bon appetit!

Can't wait!

I ran into a list of 100 food items on White TrashBBQ blog site (US), and followed a link to its original at Very Good Taste (UK).  What an interesting idea!  I love thinking and talking about food, and I get to discover new things I hadn't heard of.  It also helps me get a sense of where I stand on the food knowledge scale :)

It's fun!  Give it a try.  I think I'm more European than American in food tastes nowadays ...

The instructions are the same for both lists:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk or whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
from Very Good Taste

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare -- I've had and love Korean Yukhoe, though!
5. Crocodile -- alligator, too!
6. Black pudding -- I'm sure I've had the Asian variety, but I can't recall.
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle -- I've only had "flavored" stuff :(
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar -- I don't smoke cigars ... just cigarettes!
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk -- I've only had cheese made of goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear -- I must have eaten cactus in Texas ...
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips -- I've had carob in chocolate milk.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant -- I wish!
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers -- maybe?
89. Horse -- only raw.
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

1. Tomato Soup Cake
2. Turducken -- I must try one of these someday, but they're not easy to get a hand on!
   
3. Chicken Feet
4. Sauerbraten
5. Limburger Cheese
   
6. Asian Pears
   
7. Ham Hocks -- I've been tempted to buy some at the store.
   
8. Ghee
9. Corn Bread
10. Buffalo Mozzarella
11. Florida Stone Crabs
    
12. Som Tum
13. Oxtails
14. Sundried Tomatoes
    
15. Beef Jerkey
16. Tongue -- only beef.
17. Calves Liver
18. Shoofly pie
19. Pulled Pork
20. Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
21. Bison
    
22. Persimmons
23. Monk Fish
    
24. Hoja Santa Cheese
    
25. Whoopee pie
26. Peking Duck
27. Sopa de Ajo - Castilian Garlic Soup -- Must try!
    
28. Pistolettes
29. Naan
30. Country Ham
31. Jambalya
32. Anchovies
    
33. Black and White Cookies
34. Chives
    
35. Potato Pancakes
    
36. Boudain
    
37. Macoun Apples
    
38. Brooklyn Pizza
39. Star Fruit
    
40. Dosa
    
41. Lutefisk
42. Rhubarb
    
43. Scrapple
    
44. Cuitlacoche
45. Cherry Pierogi
    
46. Kumquats
47. Ambrosia Salad
    
48. Taylor Ham
    
49. Sardines
50. Capers
51. Dungeons Crabs
52. Grape Leaves
53. Pepper Jelly
    
54. Hanger Steak
    
55. A just picked vine ripened Tomato still hot from the sun
56. Stuffed Quahogs
57. Smoked Eggs
58. Chicken Kiev
    
59. Bigos
60. Andouille
61. Shropshire Blue Cheese
    
62. Real Moonshine
63. Yuca
64. Chicken Katsu
    
65. Clams on the half shell
    
66. Scallion Pancakes
67. Tamales
    
68. Maine Lobster
69. Picadillo
    
70. Romesco Sauce
71. Sour Cherries
    
72. Paella
73. Gulf Shrimp
74. Empanada
    
75. Fluff
    
76. Ostrich
    
77. Wild Blueberries
78. Skate -- ray?
    
79. Black-eyed Peas
80. Hatch Chile Peppers
81. Morels -- they're heavenly when fresh! They soak up so much sauce :D
    
82. Water Chestnuts
    
83. Massaman Curry
    
84. Goose
    
85. Jamon Serrano
86. Knish
87. Quail Eggs
88. Gyoza
    
89. Conch
    
90. Rutabaga
91. Turtle
92. Salsify
93. Hummus
    
94. Seviche
    
95. Barbecue Baby Back Ribs
96. Parmigiano-Reggiano
97. Pine Nuts
98. Basmati Rice
    
99. Pickled Herring
100. Kohlrabi

This small add in a corner of a French blog caught my eye somehow, and I ended up staring at it for 5 minutes.  I couldn't help myself from clicking on it after that ... and what do you know?  It's the good old uniqlo!

Here's a larger version for your enjoyment.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes :)  I had so much fun over my birthday weekend!  Special thanks to Mark for taking such a good care of me (while my other trusted friends were off in Tokyo without me).

I saw this band Stickshift Annie with Kimball and the Fugitives on Friday at The New Orleans Restaurant, and loved them!  They even gave me a CD as a b-day present :)  I was telling Mark about it on Saturday, and it turns out he knows the guitarist Kimball, so of course we had to go back there (they happened to be playing there the 2 nights).  They sang me happy birthday and even made me dance ... but it was a ball!

