Nutritiousest Lunch

Just my Kind of Fast Food

Under the bridge with not for sale chicken thighs.

One of my favorites.

Riceroll and Coffee on LIRR Platform

My favorite fast food in downtown Flushing.  Thumbs up.  The LIRR platform was bone chillingly cold.  Probably minus -75 degree or something.

Breakfast

Guys, there is no fancy food here.  Just food I like or don't like but eat anyway.

Big Wong

Cast Iron Grill Pan With Ridges

I am a fan of cast iron cookwares.  I guess I must have said it a dozen times already.  What can I say?  I got nothing better to write about.  This one has ridges, so you can really make nice looking grill marks on it.  It's also coated with enamel on the outside which I don't think is necessary but can add different colors to  the same pan for aesthetic and marketing reasons.  Some has the enamel on the cooking surface so that makes it non-reactive to acidic food, me think.

Big Disappointment From Big Wong

I like to exaggerate.  It's a disappointment, even it's not big, in the scheme of things.

Last night I was in Chinatown.  I went to Big Wong.  I ordered a rice plate of Roast Pork and Roast Duck over rice.  It came instead Chicken and Roast Duck over rice.  I was OKAY with that.  I took a look at the check, the waiter got it right, at least on the check  Probably the kitchen messed up or the waiter ordered it wrong.  Anyway it didn't bother me much.  The dish was definitely below average.  The rice wasn't warm or soft and the meat, both the roast pork and the chicken were below average.  I have it much better in mid town.  So I was disappointed given that it's the very famous Big Wong in Chinatown.

Food In The Tree

I Cook Therefore I Am

One of the definitive attributes that differentiates humans from animals is the ability to cook. Out of the blue and into the supermarket I bought this over 2-lb dungeon crab. The thing looked pretty big and I was so afraid that it might actually be very watery inside. Because I just had that feeling. I torn the thing apart and cut it into pieces. As it turned out this was a male one and thank goodness the body was still meaty, though I could see it seemed to be losing its meat say in a week or so. That's the problem with buying dungeon crabs, you take a chance. Lobster, you don't have this problem. I just used ginger and scallion and be done with it.

Alex And Harry Drink Taiwan

Harry Eats Taiwan

Harry doesn't like noodles. There is no way he would like the taste of cilantro. He ate some nonetheless. He's very fastidious, both him, his brother and his Dad too .... I personally like the flavor and the portion.

Lobok Goh

Everybody has his own version. And this one is mine. I never measure anything so it's hit or miss, mostly hit. Because you can't really go too wrong. Notice the brand new cutting board. Isn't it gorgeous? See the first picture on top? That's a clean cut from a sharp knife. This is the first time I added some dried scallop.

For the photographer in you, more boring information: Nikon D70, Nikkor 35~105 MF, some shot in macro mode, manual focus and exposure as lens won't meter or auto focus. JPEG straight from the camera.

Breakfast

This is a quick post inspired by c9 r&e ...
I have a fondness for my cast iron pan so I use it for almost anything. It's practically indestructible and it does retain heat very well, and above anything it's cheap and highly effective.

Some olive oil, a dash of butter for taste, the olive oil brings down the boiling point of the butter so it won't get burned so fast.
Add egg to medium high or medium heat.
Add a pinch of salt and fresh grounded black pepper.
I just flipped the egg once and let it sit for two seconds before turning off the heat. Notice that the saute pan has a curved edge and that facilitates flipping.
The toast is used to suck up the yolk.
Simple.

