Casting Fate to the Wind

I was striking out for lunch yesterday. The first place I wanted to try, no parking, the second place, no service. Finally, got a hit at the third place.

Sign

The Food Company (1020 Keolu Drive,  Kailua, Hawaii). They had an option on the local dishes list, a mix plate of three items.

Mixed Plate

Homemade hamburger steak, breaded mahi mahi, and misoyaki grilled chicken (all the basic food groups, except pork). 🙂 Brown rice and stir-fried veggies to make it a balanced meal. Yum.

Sometimes it’s good to not get your first choice. The surprises can be just as satisfying.

Heading off to the kitchen now.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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An Experiment

I bought a package of cherry tomatoes from the market (it was on sale). I usually don’t buy cherry tomatoes because The Cat wants her tomatoes peeled and peeling cherry tomatoes is too much work. But they were on sale. I also had to use up some basil from our herb pot. I cut the tomatoes in half, did a quick pan-fry, and added the basil after taking the tomatoes off the heat (didn’t want them to turn black).

Cherry Tomatoes

Chopped Basil

I think my knife skills are improving since working in the kitchen. 🙂

Pan-Fried Cherry Tomatoes with Fresh Basil

The taste wasn’t bad, although The Cat thought it was too acidic for her. The skins turned out to be to tough for either of us. Oh well, at least it looked pretty (in my opinion).

Eat well.

The Mouse

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Porchetta-boutit, Doug

Ever since the cousins took me to The Whole Ox (see here), I’ve been obsessing about the Porchetta sandwich. So much so that today, I had to try one (dunno why it’s call Porchetta-boutit Doug, but what’s in a name).

Porchetta Sandwich

Pink, smoky, fatty goodness, with a generous portion of cracklings on top. The socks flew off. I’m addicted.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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A Pleasant Surprise

Last night we had a bit of difficulty finding dinner. First it was Chinese, then it was Japanese. But for various reasons, we couldn’t get a table. By this time, The Cat was meowing, hissing, and almost scratching for food. At the last-minute, I thought of here.

Sign

They’re supposed to have a good steamed pig feet dish, a stewed goat dish, and other delicacies. Unfortunately, we got in a few minutes after  their happy hour to take advantage of reduced prices. Sigh.

By this time, The Cat wanted something hot and soupy to settle her stomach. She ordered handmade noodles with potatoes and clams.

Hand Made Noodles with Potatoes and Clams

The combination sounds weird, but somehow, it works. The hot soup did it’s job.

I ordered the house combination plate.

Combination Plate

Bulgogi, chicken, and kalbi. Everything prepared very well. Both The Cat and The Mouse were happy and satisfied.

The restaurant also had some unusual banchanitems.

Steamed Egg Custard

Hot and Spicy Butterfish

Too many bones for The Mouse, The Cat didn’t mind.

I have to go back later for the steamed pig feet. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Scenes from the Kitchen

Last night at the kitchen was a little crazy. The regular menu, a special tasting menu for a small private party, and a “take-out” order for a yacht party. Whew! Tried to not get in the way as best I could. Helped to refill their mise en place items as needed and tried to anticipate their needs.

To add more to Chef’s plate, he wanted to meet with The Cat on something regarding his new place. Although Chef will send out small dishes for her, sometimes there’s not enough vegetables and she doesn’t want to order anything, even though Chef asks if she wants anything. Anticipating this, I bought several bunches of turnip greens (one of her favorite), and cleaned and cut them up at home. The plan was to ask one of the chefs to prepare it. As the night progressed, the chefs were understandably occupied. they didn’t even have time to prepare something for the staff. The hot line chefs ended up making extra pasta and risottofor their orders and leaving the extra in the pan for the staff to eat (which we happily did). 🙂

Risotto

Tonight, it was grape tomatoes, spinach, speck, and corn. BTW, that’s a picture of the order for customers. A picture of the pan is not that pretty. Heh heh.

During a lull in the storm, I went off to the corner of the kitchen and did a quick sauté of the turnip greens.

Sautéed Turnip Greens

Butter, turnip greens, salt. That’s it. Made enough for The Cat and staff to munch on (some of the female staff are more herbivore while most of the male staff are omnivores with a leaning toward carnivores). 🙂 At least one of the male staff never tried turnip greens before, he liked it. Not gourmet cooking by no means, just using some of the techniques learned in the kitchen. The Cat was happy. Not sure what Chef thought (I’m afraid to ask).

Chef sent out a tasting plate of poached Weke with julienne of cucumber, vine-ripened tomatoes infused with olive oil and basil.

Poached Weke

This is not how the plate went out. The Cat sent a little back to the kitchen for me to taste. The fish was perfectly cooked and the tomatoes had not hint of acid at all, almost tasted like berries. Chef also sent to The Cat tidbit plates of pan-fried scallops and foie gras of duck with lentils. The Cat scarfed  that plate. No tasting for The Mouse. Sigh.

One last picture for this post. Chef’s pots and pans.

Pots and Pans

He brought them over from Europe at several hundred dollars each. Some, I have difficulty lifting, much less maneuvering on the stove. His wife sometime jokes that he loves his pots and pans more than her. Life of a chef (and a chef’s wife). 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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