Then on Sunday, Mark took me out to Teatro ZinZanni!  (There's one in San Francisco, too.)  It was absolutely a riot!  We couldn't stop laughing most of the time, and the food (by Tom Douglas) was amazing ... especially the chicken breasts I had was sooooo moist and juicy.  I must learn to cook chicken breasts like that.  Must.

Teatro ZinZanni

You know, I actually forgot to take a final picture ... but I did get a rave review from one friend, and the other devoured it for lunch (didn't hear very many words).  I had some myself, and it was pretty good.  I thought it might have turned out too sweet, but the after taste had just the right spiciness :)

Here's the last photo I took of the curry.  I did let it cook a while longer, and did skim off all that fat from the surface.  The texture was nice and thick, just as I'd hoped, and no complaints about the color either.

Japanese-style curry with chicken

So, to make up for the lack of curry photos, here are how the cookies turned out after they were baked!

How to make shortbread cookie dough, in steps with pictures only.  For list of ingredients and their measurements, see recipe on Recipe*Zaar.  Extra notes: Flour added in step 4 has baking powder mixed in it. Nuts are optional. To bake the dough: slice the log into preferred thickness (reshape if necessary) and bake on cookie sheet in 350F oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges.  Don't over-bake the cookies like I did last time ...

1. cream butter

2. add powdered sugar

3. beat until fluffy

4. mix in flour

5. until well incorporated

6. mix in nuts of choice

7. like cashews

8. or pecans

9. roll into logs and refrigerate

Last time I tried semi demi-glace sauce, it really reminded me of the thick Japanese-style curry.  Ever since then, I've intended to try turning it into just that.

実は前回似非デミグラスを作ったとき、どうしても日本風のカレーが連想され、次回はこれでカレーをルーなしで作ってみようと心に決めていました。インドカレーは散々ペーストとかスパイスセットとか使わずに作っているのですが、日本のあのコッテリした濃い茶色のカレーはまだ未経験。

This Saturday morning, I woke up before 9 am and enjoyed a nice strong cup of coffee (with lots of smokes).  Before breakfast, I prepared another pie crust dough to be baked later with leftover chocolate mousse.  After cleaning up the kitchen, I started my quest for Japanese curry!

最近は週末でもなぜか9時前に起きだして、コーヒーとタバコを満喫した後早々と料理・ベーキングに励んでおります。土曜日の今朝も同様、朝ごはん前にパイ生地を準備して、朝食後にデミグラス開始！

flour in clarified butter (1)

Semi demi-glace as instructed by Julia Child starts with making brown roux.  I melted 8 tablespoons of clarified butter that I bought at the store last night, and dumped in 4 tablespoons of white unbleached all-purpose flour.  Unlike last time when I used Le Creuset pot, I decided to use my pressure cooker to cut down on time.  So, I stood over my pressure cooker pot set over medium low heat for a little less than 15 minutes and stirred continuously.

browned roux (2)

まずはJulia Child指示通り、ルー（roux）作り。インド料理でもお馴染みのギー（Ghee, a.k.a clarified butter）を溶かして、小麦粉を溶かしてからじっくり炒める。15分ふらい付きっ切りで混ぜ続けました。

mirepoix in roux (3)

When the roux turned a nice "walnut dark brown" color as described in the recipe, I deviated from the instructions and threw in my pre-cooked mirepoix (sauteed mixture of chopped onions, celery, and carrots) to heat it through.  Then, I whisked in my homemade chicken stock, stirred in half a can of chopped tomatoes with their juices, and added a beef bouillon cube.

semi demi-glace base (4)

ルーがこんがりと茶色くなったら、作り置きしていたmirepoix（フレンチでよく用いられるみじん切りの玉ねぎ・セロリ・人参をバターで炒めたもの）を温めなおすために投入。そして、これまた作り置きしていた鶏がらスープを入れ、ルーを念入りに溶かし、缶詰のトマトを混ぜてからビーフブイヨンも追加してみました。ここら辺はあまりレシピ通りじゃなかったり・・・。

After the mixture has come to simmer, I threw in some bay leaves, a short cinnamon stick, few cardamon pods, and black peppercorns tied in a cheesecloth, and poured in several cups worth of hot water.  Now it's ready for the pressure cooker to do its work!