Nick's pate choux

About a month and a half ago Nick bought Michael Ruhlman's newest book Ratio. It's all about how a lot of things in cooking are ratios, and if you change one of the parts (fat could be butter or oil or lard) or the ratio itself, it would make something different. Of course, the first thing to come to mind is baking.

Nick's first foray into the book was to make shortbread cookies, which were deliciously sandy and buttery. Afterward he decided his next project would be the pate choux dough. Apparently, the dough can be made into many things including, but not limited to, cream puffs and gnocchi. I had no idea that gnocchi could be made without potatoes.



First, he made cream puffs. I loved how they looked on the silicone mat. I had some from the first batch with pistachio ice cream from Maple View Farms. They were great. The next day, Nick decided to make his own pastry cream, so I had some of the next batch with that. Also delicious. Pastry cream on the left, ice cream on the right.



Lastly, he turned out some new pate choux dough with parmesan cheese. The next day, he squeezed out little tubes of dough and cut them into boiling water. After they cooked, he sauteed them with butter, mushrooms, farmer's market spinach, and cream. It was a rich dish, and it might have been a good idea to serve it with greens and vinaigrette to cut the richness. Instead, we ate the gnocchi with bacon. Still good, right?

City Beverage

This past weekend, while our respective fiancees were up in DC wreaking bachelor party havoc (and getting wicked paintball bruises), Emily and I had dinner at City Beverage down on 54. Online is has a reputation of being a neighborhood spot, though a bit overpriced and the service a bit slow. Nevertheless, we were lured by the promise of patio dining.

When we got there, the wait for patio seating was about an hour so we opted to sit inside. The interior is an eclectic mix that might be described as "modern tiki bar." To start, we got the homemade potato chips that came with the optional $1 blue cheese dip. We didn't request the sauce but were charged for it...I guess you have to specifically request not to have the sauce.

I ended up ordering the seared tuna tacos. The three tacos came overflowing with lettuce greens, red onions, guacomole, and a spicy, creamy sauce. The salad greens were an interesting touch, but the flavor on a whole was very satisfying.



Emily ordered the veggie burger, which instead of having two buns with a garbanzo bean patty in the middle, turned out to be two garbanzo bean patty "buns" with sprouts, red onion, avocado, and a creamy sauce in the middle. She ate it with a knife and fork and enjoyed it.



We had great conversation while waiting an inordinate amount of time for our check to come and be discharged. I think I prefer the Federal for the food, service, and cost, but City Beverage wasn't a bad experience. I might come back.

Durham's food trucks

The mobile food scene in Durham and I are friends. Nick and I have already been patrons of the city's taco trucks late at night. They are delicious and totally hit the spot after a trip to the bars with friends. We have also gotten burgers and delicious fries from Only Burger. However, Durham has recently become home to an Indian food truck and a Korean-fusion taco truck, Bulkogi. I think this is a clever riff on the original Korean fusion taco truck, Kogi, in my hometown of LA.

Last week, Nick and I stopped by Sam's Quik Stop to get some food from the Indian food truck. The menu only has about 5 or 6 items on it ranging in prices from $5 to $7. Nick and I ended up getting three of the items: beef curry, samosa chat, and aloo tikki chat.

While waiting for the food to be ready, I walked to the end of the parking lot and spotted Bulkogi in the Wachovia parking lot. We decided since we were already there, we'd sample some tacos ($2). Bulkogi has three kinds: BBQ chicken, spicy pork, and BBQ beef. Other items on the menu included tortas, burritos, and quesadillas.



The tacos were good, but not spicy. We didn't add any of the spicy sauce because I wanted to try them as is the first time. At $2 they are the same price as traditional tacos and over just as quickly. I would stop by for a few tacos as a snack in the future.

When we got home, the smell from the Indian food was teasingly delicious. We opened the containers to massive amounts of food. The aloo tikki and the samosa chat each came with some channa masala. It was so good and spicy. Nick even got his "hot" so he was soon reaching for the milk.



