Dinner at home is always fun when you try to be a little fancy.  Frozen shaved foie.  I took the leftover chunk of torchon out of the freezer and tried to slice myself a really thin piece to eat and it came out shaved.  Said F it and shaved some more to serve at dinner.  Happy mistakes.  Kinda like my first child.

Deep fried cheese polenta cake.  Man I really do take shitty pictures.  Oh well.  Its a polenta cake with mushrooms on top and gravy underneath.

squid and beans.  this one was dry and not so tasty.  someone help me make a good squid and beans dish

 the main was a cured and smoked pork tenderloin served with a slice of cranberry jelly ha!  take that thanksgiving.  It came out pretty good.  I was aiming at something ham like in flavor and it was close.  Tenderloin was cured in salt/sugar/pink salt for a few hours and then smoked in the stovetop smoker before being cooked sous vide for 3 hours.  Came out tasty and tender.

We finished with salted caramel ice cream from Bi-Rite.  Shit was way too airy and not dense enough.  As soon as it hit the room temp bowl it melted.  I think they are chincing it at Bi-Rite.  A holes.

got new tires on the motorscooter!  halfway there.

and done!

My moms soy pickles.  They look so gross and phallic in the tub.  Its such a bittersweet thing to eat whats left of her food.  I miss my mom.

and the other night we had uni custard at lot7 restaurant.  It was good so I am posting a pic.  Topped with uni, ikura, some sort of tobiko and some sort of caviar caviar.  Yum-O and out of focus is how I do things on this site!

The best sandwiches near work are from the Rincon market.  No fancy meats or crazy fillings... just a clean sandwich with the essentials.  BIG ASS SANDWICH or small ass hands?  probably both.

 Is Carbonara a suitable breakfast?  Its got eggs and bacon so YES.

 We did weird Japanese night again. 

 Then the next night we got invited to Andrew and Suz's for BBQ dinner.  yum-O

 we brought a variety of these things for dessert.  they were awesome but not $3something each awesome!  Jesus we coulda bought 20 McDoubles for the price of 6 of these badboys.  Thats how I measure value.  Gas is 4 McDoubles a gallon.

 THEN we get invited over for steak dinner at Joes!!!  SuperJoe starting his bbq with a freaking flamethrower.  How manly is that?!?!  Too many for this shitty blog.

 We had smoked steak with a foie topper.

 Amina went nuts and took foie topped steak and topped it with marrow.  Jebus thats decadent. 

Fathers day was fun but definitely tough without Mom around.

We bought 3 lobsters.  They were 5 lbs each!!!

 big ass lobsters!!!

 and we bought 5 dozen oysters.

 the female lobsters had roe inside. Mmmm

 grilled everything up

 boiled one

 Had so many oysters leftover we cooked em the next day.  Oyster overload

 This pizza box is funny

 the chef looks chinese!!

 more oysters at the Japanese restaurant by our house

 where I get the sizzling plate fish dinners which Im hoping are healthy.

 unlike this popcorn salt which is probably so bad for you because it tastes so delicious.  Get some if you love movie theater popcorn.  This and coconut oil is the secret recipe for that exact movie theater flavor.

 Went to the farmers market and got these pan fried dumplings.  The lines were soo long I figured they had to be delish.  NOPE!

 Bought this for Amina.  What is it?

 its an enclosed ecosystem with shrimp and algae.  You dont feed them EVER.  kinda scary if you ask me.

 and more books!!!

 so pretty

 so hungry

And what have we been eating at home?

Had a few friends over for dinner.  Started with some chicken liver on rocket.  forgot to take pics before we dived in. 

some bone marrow.  This is always a hit at home and is so cheap to make.

shrimp and grits

and pork neck with kale and brussel sprouts

Still learning how to cook.  Still having loads of fun.  Still getting fat.  CHOW!!!

Mom was a hoarder.  Kidding.  She just had a lot of shit.  We tried to take what we could use, give away some stuff to her friends, and unfortunately throw out the stuff that was going bad.  Oh mom you crazy lady how much food did you need?!?!  Mom was known as an awesome cook.  Her Kimchee was the best.  When we asked her friends if they would take some stuff they all tried to take everything.  We had to ration it out.  Two fridges full of stuff.  The fridge for non stinky things

 the fridge for stinky things

 kimchees. pickles. banchans!!!

 all the grains and stuff

 her kimchee fridge

 full of ripe ass kimchees

 we split this up 4 ways and finished it within a few days

 she had a pantry full of other things including TONS of this... the crispy hard almost burned rice on the bottom of pots.  Dried out completely. 

 you deep fry

 and POOF!!! puffed rice snacks.  Sprinkle with sugar and give to everyone.  So tasty.  I have enough to make so many batches.  Not sure why mom was saving so much of this stuff.  =/

I will learn to make food as good as Mom.  I will learn to make some of her signature dishes.  I will learn to be more like Mom. 

In loving memory of my Mom

I will miss her every day of my life.

 

click for pictures