11:30pm dinner for one.

Looks a lot like breakfast.  After sitting in a workshop for 4+ hours, my tummy was really punishing me.  So I made some a scrambled egg (tiniest pat of butter, dash of heavy cream, salt and pepper at the end) along with some leeks and melted gorgonzola on multi-grain bread to appease it.  And two small slices of fancy bologna from The Milk Pail market.

Made that leek tart I've been fantasizing about.

Ever since I read that article in Bon Apetit and learned how to make leek confit (see the Foodie Tuesday post about it), I've been wanting to try the recipe for Belgian leek tart that was featured in the article.  It just sounded like the perfect marriage of so many of my favorite things: buttery pie pastry, eggs, leeks, and cheese.  What's not to like, right?

In case you were wondering, the basic difference, that I can see, between a savory tart and a quiche is the egg-to-cream ratio.  I put a lot of dairy into this... 1/2 c. 2% milk (the recipe called for whole) and 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream.  But the recipe only called for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.  I threw in 2 whole eggs, and if I had to do it again, I would probably throw in more, because I was craving a quiche. 

I decided against making the crust from scratch because a) life is too short, b) I don't have a food processor to cut in the butter, and c) Trader Joe's has these lovely ready-made pie crusts in the freezer section.  So I relied on good ole TJ's.  I think I used too big a pan though, because the crust, while nicely crimped in the first photo (and dutifully pricked all over), did not cling to the edge and shrunk abominably upon baking.  It was ok though, I didn't have a Springform pan anyway, so I was going to go with more like a leek pie or a frittata with crust.  Haha.

I added 1 small zucchini to spice things up a bit and I really like how pretty it turned out!

PS. The recipe called for aged goat cheese but I couldn't find any so I just used regular goat cheese.  Next time I will try something a lot more pungent.

Numma sicky too wit egg!

Nearly every time my brother comes to visit me here in the South Bay, he absolutely must have lunch at Pho Nam, this down-home Vietnamese place in Sunnyvale, housed in what used to be an IHOP building (with the cool sloped ceiling).  While their pho is really solid, better than anything else I've had around these parts (I like to get the eye round steak, brisket and tendons), the dish my brother craves is Number 62, the barbeque chicken over rice with Vietnamese eggroll, topped with an egg over-easy, and broth on the side.  He drizzles Sriracha sauce into that sour-sweet dressing stuff that comes with the rice plate, then dowses the entire dish with both the dressing and the soup and starts shoveling in the food.

I like to take little morsels of chicken with spoonfuls of fluffy rice and maybe a bit of egg, and dip each spoon carefully in the dressing before eating it, then chasing it with broth.  It's a very methodical process.  Either way, it hits the spot on a Sunday afternoon after church!

Went to Tartine for the first time.

Arguably the best bakery in the city of San Francisco .  Jenny and I went a bit overboard.  We had a chocolate croissant each (made with my favorite Valrhona chocolate).  She also had an almond creme croissant, and I had a veggie quiche and puffy gougere with gruyere cheese, cracked black pepper and thyme.  Plus two regular coffees.  Yes, there were leftovers.

Look at that crazy line outside the door!  It took us a good 25 min. to get our orders in.

The fobbiness continues.

Today, after a nice dinner at Alegrias  (Spanish tapas near the Marina), my friend Jenny and I drove across town to the Richmond district.  There we steeped ourselves in super-Asianness at Kowloon Tong Dessert, a Hong Kong-style dessert place.  She had the taro and sago in coconut milk, I had the mung bean soup.  But what I really wanted was either the sesame mochi or the mango-sago-coconut grass jelly thing.  Ah well, next time.

We're staying at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square tonight (on her company).  Money.  Ollllld money.

Hong Kong Bistro

I don't mean to be such a fob lately, but I had to share.  This is quite possibly the most meta experience you can have around these parts.  Asian-ized Western food (the same way Panda Express makes Americanized Chinese food) eaten in California, on a street with a bunch of Asian restaurants.

So great.

We had the curry chicken (and carrots, potatoes and taro) over spaghetti noodles.  Creamy and delicious.  Plus hearty wonton soup (generously plump wontons stuffed with pork and shrimp), gai lan (Chinese broccoli) drizzled in oyster sauce, and some of the best fried chicken wings dusted with spicy salt and smothered in onions.

Paired with Coke (Garry), warm lemon & honey water (Asta) and hot Horlicks (me). I love the metal barrel-shaped mugs they come in, the same ones they use in HK.  

For an authentic Hong Kong diner kind of experience right here in the States, there's nothing like Hong Kong Bistro.  Now that I think of it, I shoudl have devoted a whole Foodie Tuesday post to this.

Noon brunch for two: Reggie'd be proud.

This was my very first time making corned beef hash from semi-scratch.  I'd gotten some leftover corned beef from a while back, cut it up really fine, mixed it with finely diced potato and finely chopped onion.  Trying to make it as similar to the canned stuff as possible, cuz that's what Garry likes =P.  Paired with fried eggs over easy and stir-fried broccoli for good health, plus that Milton's wheat bread.  It was delicious!

10am breakfast for one.

I have so much to do this weekend.  Uck.  Thankfully, it only took 20 min. to make, eat and clean up after this breakfast.  Scrambled egg with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, cracked pepper and red Hawaiian alaea salt over Milton's whole grain bread (5g of fiber per slice!).  Accompanied by slices of organic peach.