Smartpower Duet...not a good Idea!

Since I am just like many of you and feel the tight crunch of getting the most out of every penny I went to Costco to get some items for the kitchen.  While I was there I found this combi blender mini-processor unit by Cuisinart and I thought, "I'll buy this to get by for a while plus it makes sense since I have such a small kitchen right now...".

Nope, never got around to trying out the mini processor because I could never get the blender to even make a frozen coffee drink.  The glass pitcher is too wide with little to NO taper, and once it does QUICKLY narrow into a smaller bowl the blades seem to sit halfway in this small 'bowl' area that the oversize plastic piece screws on to the bottom.  The blades just kicked the ice around like it was a never-ending game of dice.  If you ask me, terrible design.

Do you have one of these, does it work well for you?  It seemed like a good idea and price at the time...I took it back and just used the money to buy my favorite blender, the food processor will have to wait!  (I gave away everything I had in 2007-again!- before I went back to West Africa to work in 2008)

Restocking the 'choice' appliances has not been cheap.  But I expected as much and have the patience to wait for a 'sale' or two.

Free yourself, cook with confidence.

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking: Michael Ruhlman

I am currently reading this book.  I have read all the other books (that are NOT cookbooks) about Chefs that he has written about...that is a recommendation.

For me, it's a reminder of how I started cooking long ago and trying to train myself to be independent of recipes.  It is important to have consistency - so I still develop recipes for personal, commercial, and business use.

If you have any talent for cooking this book can help free you to move beyond the cookbook and experiment.  It can free you to be spontaneous in the kitchen, on the grill, or in any cooking experience that might bog you down looking for a recipe.

If you don't, won't, or can't read thru the big books of Larousse Gastronomique and/or The Professional Chef buy the Elements of Cooking and Ratios by Michael Ruhlman, this should get you started with a pleasurable education to get you cooking daily like a pro in your own kitchen.

Mondavi wine history is enjoyable.

The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty

Being out here in California on a permanent level I wanted to find a few books that combine the area that I am living in and a 'foodie' aspect that would appeal to me.  I found a non-fiction work called 'The House of Mondavi - The rise and fall of an American wine dynasty'.  A very intriguing story of the Mondavi's start in America which later moved to Napa Valley, the rise of the 'empire', the split, and the success and failures that happened along the way.  Heard of Robert Mondavi Reserve, Opus One, Woodbridge, or Charles Krug wines?  All Mondavi family owned at one time.  I thought it was an excellent read and showed that Robert or the 'family' truly pioneered some of the wine tastings and chef oriented open houses which furthered the progress of the California wine culture that thrives today.

Food on the home front...

While I continue my rigorous hunt for a job it hasn't stopped me from having fun in the kitchen.  Ill give you a few meals (maybe not all in the same post) we have eaten at home lately to maybe give you a few ideas...

Last night my wife and I had a green curry with jasmine rice and pan-seared sole.  A couple of thoughts on that:

• Sole is a great fresh fish fillet, although I only recommend thin filets and pan FRYING or deep FRYING it if you're like me, because if you're like me sole can taste mushy in the mouth.  Without giving it that crisp crunchy texture on the outside its not so palatable to me. (feel free to disagree)


• A lot of time a green curry (with coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, stuff of that nature...) or a massaman style has potatoes in it.  BUT I found some acorn squash.  SO I split and seeded them, and cooked them in the oven for about an hour at 350.  Later after letting them cool, I peeled and cubed them, then sauteed them in a pan(in an attempt to 'seal' them to a form before mushing into nothing).  Then added them to the curry, later it was delicious to eat the curry and rice with the heat steadily building in my mouth only to hit a junk of sweet roasted acorn squash to counter the heat.


• The acorn squash also helped to thicken the sauce as it cooked(because of course some of it did break down into the sauce).  I say the taste was great, DO IT!

I have not had the pleasure of experiencing the 99 Ranch Market or Ranch Market till moving to California.  Love it!  Its about a five-minute walk from where I live and I am one of the only Caucasians I ever see in there...but HECK, that place is loaded with all the stuff I always wish I had to do food right, but couldn't find in a regular grocery store.  Mostly considered Asian products with far-reaching 'hands' into India, West Africa, some Spain, Caribbean...probably a few more cross-culturally crossing over each other!  And the produce, meat, rice, noodles & condiment sections put the other grocers to shame!

The Sole my wife had in Thinkers Village, Liberia (in West Africa) will always be the 'unforgettable' fish dinner to my wife Stephanie who had it on our Anniversary last year (possibly with the many fresh fish and sashimi meals we had in Cancun on honeymoon too!).  Delicious!

The Dish, Zao Noodle Bar, Cooking at home...

That's right, time for me to get back in the swing of blogging what I like most...food and fun times with my wife (no it's not necessarily in that order, calm down Stephanie).

So out here in Cali there is like a gazillion places to walk or hike (or swim,  or bike, or yada yada - you get the picture).  But Tuesday we went to Palo Alto CA where Stanford University really takes up most of the town/city and we went to The Dish, aptly named for several large satellite dishes.  There is a course up there that is about 3.7 miles in a loop with hills and valleys.  If you come park on the Alpine Roadside (Pier Lane) it's an additional 1.3 miles of walking, so you get a full 5-mile walk...which wore us out!  But it was a nice area in the hills with local 'wildlife' like students, cows, and ground squirrels(that was meant to be funny).  And the animals couldn't be bothered by you, so you don't see them moving along when you come by!

Later we went downtown to one of Stephanie's favorite places that I have never been to called Zao Noodle Bar and I loved it!  Great pick Stephanie!

Stephanie had:

KUNG PAO CHICKEN: Crispy chicken breast, red bell pepper, green onions, and peanuts in a sweet-tart kung pao sauce with a spicy kick! Served with jasmine rice.

I had:

THAI GREEN CURRY CHICKEN: Chicken, bamboo shoots, green peas, galanga, kaffir lime leaf, ginger-garlic-lemongrass, and green curry sauce with jasmine rice.

Then we headed on over to Peets Coffee & Tea for a Caramel Freddo (Frappuccino)...yeah baby!

Later that evening I kicked out a little supper.  I had some olive bread (baguette style) - I made out of Italian herbs, marinated green Spanish olives, and black kalamata olives - that I used to make pizza.  Cut the bread in half, flipped it over, used some sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, pepperoni, shallots, garlic...broiled it off in the oven till the mozzarella cheese, cheddar, and jalapeno jack mix were bubbling like hot lava on top.  Stephanie was leaving to meet up with her friends but since I stayed home and was not driving, I had a glass of red wine with mine.  Delicious!

It was a good day, heck it was a wonderful day!  Thanks, Stephanie for coming up with the plans!  (one of the many reasons I love my wife)

Enjoy a few pictures, although I don't have any of the food we had at home...shucks, I will have to start remembering that!