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Posted on

4.14.2014 | TI8

Monday I Ate:

Breakfast: Grapenuts with cranberry juice

Lunch:  turkey sandwich

Mid-afternoon snack:  Only just a few M&Ms. And some chocolate Easter eggs.

Dinner: pork tenderloin (adapted from Sarah Foster’s Casual Cooking) with roasted sweet potatoes

Dessert: coffee ice cream with hot fudge

Posted on

4.13.2014 | TI8

Sunday I Ate:

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat and grapefruit juice

Lunch:  sliders at Phil’s Sliders in Berkeley

Mid-afternoon snack:  chocolate chip cookie dough

Dinner:  After eating out for three meals this weekend, I needed salad for dinner — fresh arugula, avocado, carrots, celery, and green onions with apple cider vinaigrette

Posted on

4.12.2014 | TI8

Saturday I Ate:

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat and grapefruit juice

Lunch:  chicken and sausage gumbo at the California Academy of Sciences’ Academy Cafe

Mid-afternoon snack:  lemon-raspberry muffin

Dinner: Oh, my belly is full and happy after eating chips and guacamole & verdes enchiladas at Picante in Berkeley.

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Ramen Noodle Soup

I know what you’re thinking: “You’re actually posting a recipe for ramen?”

Wait!  Don’t stop reading:  this recipe simmers up into something extraordinary.  We’re going to throw that little flavor packet away and give this ramen some serious taste and belly-filling capacity.

Get ready to go ramen gourmet.   You know you wanna.

Print Recipe

Ramen Noodle Soup

Total Time40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 14.5- ounce cans low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup mirin or dry sherry
  • 1 2- inch piece of fresh ginger cut into several pieces and smashed
  • 6 garlic cloves lightly crushed with skins on
  • 2 whole star anise pods
  • 4 dried shiitake mushrooms rinsed
  • 2 carrots peeled and chopped
  • 2 sticks celery chopped
  • 1 8- ounce can sliced water chestnuts strained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup snap peas
  • 12 ounces cooked chicken cut into small cubes
  • 3 3- ounce packages of ramen noodles flavor packets discarded, noodles broken as desired
  • 4 medium scallions sliced thinly
  • toasted sesame oil to taste

Instructions

  • Bring broth, water, soy sauce, mirin (or sherry), ginger, garlic, star anise, and mushrooms to boil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain broth over a large bowl and return the strained broth to the pot. Remove mushrooms from the strainer and slice them thinly and add them back to the broth. Discard remaining solids.
  • Add carrots and bring broth to a simmer over medium high heat. When carrots are nearly tender, add celery, water chestnuts, snap peas, and chicken along with the noodles. Cook, stirring frequently until the noodles soften, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately, drizzling each bowl with sesame oil and garnishing with scallions.

Notes

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated. If desired, prepare the broth ahead of time and store it in an airtight container up to two days.
Posted on

4.10.2014 | TI8

Thursday I Ate:

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat and grapefruit juice

Mid-morning snack:  honey yogurt

Lunch:  the last two sliced of pizza topped with roasted garlic, dried cherries, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola cheese

Mid-afternoon snack:  lemon-raspberry muffin, carrot sticks, pecans

Dinner:  ramen noodle soup

Posted on

4.9.2014 | TI8

Wednesday I Ate:

Breakfast: Grapenuts with cranberry juice

Lunch:  BBQ-bacon-cheeseburger from Digger’s Diner. I had to be in the neighborhood anyway. The BBQ sauce was good. The service was friendly. What’s not to like? Anyone looking to open a restaurant should seriously consider setting up shop around the Hayward public center… there have to be thousands of people working here with only about 2 restaurants they can walk to.

Mid-afternoon snack: Mocha Frappe from Tay Tah Caffe (needed somewhere with Wifi to work) on Solano Avenue in Albany.

Dinner: Rice & beans. Plus some ice cream for dessert.

 

Posted on

4.8.2014 | TI8

Tuesday I Ate:

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat and grapefruit juice

Mid-morning snack:  a handful of dried apricots

Lunch:  leftover mac-and-cheese (from The Joy of Cooking)

Mid-afternoon snack:  lemon-raspberry muffins, carrots

Dinner:  green salad and pizza topped with roasted garlic, dried cherries, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola cheese

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Pan-Fried Abalone

Abalone is one of those ridiculously simple things to cook:  bread it, fry it, eat it.  But it seemed worthwhile  to write a recipe down.  After all, I haven’t cooked it in 15 years, so my skills can get rusty.

Print Recipe

Pan fried abalone

Ingredients

  • Abalone
  • Milk
  • Flour
  • Egg
  • Panko Breadcrumbs
  • Olive oil

Instructions

  • Slice the abalone into steaks approximately 1/4" thick. Soak slices in milk while you wait.
  • Beat the snot out of the abalone. I like to use the flat of the abalone iron so it gives a nice smacking sound. Eventually the meat relaxes. If you beat it more, it will fall apart.
  • Pat the slices dry, dust with flour, dredge with egg, and pat with breadcrumbs.
  • Fry in olive oil briefly. Don't overcook.