Epic Eats

An epic eats chef’s choice from Chef H:

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Poke with Caviar, Shiso Leaves, Pesto, and Crispies

One of the best non-traditional poke The Mouse has tasted. Mmm.

Foie Gras, Salad, Raisin Toast Point

Another mmm moment. The Mouse took some of the foie gras home to savor later, The Cat scarfed hers. Hee hee.

John Dory, Steamed Rice, Almonds, Greens, Tomato Coulis

Fish was very moist and tender. Another mmm. 🙂

Lemon Sorbet

Palate refresher. 🙂

Lamb Chops

Usually, The Cat kinda avoids lamb because of the smell but she didn’t mind Chef’s dish. Hardly any lamb smell.

Peach Melba with Mango Sorbet

Perfect ending to epic meal. Thanks Chef H again!

Stay safe and well.

The Mouse

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Lamb Rib Drama (or is it Trauma?)

Couple of months ago, Chef H, cleaned out the restaurant freezer, kitchen was being renovated. He “gifted” The Mouse and The Cat with a package of lamb ribs. Package sat in our freezer until now.

The Mouse is not familiar with lamb meat so was a little nervous.

Lamb Ribs

Ribs too small to fire up the oven, Ribs too big to fit into the toaster oven.

The Mouse broke the ribs down to three easier to handle sections.

Toaster Ovened

With Kaua‘i sea salt and Togarashi pepper blend.

Poached four ribs for broth and meat for The Cat’s noodle soup.

Lamb Rib Noodle Soup

With cream style corn, chopped spinach, mushrooms (all either canned or frozen), and soba noodles. Slurp.

Finally, pan-fried the odd end tip.

Pan-Fried Lamb Meat

Again, seasoned with Kaua‘i sea salt and Togarashi pepper blend.

Whew!

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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The Mouse’s Meat-Fest

The Cat rushed off to work. The Mouse had to do farmers market solo. A pass on Ruby Tuesday this week.

Picked up take-out from the grocery store instead.

Grilled Beef Short Ribs

And The Mouse couldn’t pass up.

Grilled Lamb

Leftover roll from the freezer (ten minutes in the toaster oven).

Rustic Roll

Just butter. No artisanal fruit preserve nor Vegemite. It was all about the meat. Perfectly cooked. The connective tissue easily separated from the rib bones. Big nom!

The Mouse had to take a nap afterward. Zzz. Hee hee.

Whoever is cooking at the grocery store really know their meats. Their Chinese style roast pork is really good too.

And as a bonus, the prices are super reasonable. 🙂

Happy Mouse.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

 

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As Seen On TV

This post may seem a little discomboobled, bear with me. A couple of stars must have been in alignment last night.

I occasionally watch a program that goes across the country looking for businesses that serve good home-style cooking. One thing that stands out in my mind is the dedication the chefs have in producing the best food they know how. On one segment, the program highlighted Murphy’s Bar and Grill (2 Merchant Street, Honolulu, Hawaii), an Irish style pub. One dish piqued my curiosity, shepherd’s pie.

A  late night for The Cat. She asks where to eat. Made a couple of suggestions including Murphy’s. Surprisingly, she agreed to Murphy’s. Okay. 🙂

Sign

We get in and she is impressed with the ambiance. Kind of vintage, homey, warm. It was a toss-up between a daily special of liver, onions, and bacon with Marsala sauce or shepherd’s pie. The server suggests the shepherd’s pie. Shepherd’s pie it is.

Shepherd’s Pie

Traditional pie with lamb and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes, served with a house salad. Fresh carrots, parsnips (first time trying it for me), celery, and onions.

The Cat went with blackened salmon, medium rare.

Blackened Salmon,Rice, Mixed Vegetables

She thought it was just okay. She wasn’t used to the blackened seasoning. If she orders it again, she would have it prepared broiled.

I liked my shepherd’s pie, I had to ask for a spoon to get all the gravy.

Shepherd’s Pie, Inside

Yum. Socks off.

We shared a Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey sauce and whipped cream. Except we asked to substitute the whipped cream for a scoop of Kona coffee gelato.

Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce and Kona Coffee Gelato

The Cat’s favorite of the night.

At the end, she wants to come back. She was impressed with the whole package, not so much on her dinner, but the atmosphere, dessert, price, and yes, food (overall). The Mouse was very happily surprised.

Part of the Atmosphere

The burgers are next on my agenda. Hee hee!

There is another picture I took of the “atmosphere”. I was debating whether to post it or not. What the heck.

Mens Bathroom, Interior

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. The pipes even rattled a bit when flushed (sorry again TMI), talk about vintage. Heh heh.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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The Cat + Lamb = Go Figure

As promised, info from the  birthday party (not ours) last night. It was held on the outside patio of the Mariposa restaurant in the Neiman Marcus department store (1450 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii). Menu was preset, no choice. This was a good thing for The Cat, forced her to try something she normally would not have. Read below.

Dinner started with an amuse bouche (sorry, no picture, no idea what it was), miniature puff pastry shells were involved.

First course:

Barbecued Tiger Prawns

Grilled avocado, shaved Maui onions, citrus-beet gazpacho, and ricotta salata. Pretty good. Loved the grilled shrimp, although I think the prawns served at the restaurant is sweeter (just my totally biased opinion), plus Chef cooks ’em with the heads on.

The second course was Mozzarella and shaved Waialua asparagus, roasted tomato, white anchovy, and yellow pepper puree. I thought I took a picture, but when I downloaded the pictures from my camera, no picture. My bad. What kind of surprised me was the shaved asparagus. I was expecting shaved asparagus (something I learned in Chef’s kitchen), turns out, we got served asparagus shavings (no asparagus, just the shavings). Hmmm.

Third course:

Braised Duck Ravioli

Brie fondue and Kula strawberry caponata. There must be a trend to use won ton skins as ravioli wrappers. I guess that’s part of the “fusion” experience.

Fourth course:

Spiced Rack of Lamb

Goat cheese potatoes, eggplant fries (read eggplant tempura), and pomegranate-port wine reduction. Up to now, The Cat didn’t like lamb. I think the smell has something to do with her dislike. Since she didn’t want to make a fuss, she took a bite (Chinese don’t like to insult the host by refusing to eat). Turns out, she likes lamb, in small portions. The Cat was missing out all these years (go figure). 🙂

Fifth course (dessert):

Crispy Malted Milk Chocolate Bars

Caramel feuilletine crust, malted milk chocolate pate, and dark chocolate pearls. Think extra sweet fancified Twix bars. Not bad.

To cap it off, we got a view of the free fireworks show from the patio during dinner.

Happy B-day T!

Birthday boy said the show was for him, even though one of the hotels does this most Friday nights. Okay T, whatever you say, it’s your birthday. 🙂

Thanks for the invite R. It was a blast (both figuratively and literally). Heh heh.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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