Philly cheese steak

In Pennsylvania to visit my brother, so we went to get cheese steak today at Tony Luke's. Here's a pretty accurate recipe for authentic Philly cheese steak, courtesy of Pat's King of Steaks. People have almost religious arguments here regarding which is better, Pat's or Tony Luke's.

http://www.patskingofsteaks.com/recipe.htm

Here's more information:
http://philadelphia.about.com/library/howto/htmakeacheesesteak.htm

So what else is Philly known for culinarily? Apparently soft pretzels and Italian sandwiches (hoagies). See: http://www.bg-map.com/foods.html

Asian Red Cabbage Salad

My mom used to make a salad called "fumi salad," which is a wilted cabbage salad with an Asian influence. So I made it for the first time this week, with my own little twists (the biggest of which was to use red cabbage instead of regular green cabbage), and it turned out delicious. The great thing is, that you can make it 8 hours in advance, and it holds its crunch and was still great. I estimate that it would probably keep 24 hours before turning too soft.

Asian Red-Cabbage Salad

1 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1 package ramen noodles, crushed (discard the flavor packet)
1 carrot, finely shredded
5 green onions, into diagonal slices, including part of the green part
Slivered almonds, sesame seeds and/or sunflower seeds, to taste (optional)

Dressing
1/3 cup salad oil
1 tbsp. sesame oil
6 tbsp sugar
6 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp. soy sauce

Whisk together all dressing ingredients and set aside. In large bowl, add shredded cabbage, ramen noodles, shredded carrot, green onions and almonds/sunflower seeds. Whisk dressing again, add to salad, toss, cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, address flavor of dressing as necessary (add more vinegar, etc).

Fryin' Chick'n 'n' things

Watching FoodTV during lunch today, I saw Tyler Florence talk about fried chicken. A couple of tips:

1. Season your flour (salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne)
2. Season your buttermilk with hot sauce
3. Coat the chicken as follows: flour, wet, flour again, and leave it in the flour to soak up for a few minutes
4. Heat oil to 375 degrees F., temperature will drop when adding lots of chicken pieces.

Saw Mark Bittman's show (How to Cook Everything) for the first time, he was visiting Gary Danko. Bittman suggested an interesting dessert: freeze an overripe persimmon, let it defrost a little, and it tastes like sorbet.

the corner place

That's the name of one of my favorite Korean BBQ restaurants in Los Angeles.
Went with Beckey & some friends this last Thursday for Korean BBQ.

I love bulgogi and the kimchi too, so super delicious. With 4 large Hite beers and 2 chicken and 2 beef dishes for 6 people, it was very reasonable (<$20 per person) and very delicious. If you want to try making bulgogi yourself, here are a few good sources: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/issues/bulgogi.htm
http://www.1stopkorea.com/index.htm?cooking-kimchi.htm~mainframe

Kimchi is a different story, more complicated, more preparation.
Here's some links:

http://www.koreanquarterly.org/Fall1998/food.asp
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/pickles/recipe-kimchi.html
http://www.sweetbabymedia.com/recipes/allbynumber4/016638.shtml
http://kalaniosullivan.com/General/Opinions-k2.htm (annoying graphics but neat recipes)

where to buy specialty food items online

Sometimes, based on a certain cuisine, you may need to track down specialty ingredients that aren't readily available at your local supermarket. I live near a big city (L.A.) and in the past I have even had difficulty tracking down certain items in ethnic markets as well.

Fortunately, we have the Internet!

Asian Foods & Supplies

Pacific Rim Gourmet: http://www.pacificrim-gourmet.com/, for fermented black beans (a.k.a salted black bean)

The Spice House: http://www.thespicehouse.com, for all kinds of spices

bat out of hell

Beckey & I made a great version of meatloaf about 2 weeks or so ago from Roget Hayot's Authentic Cafe cookbook. Super moist, not dry at all, extremely flavorful, and served with garlic mashed potatoes and caramelized onions. Mmmm good.

garlic pasta is for suckers!

As "Precious Roy" says, "buy my garlic pasta. You guys are suckers!" Seriously, I made a pasta in lemon vodka cream sauce that Beckey must've really liked (she ate her whole serving!)

Fusilli in a Creamy Lemon-Vodka Sauce

Serves 2

1/2 pound fusilli (corkscrew) pasta
3 tbsp. butter or Smart Balance butter substitute (don't use margarine!)
10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice (juice of 1/2 of a large lemon)
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (reserve 1/4 cup)

In a large pot, boil water and add pasta. In a large skillet, heat butter at medium heat until melted, then add garlic, turn down heat to low and saute for 2 minutes; try not to brown the garlic. Next, turn heat up to high and mix 1 tbsp flour in skillet with garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add milk all at once, stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken and bubble. Add vodka , lemon juice, lemon zest, basil, thyme, and garlic powder, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Once pasta is cooked to "al dente", drain pasta. Re-heat skillet at medium heat, add parmesan cheese to sauce and stir for 1 minute. Add pasta and cook for another 1 minute until mixture is heated through. Serve in warm bowls immediately, sprinkling each serving with remaining parmesan cheese.