I have a feeling we'll be back to satisfy our Indian food cravings now that Green Leaf has closed. The Indian food truck actually rents the Taqueria Rubio bus so look for the bright red bus. They don't have a twitter so I'll just be counting on them to be at Sam's Quik Stop from now on.

Counter Culture Coffee Cupping

Hey everyone, I'm back from a blogging hiatus. The final semester of school has been very busy, with a trip to Singapore, the second year retreat, and significant life decisions. The event that brought me back to blogging is the weekly coffee cupping at Counter Culture Coffee's Durham headquarters.



I've seen Counter Culture blends at various restaurants around Durham and heard about their weekly Friday morning coffee cuppings. At 10am every Friday, they invite everyone to come to their headquarters and learn about the process of tasting coffee. Afterward there is a roastery tour. I've been wanting to go since I moved here, especially since it sounded like wine tasting but I wouldn't get sick afterward.

I asked Hannah to accompany me and we drove 15 minutes to the little brick building on Alston. When we got there, everyone was holding little clipboards with pieces of paper. I picked one up and it had several columns: coffee varietal, fragrance, aroma, break, acidity, taste, mouthfeel, and flavor. Needless to say I was overwhelmed by the terms. Lem, the customer rep, explained the process to us.

Today we tried three coffee varietals, all from different places. I forget where the first one was from, but the second was from Ipanema, Brazil, and the third was from Aceh, Sumatra. First we sniffed the dry grounds (fragrance), then after hot water was poured, we sniffed the wet grounds (aroma). After steeping we broke the "crust" of grounds at the top and inhaled the release of CO2 (break). The grounds were then taken out and we slurped each coffee to determine the last four categories.

At each step, Lem asked us for our thoughts and input on each coffee. He emphasized trying the coffees in order and encouraged reevaluation at each step. At the end of the process he revealed that the three coffees we tried are part of their Espresso Toscana blend and the reasoning behind each coffee's inclusion in the blend. He then made espresso shots for everyone in the room of the Toscana so we could taste the final product. I found out I'm not an espresso drinker. It was bitter and sour to me.



Afterward he took us all on the tour of the roastery and we got to see the small scale of their production here in Durham. They have six other regional centers, but Durham is their world headquarters. It smelled amazing next to the roasters.



I'm actually going to the Science of Coffee event on Sunday at the Museum of Life and Science so I guess I'll get my month's worth of coffee over these two days.

Welcome back.

Winter Break

Sorry for the break in posting. Will relaxing in 75 degree weather in southern California count as an excuse? I had a great time at home, eating almost every kind of Asian food I could get my hands on. I think the only one I missed on my list was Malaysian food.

I also saw friends, looked at wedding dresses, and adored my nieces. It was jam-packed!

I wanted to spotlight this Vietnamese dish my mom made for me on Christmas day. It's banh beo, which are little disks of rice flour noodle that have been steamed and topped with various delicious things. I prefer the "wet" version, which is bigger than the "dry" and has a topping made with pork, shrimp, shrimp head, fish sauce, and corn starch, accompanied by scallion oil, deep fried shallots, and nuoc cham. Hope you enjoy the following photos as much as I enjoyed eating the banh beo!

First, the meat filling, in all its raw glory. The shrimp heads lend flavor and color.



Deep frying the shallots.



Steaming the rice flour mixture.



The assembled product. YUM!

Breathtaking dance

I just watched this routine from So you think you can dance. It's beautiful, amazing stuff.

Thanksgiving break

Nick and I spent a nice Thanksgiving with our friend Carmen. We made lots of food, watched concerts on TV (yeah Michael Jackson!) and played some wii. After she left Friday morning Nick and I relaxed together for the next three days. It was wonderful.

On Friday we watched Ratatouille, played Lego Star Wars on the wii, and did some Black Friday shopping at Target and Ross. Nick got the Flight of the Conchords 2nd season dvd for only $8.99! The we ate leftovers and made turkey pot pie.