Flushing For The Gastronomic Adventurous

The New York Times, in a ground breaking sort of way, introduces its readers Flushing, Queens as the culinary equivalence of Beijing, except it's right here in the backyard not 4,000 miles away. The feature is chock full of information both in print and in Web multimedia, the way it should be but seldom is. The printable list in pdf, with dish names in original Chinese characters is good especially if you are going to plan your gastronomic expedition. I think I must have tried a few of those eateries it mentioned. One shop I won't forget is Nian Shian Dumpling House. The food was all right, I don't think it was "the best soup dumplings in Flushing" as proclaimed on the list. I just think Joe's Shanghai still has an edge in its crab meat soup dumplings. When it comes to service, one of the women that served us was really bad. She was taking our order sitting on a stool, with the attitude of I couldn't be bothered. When an appetizer was not available she made us seem a bunch of idiots for even ordering that and proceeded to tell us to see the appetizer station ourselves to see what's available and again with an attitude that was reminiscence of some dragon lady. She would not lift a finger if that would make us just a bit more comfortable. Other wait staff from prior visits seemed a bit better. Basically don't expect professional hospitality from the wait staff at all. If you can look past that perhaps you can enjoy the food better. I have much better experience at other places like Happy Beef Noodle House (which is actually more of a Taiwanese food) also mentioned on the list.

Stay At Home Vacation

I am having my staycation. So here was what I prepared for lunch .... Read from bottom to top.

Romaine lettuce, cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes, peach, basil from my backyard ... mixed with the vinaigrette shown below.

I made my own dressing for the salad. It's just extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, a touch of balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and some lime juice, mixed them well and chilled.

After letting the meat rest for about 3 minutes or so, it's time to cut them up. I used a serrated bread knife. Oh well, I just used whatever handy.

A couple of pork loins as seen from the top. I slow cooked them by direct fire (not so much), by convection, and by smoking. Anyway, I cooked them with the cover on and vent opened.

Threw them into one of those Weber Smoky Joe. I have the small one, good for camping. Cooked them over some Kingsford charcoal. I added a hickory wood chip for flavoring. I soaked the chip for some time. I decided not to use my big-ass gas grill, as I didn't have a lot to BBQ, plus it's fun to use charcoal. To start the fire, I used one of those chimneys, just pour charcoal into the cylinder thing, then stuff newspaper underneath, like the good for nothing New York Times, and you are good to go. No need to add the burning fluid. The natural draft created by the cylindrical chimney would burn the charcoal to red hot. Once the charcoal briquettes were red hot, I poured them onto the grill. Made sure the bottom vent was open and so were the ones on the cover.
A couple of pork loins. I just threw whatever I have. Sage, ginger, thyme, rosemary, some red wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Marinate them in a plastic bag overnight.

What I Had For Lunch

I had Curry Porkloin Katsu. $11 plus tax and tips ... $14.

When one of my co-workers say, "Let's go to the curry place." I was thinking of Indian. But it was Japanese that he was talking about.

Sushi Tei on 47th Street between Madison and 5th.

I don't remember it was a Sushi Tei, was it ever a Sushi Tei before? I think I am losing it. The place is the same maybe except the name. I haven't come to this place for quite some time, so it's a good choice. The place is not big, at the entrance there are sushi take-outs and I think some udon noodle soups too. I am not sure if they actually serve sushi inside the dining area. When I think of this place, all I can think of is curry chicken katsu or pork katsu.

hp notebook and sushi

My new HP (hard plastic) notebook. This little puppy runs Vista Business. So far I have experienced some minor annoyances. My good old Canon G3 doesn't have a driver for Vista. Windows sometimes doesn't wake up nicely, the screen stays off until the third time I press the power button. I want it to wake up the first time I press the power button not turning it off and back on, a total of three times hitting the power button. I notice there is sometimes left over Windows element on the screen. It didn't happen until a couple days ago, about two or three weeks into my usage. Maybe doing a power down would clear it. I don't normally turn off a notebook.

This was from a midtown sushi joint. I didn't order this, my friend from work did. It's a lunch special sushi set. The eel sushi was just unbelievably oversize, maybe that's what made it a special. I think Chiyoda is one of the better sushi joints I ever have, especially for a lunch and take-out restaurant. From the lunch menu, $9.50 for regular sushi set, and $12 for a bento box (mackerel, sashimi, california roll, salad). And I think they have the best chirashi, both in presentation and in quality.

