Duck Breast “Confit” Dinner with delicious sides….. and hilarious Taylor Swift “music video” dance by Miss Tiffie at the end

Poached Cod with Tomato and Saffron and Cauliflower sidedish

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted recipes or food/restaurant things… or anything really at all.. I’ve been having too fabulous of a time having fun, cooking ALL the time with L<3 and having adventures and traveling.  I’ll try to add some posts of some special eats I’ve made, eaten and done recently…. including Taiwan posts!  I’m back!!!!

Ingredients:
SERVINGS: 2
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 14.5-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
¼ cup dry white wine
1/4 cup rice wine
1 cup boiling water
2 bay leaves
pinch of saffron threads
1 fresh rosemary stick
paprika (to taste)
sea salt and white pepper, freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 5-oz. skinless cod fillets

Over low-medium heat, add the oil, garlic and hot chili flakes and without adding color to the garlic, just cook until it smells absolutely delicious – about 3-5 minutes.

Afterwards, add in the canned whole unpeeled tomatoes, crushing it while you dump them in.  Don’t add the juice, and make sure not to get splashed by the hot oil.. I  have battle scars.  Then, add the wine, bay leaves and cook it to a boil on high and then turn it back down to medium.  Taste taste taste. Salt and Black/White Pepper to taste.

I took my two fillets and dusted each side with Black Pepper, Paprika.   After placing it in the pan, after a few minutes, I flipped them and added whole rosemary and the rice wine into the pan.  This was basically all to taste.  I also added a little more paprika to the sauce.  Cook until the fish it tender but starting to flake.

Side Dish:

Roasted Cauliflower & Baby Carrots.  I just sprinkled it with fig blamasic vinagrette (or a ny flavor you love), EVOO, Salt and Pepper, Orange Zest and chopped Rosemary… oh and some of my homemade Duck Fat, Shallots and a few finely minced garlic!  Just cook on 450 til your liking.

Put the fish in a shallow bowl, and then pour the sauce over the fish.  Garnish with a bit of rosemary for some green.  Pour some of the wine you cooked with (cuz you never cook with wine you won’t drink) and enjoy!

Btw, i swear the Kimchi recipe is currently in thr works. :] Will be up tonight or tomorrow!

July 4th Dinner Cruise with Odyssey

Screw the Hurricane… Odyssey Cruises

Pre-gaming at Copley Square Hotel FER FREEEE… they had beers, and burgers and hot dogs… NOM

Was craving burgers.. so had a cute little slider.. NOM NOM.. usually the hotel has free wine happy hour but since it was July 4th they had specials!

All dressed up and ready to party

Yea I ordered like 3 bottles of wine/champagne… oops

Creamy salty butter… NOM

Cheese tray… prob a little too much

Cuz I also added on an extra shrimp cocktail/ceviche

Watermelon Salad
Arugula, Romaine, Goat Cheese, Watermelon, Sugared Pecans, Balsamic Vinaigrette

Screw Hurricane Arthur… still got my modeling on, on deck

Gorgeous View, even in the stormy weather

Roasted Chicken
Heirloom Potatoes, Thyme Demi-Glace, Fried Leeks

And of course I got the

Odyssey Short Ribs
Fontina Scalloped Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Carrots & Squash, Cabernet Demi-Glace

Desert was some of everything…

Bread Pudding, Chocolate Cake, Berry Galette and Sorbet… with more bubbly

Actually ended up taking short ribs and cheese home.. OK FINE I ordered too much… but it was delicious, fun and amazing. Probably don’t wanna spend that much on a July 4th again tho… hahahha – and we didn’t even get fireworks. BOOOOO…

岩波庭餐廳 Zen Garden Fusion Cuisine

Being in Yilan…. at the spa resort, my uncle reserved a place for us at the Zen Fusion for dinner…. basically we got a set menu and it was DELICIOUS.

We all wore the kimonos that the spa provided…. which was sooooooooo inspiring and free-feeling

Sparkling Sake… oh Uncle, you know me too well

Delicious Scallion Bread…… Yilan is known for their scallions…. so this was amazing

Afterwords when my family went up to the rooms to gossip and talk I stayed at the bar… having whiskey and wine.

Before heading to the hot springs bath in my room to chill out with a bottle of wine.

Life is just so grand.

Vacation on Vaction — Yilan’s Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi Spa

because pictures are worth more than a thousand words

吉凡尼的花園 Le Jardin de Giverny in the 美術館 area

Woke up super hungry…… time for some delicious eats at 吉凡尼的花園 Le Jardin de Giverny – I’ve been here before, years ago and it was pretty bad but they changed owners and have definitely improved 10 fold.

I so hangry

We ordered two add on lunch meal sets and two a la cartes to share.

Delicious Fresh Foccacia Breads

[You can actually buy breads and pastries in the front of the house]

You can also buy different vinegar, oils and balsamics in the front as well… yay for dipping yummy warm bread…

Fresh Veggie/Fruit Juice

My clear vegetable soup… which tasted a bit buttery to me so I wasn’t that into it. The flavors were great though.

And of course for my “drink” that came with my meal I got a nice glass of white wine.

Fresh salad with walnuts and starfruit.

Appetizer: Ratatouille

It was absolutely delicious and one of the few times I’ve ever had it.  I’m so glad I ordered this.. it was between this and escargot.

My aunt’s appetizer: A Crab “Tart” which is so not a tart, but it was good and fresh none-the-less

And for her main dish she got the seafood risotto.  YUM.  I had a bite and you could taste yummy saffron…. reminded me of a paella but creamier…

Mama, of course, got the pan-fried duck breast, but which was cooked really well and just fatty enough. So so tender.

