Miss Ollies is another new, homey establishment in Oakland that hits the spot, especially with their fried chicken! Caribbean home cooking at its finest in a spacious, casual environment adorned with colorful paintings. They had some kinks on their iPad cash registry after we ordered, so the others in line had to pay in cash. Oh the perils of technology! But despite that, the customer service was efficient.
Our party of three was completely satisfied with the unique flavor of the fried chicken dunked in their homemade chili sauce, piping hot and savory phoularie (the Caribbean version of the Indian samosas), and the sweet, melt in your mouth creole doughnuts. Take note that the fried chicken is not on the lunch menu everyday, so check out their website before going.
I was a bit disappointed with the shrimp and grits since it had too much carbo/grits on it. We were only able to finish a quarter of it. When I ate the leftovers a few days later, the grits became more palatable since it has soaked in the juice longer.
I will definitely make a trip back here for the fried chicken and try their dinner entrees. Oakland is also a breath of fresh air from the city- wider roads and more parking!
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| The famous fried chicken! Enough said. |
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| Lamb patties- didn't expect it to come out like an empanada. |
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| Phoularie made out of deep fried split pea. Very good! Reminds me so much of an Indian samosa that also has different sauces. |
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| Shrimp with grits. I personally don't like small shrimps but the leftovers turned out to be more flavorful. |
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| Creole doughnuts. Eat it while its hot. |
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| The homemade chili sauce. |
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| Interiors of Miss Ollies. |
Join DeLise at Project Open Hand ’s Dessert First on May 5. They will be one of 20+
chefs preparing decadent desserts for guests to enjoy. And it will all
support Project Open Hand’s “meals with love” for the sick and elderly. Buy tickets today!
If I publish a preview, you know something good is coming at you! Stay tune on my review for Miss Ollies.
Life is peachy in San Francisco! And it gets peachier if there are no long lines (at Off The Grid) just to get some food truck grub! I've seen and heard raves about The Chairman so many times that during this fine sunny day, I decided to give their steam buns a try. What I like about The Chairman is that it doesn't market itself as a (Americanized) Chinese cuisine unlike many food trucks that claim to be Indian, Japanese, Peruvian, Filipino, etc.
The flavors of the spicy chicken and tofu buns are unique and not a ripoff of a typical Chinese bun. A++ to The Chairman!
The flavors of the spicy chicken and tofu buns are unique and not a ripoff of a typical Chinese bun. A++ to The Chairman!
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| From tel-hi.org |
The Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center is once again hosting a non-profit charity dinner and silent auction/fundraiser, A Taste of Tel-Hi, on Saturday, May 11, from 5:30 - 9:30 pm, at the Joe DiMaggio Playground in North Beach. DeLise will be there to support the neighborhood and give out some yummy treats.
The 3-course dinner will feature the creations of Executive Chefs:
Hope to see you there! To volunteer, sponsor, donate or buy tickets, check out the Taste of Tel-Hi event page.
Told ya that the best things in life are free! I was soaking up the sun today when I stumbled upon a free ice cream bar from new comer, So Delicious. They obviously set themselves apart by being diary free and focusing on frozen desserts and beverages with coconut, soy or almond milk. So perfect for the lactose intolerant me!
I was very satisfied with the almond milk mocha almond fudge. It was not as sugarish as a regular popsicled dessert. I was not able to check out the nutrition facts, but I did feel light after eating my fudge bar. A non-guilty pleasure!
I was very satisfied with the almond milk mocha almond fudge. It was not as sugarish as a regular popsicled dessert. I was not able to check out the nutrition facts, but I did feel light after eating my fudge bar. A non-guilty pleasure!
Went to another frigid Off the Grid to get some food truck grub. Now I know that the best strategy is to roll in there late at 8ish pm when the line is not super long anymore and there are more open seats. Even though the weather was quite warm during that day, it suddenly dropped to freezing degrees (might be my hunger and the breezy location that is Fort Mason). Thus, another strategy is to wear winterish clothing or just get the piping hot ramen.
In this outing, I tried the pasta from Old World (very good!), empanadas from the Peruvian truck, El Sur?? (chicken was good, but the veggie one was mehh), and braved the long lines of Koja to get some chicken with pineapple (unique but not worth the wait). I ended my meal with chocolate tacos from Rocko's- superb idea with the antifreeze!! Bravo!
In this outing, I tried the pasta from Old World (very good!), empanadas from the Peruvian truck, El Sur?? (chicken was good, but the veggie one was mehh), and braved the long lines of Koja to get some chicken with pineapple (unique but not worth the wait). I ended my meal with chocolate tacos from Rocko's- superb idea with the antifreeze!! Bravo!
For a fun, sun filled Saturday afternoon, Bin 38 is a good location for summer chats with beer or wine and desserts!
Who knew that the San Franciscan institution of Squat and Gobble actually has Asian cuisine on the menu. Ok, it's been awhile since I stepped in this place. I was also suprised that the resto on Chestnut St. has a nice backyard patio suitable for afternoon drinks and catchups.
For the past few weeks, I've switched to the older version of blogger template in preparation to move to my own domain. This move has significantly decreased my viewers per day. Dear readers, do you like this format better or blogger's newer dynamic, picture-filled templates?