The Muffin Man

This post is inspired by blogger mad dog.

The (in)famous Choco-Lowfat Muffins recipe is from Hershey's, though I didn't use anything from Hershey's, the cocoa powder I used wasn't even the one shown on the picture. I bought the Nestle but I ended up using whatever I have in the pantry, some brand Jin bought from BJ's (it's not what you thought, it's Beverley Jean).

Here is the cut-n-paste recipe from Hershey's I repost here, my own comments in red:-

QUOTE
Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whatever in the pantry, whole wheat flour, tasted too healthy and weird?)
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa (some brand from BJ's, doesn't bother me)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vanilla lowfat yogurt
• 2/3 cup nonfat milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar(optional)
• (NO EGGS, NO OIL as one of the commenters from mad dog's original post pointed out .... I wonder if it would taste any better if say 2 eggs and oil are added ...)
  

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter, I used 3-1/2 inches) with paper bake cups.

2. Stir together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; stir in yogurt, milk and vanilla just until combined. Do not beat. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on wire rack. Remove from pans. Sprinkle powdered sugar over tops of muffins, if desired. Serve warm. Store, covered, at room temperature or freeze in airtight container for longer storage. 14 muffins. (I made only eight I think)

UNQUOTE

Here is my setup.
Mix the dry ingredients first. Then add the wet ingredients. Try not to overmix. (I am trying to sound professional you know)
Pour mixed batter into baking cups (lined with baking parchment paper). Put cups on a baking sheet. And slide them into oven. Now grab a beer and watch TV. Or whatever, let the oven do the work.

Voila, after some 18 minutes in a 400F over, the muffins are done.

Tasting Test: I was prepared for the worst but they turned out not too bad. They weren't as sweet or chocolate-ty as I would like them but they are definitely edible. Again, I wonder if they would taste any better if I have added eggs, butter and oil ... essentially take the low out of low fat.

[The photographer in me talking: the flash pictures are so so but that's no excuse. Shot with a Nikon D70, with a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 mounted, flash set at manual at 1/16 power. Adjust f-stop and shutter speed by chimping.]

Sunday Evening Cookout

I wasn't prepared to have BBQ in the evening but the weather was nice so I just went to the supermarket to buy some ingredients to have a quick cookout.

BBQ Whole Chicken

Ingredients:-

• One small whole chicken;
• Some sprigs of sage;
• One lemon;
• A few cloves of garlic;
• Olive oil, salt and pepper.

Procedure:-

• Wash and remove extra fat from chicken. Dry with paper towel. Put chicken into a big glass bowl;
• Roughly cut up the sage, put some underneath the chicken skin if preferred, put some inside the chicken cavity;
• Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice onto chicken. Put left over lemon halves in chicken cavity (or put some slices underneath chicken skin if preferred);
• Remove the rough ends of the garlic cloves, give a light smash with back of your knife. Put them inside chicken cavity. Don't worry take out the rough skin of the garlic (I am going for a rustic look here);
• Coat chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper with tender loving care;
• Let it seat for an hour before grilling.

Squash with Dill Weed

Ingredients:-

• A couple of squash;
• Few cloves of garlic;
• Some dried dill weed;
• One lemon;
• Olive oil, salt and pepper;
• Aluminium foil to make pouch for steaming on the grill.
  

Procedure:-

• Cut squash in 3 sections, then cut them up length wise in sticks, keep them in equal size. Not that you want to show off your cutting skills but equal size allows them to cook through at the same time;
• Cut the hard ends of the garlic out, lightly smash cloves with back of your knife, don't worry about removing the rough skin;
• Sprinkle salt and pepper, dill weed and olive oil and lemon juice (or sprinkle fresh lemon juice when serving);
• Put everything into a self made aluminum pouch to steam in the grill.

(Note: the squash looks much better if you saute this dish on a pan instead of steaming it with an aluminum pouch as the green discolors when steaming inside the pouch.)