On Saturday we had tacos, pozole, a torta, and a pineapple Jarritos at Los Comales. More relaxing. More leftovers.

On Sunday we woke up late and had leftovers. Then we went hiking at William B. Umstead State Park, which was amazing. It was so peaceful. Afterward we stopped at Crabtree Valley mall on our way to The Pit in Raleigh. We had some great food (brisket and pulled pork for Nick, baby back ribs for me) courtesy of Emily and Steve who gave us a gift card months ago. Thanks, guys!

Sunday night we made apricot and strawberry rugelach. They are delicious!
...
On a sad note, though, our hamster Penelope passed away suddenly on Tuesday. It tinged our holiday and I can't quite believe she won't be running around our office anymore. I hope she had a good life with us, even if it was only for three and a half months.

Thankful

I've been reading a bunch of "I'm thankful for..." posts today so I thought I'd write my own.

I'm thankful for:

1. My family. They all happen to be in CA right now and my mom's side is all together this Thanksgiving except for me. Tear. They give so much support it's crazy. And they're crazy loud when they get together. I'm going to miss it.

2. Nick. He is just awesome. I am so glad we made the journey out east together. Not only is he the nicest person ever, he's also a great baker. He solves many problems with his rice krispy treats, zucchini bread, and chocolate cookies. Can you believe it will be 7 years in January?

3. Annika and Cassidy. They deserve their own mention because they are too cute to be lumped in with everyone else. These pint-sized bundles of joy/stress/love have so many moments of adorableness that when I'm down, I just look at their pictures and feel better.

4. Friends. Friends from all aspects of life that we seem to collect along the way. From the SGV, Davis, and Durham...hopefully many more to come.

5. A roof over my head. I'm so fortunate to be able to afford a place to live. I take this for granted but for so many people this isn't the case.

6. Food. Sometimes I also take food for granted. I'm lucky to be able to eat locally and out whenever I want. I think life would be so boring without the total enjoyment of food.

7. The internet. Yes, this is sort of a silly choice but it does help me communicate with the world, procrastinate, and find really good recipes really easily.

8. The number 8. It's my favorite number in the whole world. This is also sort of silly. However, I desperately wanted to have 8 things on my list. Because, you know, it's my favorite number.

Happy Thanksgiving! Nick and I are going to make a turkey and lots of other food. Will update with pics when we get them.

Piedmont Restaurant

We're coming into the last stretch for this semester. I'll be glad when December 10th comes around! I can't believe we only have one semester left, too.

I'd like to talk about one of our favorite places. Piedmont is located near the farmer's market so more often than not we eat there for Saturday brunch after getting our produce. Since we generally go after the farmer's market we almost always get the same table. I've taken to calling it "our table."

It's a contemporary space with a loft-like feel. Brunch is simple but sophisticated. I hope to do a brunch post sometime in the future. This post is about a dinner we had back in September that was quite memorable. We don't often do dinner there but I think we were on our way to the theater that night and decided to make a date out of it.



We shared a gnocchi course that was simply amazing. The gnocchi had been seared in butter and had the most delicate flavor, enhanced by the poached egg on top. I love gnocchi but always regret ordering it because the portion sizes are too big for such a rich dish. Here, sharing made for the best enjoyment.

I had a housemade Italian sausage and polenta dish in a tomato broth with broccoli rabe. While this dish hasn't been my favorite out of what I've had there, the execution was solid and the polenta was creamy.



Nick had a fish dish. In fact, I can't remember anything about what was in it except that he really, really liked it. The fish was cooked really well. Oh, I just remembered Piedmont's website has menu archives. Nick's dish was seared NC wahoo with sambuca braised fennel and puttanesca sauce.



We shared a walnut cake with housemade vanilla bean ice cream that was so, so good. I cannot tell you how much I still think about this cake today and wish I had another slice. I was a good friend that night, however, and got a slice to go for a friend that had just taken her first organic chemistry test.



Piedmont is a great place for upscale food in a contemporary setting without the upscale atmosphere. They're laid back because they know their food is great. And that's how I like it.

