Dinner tonight... Salmon and risotto

Got some wild salmon at Whole Foods Market today... Didn't know what to do with it except that I wanted tons of garlic and onions. So that's what I did: chopped up a whole onion and 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, put the lot into the food processor, add soy sauce, honey, salt, pepper, and olive oil and then blend. Covered the skinless part of the salmon with the mixture and baked at 375 degs F for 30 mins, then turn on the broiler to brown the outside for another 3 mins or so.

As for the risotto, I had some beer bratwurst leftover from BBQ last night and didn't feel like eating that today. So I chopped up some asparagus and garlic, sauteed the bratwurst, asparagus and garlic with butter before adding some basmati rice and chicken stock. It's my first attempt at making risotto so I'd added too much stock/water and the dish is a little too wet. But I'll remember not to add so much moisture the next time I attempt this dish. :)

Ikea food... YUCK

Didn't quite expect another "YUCK" post so soon... haha... but last week my friend Monica and I went to Ikea to buy racks we needed for our garage sale, and we decided to try the "cafeteria" instead of our regular hotdog and soda routine. Monica had the poached salmon with veggies and I had the Swedish meatballs with potato. The salmon was overdone and the meatballs just yucky. The only yummy thing on our trays was the fruit soda. She had peach while I had pear. I guess I'm reverting back to hotdogs and soda the next time I go back to Ikea.

Hawaii's Macdonald's breakfast

This pic was taken when we were at a Mac drive-thru in Hawaii last year. I thought that it's pretty cool that Mac caters to local tastes and offers Portuguese sausage and rice, SPAM eggs and rice, and the local deluxe breakfast which was a combination of the Portuguese sausage, SPAM, eggs, and rice.

I got a Mcmuffin instead.

Apple pie

That was my first attempt at making an apple pie. Doesn't look too great but tasted ok. Actually, I barely put any sugar in it so it was barely ok to Bob. haha... I liked it more than he did. I don't like those store bought apple pies which are full of sugar anyway.

P.S. I'm allergic to apples so I can't have fresh apples too often. They just irritate my throat and make me cough for hours. Sometimes fresh squeezed apple juice makes my throat hurt. But I love the taste and smell of apples. I even have a "Macintosh Apple" car freshener from Yankee Candles!

Current favorite beverage

I'm like an old lady... I love drinking hot beverages. But recently the weather's starting to warm up a little and I have to look for a cold drink which doesn't have a ton of sugar and calories in every serving. Found this in the local grocery store Safeway, and it's the store's generic brand of flavored carbonated water. Pretty yummy! Best part of it is that there aren't any calories at all! :)

Leftover from Italian restaurant

I seldom eat out at restaurants simply because they are expensive and then there's the tax and mandatory tip. I feel bad when I don't tip too... because those people really don't earn very much per hour. But when I have friends in town, I like going out for nice dinners with them and eat stuff that Bob doesn't usually eat.

This little hole-in-the-wall seafood/italian place is simply called "By-th'-bucket". People used to drop by and pick up seafood (namely, clams) by the bucket on their way home from work. It gradually turned into a restaurant, though you can still purchase fresh seafood from their display.

Pictured is the tiger prawn and ravioli. It's one of my fave dishes there. It has sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tiger prawns, and huge cheese raviolis. Like every other food place here, the portions are pretty substantial and more than enough for a second (or third) meal

Best place for wonton noodles

Even though it's name is "Wonton House", wontons aren't the only thing on it's menu. There is a wide variety of Hongkong cuisine and this includes claypot rice, porridge, all kinds of roast meat, several different types of fried rice and noodles (wet and dry). I always get the dry noodles. It doesn't have the ketchup-y sauce that most wonton noodles have in Singapore, and the noodles are done just right, with a light "Q" texture when you bite into them. YUM!

They are very generous with the portions. We'll usually have enough for dinner and leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day (that's about 4 servings for what you pay for 2 people!)

Best Buffalo Wings EVAH!

It took me a while to develop a taste for buffalo wings. It's just fried chicken wings doused in a tabasco based hot sauce. I never liked tabasco much before I came to California, but now I can't eat breakfast at Denny's without it. It's spicy and rather sour. Probably cos of the huge amount of vinegar in it.

Anyway, our fave place to get buffalo wings has got to be University Chicken. This place used to be called "Cluck-U Chicken" but has since changed it's name (maybe new owners?). University Chicken can be found within blocks of most (you guessed it) Universities. Beer guzzling, junk food popping students are the crowd.

You get to choose how hot you want your wings to be. Even though I'm a Singaporean who grew up in a family who has fresh cut chili-padi at the dining table every meal, I could never eat food that's too spicy. I usually order the "traditional" level of hotness.

YUCK!

I was craving for something sweet and saw this in an Asian grocery store. I thought that it sounded pretty good but oh man... it's horrible. I'm gonna make my own almond jelly next time.

Beef Rendang

One of Bob's favorite dishes... He's a total "meatarian", having grown up on a diet of burgers, pizzas and fried chicken. Since the Atkins diet is such an advocate of more protein less carbohydrates, I guess as long as I keep his carb intake low, he should be ok.

Brownies or cupcakes?

My brownies in the oven. I decided to use a cupcake pan so that it's easier to serve... yes, my oven door is dirty...


Browines done! Bob can't wait to get his hands on them but I'm making him wait till they've cooled down.

Bob loves chocolate... ganache, truffles, milkshakes, cupcakes, brownies, etc. Surprisingly, I'm not much of a chocolate fan. Sure, I'll nibble a bit of dark chocolate every now and then, but I can live without it. When I bake cupcakes or brownies, it's usually for his sake. He loves both... what's YOUR preferance?

Thanks to Chris, now I'm craving for Alaskan King Crab...

My darling Chris left me a message on her blog, telling me that upon seeing the pic of Alaskan King Crab legs on my blog (an old post from last year), her bf now wants to visit. Well COME ON AND VISIT!!! I can never finish a crab leg anyway. :)

Clams clams clams...

I love shellfish... it's probably not the healthiest since they supposed to contain high cholesterol and there is a history of high cholesterol in my family. But I absolutely cannot resist clams. Linguine with clams, clam chowder, steamed clams... *drool* My favorite has got to be plain simple steamed clams. Though technically, it's more like boiled clams...

Ingredients:

-Fresh clams (make sure they are alive. If you can't tell, just toss out the unopened ones after you're done cooking. The dead ones usually don't open.)

-White wine or beer

-Garlic

-Parsley

-Salt and pepper to taste