I'm also perusing why my second country viewer is now coming in from Russia, instead of the usual Philippines or Singapore. Hello to my Russian readers! :)
I'm also perusing why my second country viewer is now coming in from Russia, instead of the usual Philippines or Singapore. Hello to my Russian readers! :)
Hemp is a derivative of the Cannabis plant and another substitute for those who are avoiding whey protein. On the first sniff, it smells like wet grass. To be blunt, it tastes, well, like nutty, wet grass when just added with water (not recommended). I tried different variety of fruits to mix it with to get the grassy taste out- blackberries, strawberries and banana. The banana with unsweetened almond milk made it a more palatable smoothie. Once I'm done with this bottle, I'll try rice protein powder.
I got to try DeLise's new matcha concoction in a form of a cheesecake (yay!). I love anything that is made out of matcha powder more than chocolate actually so this made me a very happy camper.
Coming soon at Chef Martin Yan's M.Y. China at Union Square, San Francisco.
Coming soon at Chef Martin Yan's M.Y. China at Union Square, San Francisco.
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| from Mesa Grill, Las Vegas |
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| Taken with old Nokia phone. From Hawaii. |
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (got an organic, free-range whole chicken from Trader Joe's)
kosher salt
4'' section of fresh ginger in 1/4'' slices
2 stalks green onions, cut into 1" sections (both the green and white parts)
4'' section of fresh ginger in 1/4'' slices
2 stalks green onions, cut into 1" sections (both the green and white parts)
For the rice:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1'' section of ginger, finely minced
2 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and soaked in cool water for 10 min or longer
2 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Directions:
1. Clean. Drain the water out from the chicken packaging and start cleaning the chicken with kosher salt. Rub all over and rinse the chicken. Don't forget the crevices. Season with salt inside and out.
2. Stuffing. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and green onion. I also added 3 cloves of garlic.
3. Boil. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with water until the chicken is completely covered with water. Bring the pot to a boil, then simmer. Cook for more than 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Since I don't have a thermometer (should read 170F), I poked the thickest part with chopsticks to see that no more bloody juices come out.
4. Ice bath. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the pot. Set the broth aside since you'll be using it again. Put the chicken directly into an ice bath filled with ice cubes to stop the cooking process.
Cooking the rice:
2. Stuffing. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and green onion. I also added 3 cloves of garlic.
3. Boil. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with water until the chicken is completely covered with water. Bring the pot to a boil, then simmer. Cook for more than 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Since I don't have a thermometer (should read 170F), I poked the thickest part with chopsticks to see that no more bloody juices come out.
4. Ice bath. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the pot. Set the broth aside since you'll be using it again. Put the chicken directly into an ice bath filled with ice cubes to stop the cooking process.
Cooking the rice:
1. In a medium heat saucepan, saute the minced garlic and ginger with the vegetable oil.
2. Add the rice and saute.
3. Transfer rice into rice cooker or use the same saucepan. Add broth into the rice. And simply turn the rice cooker "on."
Making the sauces:
Simply mix all ingredients together.
For the chili sauce:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon reserved chicken broth
2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon reserved chicken broth
2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
2 cloves garlic
For the ginger sauce:
2'' section of ginger, shredded
2'' section of ginger, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the soy sauce:
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
Cut some pieces of cucumber, serve the hot broth on a bowl and scoop out some rice. The most difficult process is carving out the whole chicken. If you haven't done it before, there are many instructional videos on Youtube.
This dish took me back in Singapore.
Tip:
If you are only cooking for yourself and don't want to have a lot of leftover, buy your favorite part of chicken, preferably with some bones. Marinate it in a Ziploc bag with green onions and ginger overnight.
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I'm a big fan of infographics primarily because I absorb things better when presented in images. This is by far the best infographic I've seen for different cuts of beef. Last time I saw a simple drawing of the cow's parts was a piece of paper at a churrascaria in Iguassu, Brazil.
I followed the pancake recipe on the Trader Joe's flour package and added some fresh strawberries and chocolate milk with strawberry syrup.
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1-1/4 cup chocolate milk- I used chocolate soymilk
1 egg
3 tbsp butter, melted
For sweeter pancakes, add 1 tsp vanilla extract.
1. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter on to the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with strawberry syrup.
The strawberry syrup consists of sliced 3 to 4 strawberries and a
tablespoon of (white or brown) sugar. Saute in a pan until the strawberries are soft and the syrup has thickened. Very easy!
Yields 6-8 pancakes.
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| My pancakes were not as fluffy as I expected but still good! |
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I've always wondered why there are so many porcelain faces in Japan even sans makeup. One can argue that it's because of their diet or simply good ol genes. Japanese diet consists of many fresh ingredients both meat and seafood (think sashimi) without the preservatives. What's also crucial is that most restaurants also serve the ever-potent green tea powder mixed with hot water. This is something I'm adding to my daily regimen. Let's see if this routine will help fight ageing skin.
Some have even gone the extra mile in using green tea powder as a facial wash. Will you?
Some have even gone the extra mile in using green tea powder as a facial wash. Will you?
I was intrigued when I found these peculiar looking cauliflower in the farmer's market one weekend. Is there any difference (in nutrients) between the green and pink cauliflower?