Tacorriendo Las Delicias

I have a confession to make. Nick and I have not eaten at a midnight taco truck in months. MONTHS. So tonight, after the Duke basketball game we stopped by Tacorriendo Las Delicias on Hillsborough to reunite with our faithful midnight (although it was only 10:30pm) food haunt.

Four tacos: two al pastor, one lengua, and one barbacoa. Not pictured: arroz con leche.



It was as delicious as we remembered. Must come back more often...

Lyndsay, I saw a van at the other end of the parking log advertising tacos de birria y consome. Maybe reason #2478 you should visit Durham??

Halloween

So Halloween was more than a week ago...oops. I've been pretty busy with school, if that's any excuse. I was Little Red Riding Hood. Friends pictured: Carmen as a gnome, me, Emily as Medusa, and Katy as Smurfette.



Here are Steve and Nick's matching costumes:



They're the red and blue tanks from the Wii Play game. Steve also made his blue tank an Obama tank with campaign stickers. Too bad we didn't have any McCain stickers! (I don't know anybody that does, here) That would have been funny, right? They were throwing ping pong balls at each other all night. =)

The costumes were mainly recycled materials. They got a christmas tree box from target for free, where they bought the red and blue wrapping paper. the cardboard tubes, ping pon balls, plastic cannon ends, and cds were from the Scrap Exchange, a creative reuse center that gets stuff from industry that would otherwise go to the dump. Go Steve and Nick and beign environmentally friendly!

Twisted Noodle

I can't believe I haven't posted on Twisted Noodle yet. This Thai restaurant is one of our go-tos whenever we don't feel like cooking, or when we feel like having noodles. Sure, it's more expensive than what we would find in CA, but you can't be upset about it when you live in North Carolina.

I have been recovering from a bout of the stomach flu these past few days, and for my first full meal I decided I wanted to eat some favorites at Twisted Noodle. I generally rotate between two things: sauteed glass noodles and teo chew noodles (with soup or "summer style"). I didn't bring a camera yesterday so these photos are from a previous visit.


Nick usually varies his choice. Sometimes he gets drunken twisted noodles, yesterday he got roast duck noodles, and still other times he gets the sauteed cashew stir fry. It's good to note that the roast duck noodles are much better "summer style" than with the soup.


Although we usually get dessert, we didn't last night because I didn't think my stomach would appreciate dairy. We love the rotee with the flaky layers and sweet condensed milk.

Fall Break

Currently in LA.

Watching lots of tv in HD.

Met up with the Gastronomer and the Astronomer at Blue Cherry. May have found fro-yo that I like! (not too tart) Got to introduce them to my favorite guy. =)

Banh xeo for breakfast. JTYH knife-cut noodles (pan fried and in beef noodle soup) for lunch. Roast duck during dinner. Fosselman's for dessert.

Tomorrow dim sum with Nick's siblings. Pho ga with family for moon festival. Seeing the girls and Connie's new house.

Monday banh cuon or In N Out (or both?). Huntington Chinese garden. Chiu chow garlic crab for dinner.

What a fabulous three day weekend...

Vivace

This post is not to say to the world how charitable, how caring, or how philanthropic Nick and I are, but to let you know sometimes there are other reasons why we dine at the places we do. I forgot to take the camera, so no pictures this time.

Today we had lunch at Vivace, in North Raleigh. It was about a 40 minute drive, not close by any means, but we had errands to run on our way back so it wasn't too bad. We decided to eat there because the staff was donating 100% of their tips to a very good, but sad cause.

Last Wednesday six-year old Ashley Ramos-Hernandez was hit by a car as she got off the school bus near her house. The 83-year old driver did not see her. Ashley didn't make it.

I'm pretty sure it's against the law to pass a stopped school bus in any direction and it makes me angry that such carelessness caused such a tragedy.

Her parents both work for Urban Food Group which owns Vivace, Coquette Brasserie (whose staff is also donating their tips), and two other restaurants. They decided to do this to help Ashley's parents with the funeral costs and other expenses. More details are found here, on the VarmintBites blog.