Grilled Shrimps

Ingredients:-

• A handful of shrimps (head or headless);
• A bunch of cilantro;
• One lemon;
• Olive oil, salt and pepper.

Procedure:-

• Clean and devein shrimps, remove the legs if preferred;
• Roughly chopped up the cilandro;
• Put shrimps in a bowl, mix in cilandro, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, let it sit for 30 minutes or an hour before grilling.
  

Grilled Salmon Steak


Ingredients:-

• Fresh Salmon Steak;
• One lemon;
• Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Procedure:-

• Clean salmon, and remove bones if preferred, dry with paper towel;
• Season with salt and pepper and coat with olive oil;
• Cut a few lemon slices to grill for garnishing, sprinkle lemon juice when serving.

[photography note: pictures taken with a Canon G3, manual macro focusing or something]

How I Spent My Saturday

(Or otherwise known as who the f.u.c.k cares.)

I spent about 30 minutes to prepare today's lunch. These are totally home cook dishes by yours truly. Inspired by what I had and saw before. Except baking which I prepare more like science experiments, I usually just cook by estimate.

Shrimps with Scrambled Eggs.
Ingredients:-

• 3 eggs, scrambled, add salt and pepper to taste
• a handful of shrimps, peeled and deveined, roughly diced or served whole
• Some onions, wedged and peeled
• Some chives, chopped in inches
• Some olive oil

Procedure:-

In a hot cast iron skillet (10 inch), add olive oil, saute onions until translucent, then add chives and shrimp. Stir until shrimps are cooked. Add a pinch of salt. Stir in the eggs, move eggs around. Don't overcook the eggs. Turn off the fire once eggs start to curd.

Sauteed Sliced Chicken with Okra In Brown Sauce
Ingredients:-

• Chicken breast, sliced. Marinated with salt, black and white pepper, some olive oil, some soy sauce or whatever turns you on. Some corn starch if you like.
• Fresh okra, washed and cut off stems. Cut lengthwise then halve. You may put them in water to cut down on the slime factor.
• Some minced garlic.
• Brown Sauce, a teaspoon of cornstarch in a small bowl, add some cold tap water, add some soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, some white pepper which goes well with the chicken I think, some oyster sauce if you have it. Mix them well.
  
• Some olive oil.

Procedure:-
In a hot cast iron skillet (those cheap ones), add olive oil, then chicken, add half the minced garlic, cook till barely done then remove. Clean skillet (or not).
Add olive oil, add the okra, add the minced garlic, saute until is done.
Add the prepared sauce, cook to boil in high heat, return chicken to coat.

Sauteed Watercress
Ingredients:-

• A handful of watercress.
• Minced garlic (don't tell me you don't know how to mince garlic)
• Some olive oil

Procedure:-
In a hot cast iron skillet, add olive oil and garlic then the watercress. When wilted, in two minutes or so, add salt and pepper to taste.


After lunch we drove to the Barnes & Noble in Bayside. I always enjoy spending some time at B&N, flipping through books and magazines. And sometimes even buy myself a cup of coffee. I haven't had a Starbucks for a long time so I decided to treat myself one. I ordered a small one and the price was 1.70 + 0.14 sales tax, a total of $1.84. On the receipt it says Coffee Tall. It didn't look tall to me. I am no expert in coffee but it didn't disappoint. I don't know or care enough that Starbucks has its own set of coffee size vernacular, tall is small, grande is medium and venti is large, a testament to my Starbucks ignorance . Anyone who wants to talk the Starbucks talk can use some help from this page, I especially like the fact that the graphics link is broken, it looks so early 90s, Web 0.0 ....

In the end, Mr. Alex bought 2 Pokemon related books and Mr. Harry being an ardent fan of bodily functions jokes chose a handful of Captain Underpants, in the end we talked him down to buying just two as for the others we either actually have them at home or read them before from the library.