blue Diamond. They have come up with some daring tastes in their Bold flavored almond products. One particular standout which has me running down to the local drugstore regularly is their Wasabi and Soy Sauce flavored almonds. Yes, I was initially skeptical…but after being unable to stop popping these things, I can safely agree with them–what a great combo. Affecting and addicting!

I also sampled their Jalapeno Smokehouse almonds, and while it had a distinct mildly spicy-smoky taste, it doesn’t grab me as much as the Wasabi/Soy Sauce flavor.

Dining

Shopping for a santoku

A revived interest in home cooking recently made me lament the absence of my santoku knife. Granted, it was of terrible quality after slipping out of my hands and shattering on the floor. But what I miss is that it fit perfectly in my hand and had the necessary grip I looked for. For future reference, no more cheaply made American blades (in this case it was a Calphalon 7″ santoku). A cleaver just isn’t made for fine chopping and dicing, though I’m having to adapt to hefting a bulky piece of cutlery. Now will you take a look at that Shun Classic 6.5 incher? Makes my inner chef want to RAWWRR! And there’s more of the Shun Kershaw knives to drool over at the Kershaw Online store.

Dining, Recipes

Things I learned while making a Decadent Chocolate Flan

Despite moments when it looked like my chocolate flan experiment was doomed to the garbage disposal, the end result was fantastically yummy and delicious.

  • Tripling the amount of chocolate that a recipe calls for is a sure way to make the taste buds happy
  • Brown sugar doesn’t caramelize like white sugar, better to melt it on the stove top than in the oven, with less water if any
  • Don’t attempt to re-melt the chocolate/milk mixture with eggs in it because the eggs will cook
  • Double boiling semi-sweet chocolate chips is a long, painstaking process–use a microwave next time (remember to melt at half power)
  • Use shallow dishes or single-serve dishes for flan, otherwise the flan will not descend gracefully onto its final plating

So armed with those warnings, we proceed to the actual recipe.

6oz (or less) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1-2 cups of milk (less milk means denser custard)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Caramelize brown sugar on stove top in a nonstick saucepan or in the oven in a baking dish. In this case I used a 5×9 glass loaf dish in a 375 degree oven…took forever, even with a little water added in. When the sugar melts, transfer to its baking dish and coat the bottom evenly. Set aside to cool and harden. Melt chocolate chips with milk until incorporated. Remove the chocolate milk mixture from heat and slowly mix 4 beaten eggs in. Add vanilla extract and stir gently. Heat the oven to 350 degrees, pour flan mixture into baking dish, then bake for 60-70 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes away clean. Remove from oven and let cool (especially if you’re using a glass baking dish). Afterwards, refrigerate overnight.

To serve, take the flan and microwave in the oven for 30 seconds or less (just enough to melt the caramel). Invert the dish on plate. Garnish with powdered sugar, brown sugar, or even mint leaves and berries for a decadent chocolatey custard. What’s the difference between custard and a flan? Not much, if you read this article on the subject.

Dining, Recipes

Shimeji Mushroom Rice

My local asian grocer had a sale on shimeji mushrooms, so I picked up 2 packages of the brown variety. A little web surfing revealed that shimeji mushrooms paired well with rice. So, along with my Beef Ribs dinner this weekend, I cooked up a side of shimeji mushroom fried rice.

1 8oz package shimeji mushrooms, separated
2 tbsp chopped ginger
8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup sliced green onions, sliced 3/4in long
1.5 cups cooked jasmine rice
sweet soy sauce for color and flavor
3+ tbsp vegetable oil
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Saute ginger then garlic over medium-high heat until golden brown. Toss shimeji mushrooms into mix, saute lightly, until tender and coated. Add cooked rice, drizzle in soy sauce and toss until rice is separated and colored evenly. Turn off heat and toss in green onions. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and serve.