So Nick and I found ourselves at Vivace at noon today. The inside is cool and modern, with long banquettes and large cube lanterns overhead. We perused the menu while eating sesame semolina bread with a roasted garlic-white bean spread.

I started with a classic caesar salad and Nick opted for a large bowl of mussels steamed with garlic, butter, and tomatoes. My salad was pretty solid, with fresh romaine and lots of shaved parmesan. Grilled bread accompanied his bowl and I got to soak a piece in the delicious broth. Nick really enjoyed the mussels and the tomatoes.

I chose a scallop risotto with fava beans and corn for my entree and Nick got braised shortribs with mushrooms and polenta. We both thought everything was good, but I was so full after barely eating a quarter of my dish. I think I would have enjoyed it more if we didn't eat so much bread and appetizer. We'll just get to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

When our bill came, there was a slip of paper explaining that the service staff was donating their tips to the Ramos-Hernandez family. I hope it persuaded every patron to tip a little bit more than they normally would have for this family.

We ended up having a delicious lunch at a place I had not heard of before, along with being able to help a family in the aftermath of such tragedy. I look forward to dining at Vivace again in the future.

Penelope

This past Friday I fulfilled one of the wishes that I had when I first moved to Durham. I wanted my very own hamster, and I finally took the plunge. She is a cute, gray teddy bear hamster. I'm still getting used to her and I hope eventually she'll get used to me.


I decided to name her Penelope, after the first name I came up with didn't quite fit. I think I'll call her Penny for short. =) She likes to climb the walls of her cage and eat blueberry yogurt treats. Last night she got carrots, celery, and squash for dinner. What a treat!

Elmo's

The Sunday after Nick's siblings left we decided to have some brunch. Usually I choose a brunch place like Rue Cler or Watts Grocery, but that day Nick decided he wanted to eat at Elmo's. Elmo's is a very popular diner on Ninth Street. It is usually insufferably crowded and the wait on weekend mornings is way too long.

This is when small numbers work to your advantage. The last three times Nick and I ate there, we squeezed into spaces at the counter instead of having to wait 30 minutes for a table. Once, when I ate there alone in November, the guy working told me I was the luckiest person in the place because I got the last open seat at the counter.

I like sitting at the counter and watching the friendly waitstaff go through their frenetic motions as they serve food and dispense beverages for the filled dining room. What can I say? People watching is a sport.

Usually I go for breakfast items but that day I saw a shrimp burger special listed on the board as I walked in, and decided to go for it. A shrimp patty on a kaiser roll with onion and tomato, with coleslaw, remoulade sauce, and fries on the side for $7.50. The patty was pretty greasy, but hit the spot when covered with coleslaw. I decided I prefer thin, crispy fries instead of the thick crinkle-cut fries on the plate.


Nick ended up getting corned beef hash with eggs and toast. He loved it. I had a couple of bites and it was pretty much as I expected: cheesy, salty, and oily. I mean, sometimes you just have to accept diner food as it is.


And that's what they serve at Elmo's: honest, greasy, delicious diner food that sets you up for an afternoon of napping.

Which is precisely what we did.

Nick's siblings visit

About three weeks ago we welcomed Nick's siblings Peter, Philip, and Yvonne to Durham. They had just been in DC for the weekend and took the train down to visit us. I was really excited because I hadn't seen them for over a year. They arrived on a Tuesday and left on Saturday so we tried to pack as many sights as possible in the short time frame.


Tuesday night we went out for dinner at Sushi Love so they could experience this ubiquitous "buy one get one free" deal that exists at almost every Durham sushi restaurant. Since Emily and Carmen joined us, our sushi selection came on a sushi boat and an extra plate! Afterward we hopped over to get pops at Locopops because that is almost a Durham institution now. Unfortunately, I think the cream in my white chocolate icebox pie pop had gone bad because it was overwhelmingly sour.

On Wednesday Nick and I went to work while they hung around the house. They ate fried rice for lunch that I cooked up the night before. For dinner we had La Vaquita and then headed to Nick's softball game and cheered him on.

On Thursday we headed east to Wilmington to spend the day at Wrightsville Beach. They all got to touch the Atlantic for the first time, which was very exciting. We packed a picnic of sandwiches, mango, cucumber and carrots, tzatziki and pita chips, and coconut pecan cookies. I also brought along some cheerwine (soda of the south!) and water.

After 4.5 glorious hours lounging on the beach, accompanied by the wind sandblasting us, we went to downtown Wilmington to have dinner. We chose a small French bistro and had great food.

Friday was the day for them to take in more of Durham and Duke. We had lunch at Toast where I had the fabulous local egg sandwich again. We then walked around the campus and took pictures at the chapel and introduced them to some of Nick's coworkers. The heat took its toll on us so we relaxed at home instead of heading out to see UNC as originally planned.

For dinner we had to take them to have some southern food so we went to Mama Dips in Chapel Hill. Dinner was deliciously heavy and awesome. And they got our order right this time, too.

We stayed up late that night since it was their last night. I woke up early the next morning to prepare their travel bentos with turkey and cheese sandwiches, PB&J, farmer's market tomatoes, mango, cookies, carrots, and strawberries. We all said goodbye at the airport.

Nick and I were sad, but happy that they came to visit us. There's nothing like seeing family when you are far away.

Pics available on facebook, along with some funny ones where I digitally inserted Nick's oldest brother, Anthony.

Last weekend of summer

Okay, I know it's only the 1st of August. However, the next few weekends before school starts will be packed. This is the last "I can do anything I want" weekend.

We woke up later than usual, but still early considering we didn't go to sleep til after midnight. I stayed up so late because Nick just got Wii Sports Resort and we were doing our best to paddle a canoe, play table tennis, practice archery, and sky dive. It's pretty awesome.

This morning we stopped at the Durham Farmer's Market where someone commented on my "durham: can you dig it?" shirt which was so cool. It's the fourth time that has happened. We got some peppers, corn, sweet sungold tomatoes, french and wax beans, and a melon.

Afterward we stopped by Piedmont to have brunch. Nick got the farmer's market special with eggs, home fries, bacon, and a biscuit (with ketchup and stawberry-fennel preserves) and I got a chicken, corn, and chorizo soup and a salad with avocado, smoked chicken, cheddar, and a shallot vinaigrette.

Now we are off to the Raleigh flea market. I love me some vintage, cheap stuff. Later tonight, Emily and Steve are coming over for games and the Wii. It's going to be great!

Dirty Dancing?

I just saw this video and couldn't stop laughing. Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies ever. This was just brilliant!

Outdoor concert and Sunday brunch potluck

About two weeks ago we went to an outdoor concert in Cary with Steve and Emily to celebrate Steve's 25th birthday and listen to the NC symphony play selections from music composed for video games over the years.

We packed a picnic of KFC chicken, Vietnamese spring rolls and hoisin-peanut sauce, cheese and crackers, veggies and tzatziki, and soda. It was delicious!

The symphony played from video games such as Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, Halo, World of Warcraft, and Legend of Zelda. The screen displayed game play from whatever they were playing at the moment, and also showed members of the orchestra. The conductor would also tell brief histories of each game and who composed the music.

Later on we surprised Steve with a small cake and a gift: a pic of Nick and Steve. And even later on, the sky surprised us with some rain. We waited it out under an awning and ventured close to the stage again when it stopped. Steve used his trusty iphone to ascertain whether or not the rain would stay long.

It was a great evening and not too buggy, either. Happy birthday, Steve!


The next day we went to a Sunday brunch potluck hosted by Joe and Charley. Nick and I made two crab quiches. There were cinnamon rolls, peach pie, two pecan pies, sauteed cauliflower, frittata, fruit, and mimosas and tea. It was great. Afterward they played croquet while I took pictures.

You can check them out on facebook along with more photos from the symphony in the "Summer 2009" album.