My other aunt got the pan-fried sea bass, which was one of my choices….

But I ended up getting, DUH, the spicy seafood stirfry :]

And then we went straight into dessert….

A mini Creme Brulee… which I gave to my aunt since she rarely gets to eat these things….

But I enjoyed my delicious iced coffee…. MMM froth

地址：台中市五權七街58號 (台中綠園道)
電話：886-4- 2376-9755

I ended up staying for tea time as well but while my aunts chatted I explored the area a bit…..

EVA Hello Kitty from LAX to Taipei!!!!!….

For once I had a plane ride at 6pm instead of 6am….  so off I go…. Boston to LA….

I’m excited for the warmer weather…. so tank top it is

Got a yummy Chicken Marinara with Green Beans over Rice meal… Salad, Roll, Butter, the works… had some nuts too…. MMM, nuts… (I may have already snacked and had a few glasses of free booze at the VIP Airlines Lounge earlier…)

LA!!!!… Beautiful view…

Sat in the VIP lounge and ate tons of food include this self made “Asian Salad” with Champagne….  I took some of the “Asian Salad with Wonton Strips” And added some Teriyaki Chicken to it… why not?!… a lot of the other stuff didn’t look too appealing except for Korean Ramen and Japanese Noodles… all which was consumed (duh)

WAIT “Why is this a Hello Kitty ticket?????”

HOLY CRAP!!! We’re on the EVA HELLO KITTY PLANE!!!!

Life is now… complete!!!!

Scallops

Sea Bass? It was freaking CHILEAN SEA BASS!!!! SOOOOO good… and of course more and more booze…

And los of veg…

Dessert was fruits and a yummy mousse cake, some tea… and more wine :]

Midnight snack while watching FROZEN was a Turkey Sandwich… which, I have to say was greasy and pretty gross….. sorry EVA… I didn’t like it, maybe I would’ve more if there was a Hello Kitty face on it…

Breakfast Time…

Coffee….

Congee…. with 1000 yr egg, fried tofu with fish ball…. shredded dried pork, Fermented Spicy Tofu, pickles… and then some…

And fruits <3

Oh hello…. Taiwan beer… I’m definitely back in Taiwan

WEEEEEEEEE 5am and ready to party

Yes we’re back in Taiwan

Craigie on Main – 8 Course Tasting Menu

The one and only Woo Bear, my favorite NYPD PoPo/Detective/Bodyguard/Bestie came to visit me in Boston and being so busy with work lately we FINALLY got a chance to meet up, rant, chat, laugh and just have a jolly awesome time.  I picked him up from his hotel and even though we got there early they had a table for us already set for us.

Woo Bear & Peep Peep unite!!!!!

AKA

He’s the Gru to my Agnes

I told him we had to go to Craigie on Main.. it’s farm to table and seasonal and just one of my favorite places MUST GO TO EAT AT places in Boston… well it’s in Cambridge but same difference. I adore their open kitchen. And everyone there is SO friendly and awesome. PLUS every time you get the tasting menu you get different and new things it’s NEVER the same.

After careful, not so careful thinking we decided to order the everything 8 course tasting menu.  We started off with a champagne for me and a “manly” scotch drink for him. I think the waitress said it was a scotch rimmed with absinthe?!… I thought it was delicious!!!!

We also ordered a bomb ass bottle of French Burgundy Pinot Noir – mad $$ but soooo worth it

I asked for them to write out the menu for us so I could have it when I went home… obviously so I could blog!!!

And then it began….. as we sipped our yummy drinks, the food started flowing….

Trio of Amuse Bouche

Citrus Cured Striped Bass, Avocado, Red Onion, Pickled Pine Nuts

This was Woo Bear’s favorite… mainly cuz of the avocado he said.  It was good and reminded me of tuna tartare, I think mainly cuz of the color, would’ve never thought it was striped bass – but I guess it was cuz of the citrus cure.  You couldn’t really taste the citrus but it was a good bite.

Razor Clams, Uni Vinaigrette

Texturally wise, this was my favorite of the three. It was obviously clams… and I LOOOOOVE razor clams.. I’ve never had it sliced before and it was amazing.  Need to start taking my razor clams not whole on a shell… hehe…

Smoked Bluefish Rillettes, Hackleback Roe

Taste-wise this was y favorite. It was a beautifully soaked fish… and with the caviar and everything it was pretty divine.

The waitress loved that I had a champagne glass tattooed on me haha..

Sea Trout Pastrami
Winter Chicories, Blood Orange, Pistachio Vinaigrette

I actually expected a smokier tasting salmon, from the looks of it, but the taste was impeccable.  The texture of the salmon was of smoked salmon but it definitely had that “pastrami” kick to it.  With the added crunch of the chicory and pistachio it was heaven in each bite.  It actually would’ve been an amazing salad with more chicory and pistachios but deeeeeelish!!!!!!!

Roasted Sturgeon à la Poêle
Camargue Red Rice, Red Onion Soubise, Beurre Rouge

When the last dish came out we finally finished our first drinks and got to get into the the wine, which paired PERFECTLY, as waitress said it would, with the food… It was salty was soooooo gooooood.  Not sure what the greens were but the rice was just barely el dente and chewy and amazing, I almost thought it was wheat berries…the surgeon [this was the first time Woo Bear ever had it, but I have] was soooo buttery and beautifully cooked.  Like I said, it was salty but it still tasted awesome….

Delicious wine with an amazing friend!!!

Spice-Crusted Striped Bass Kama

Wait. What? KAMA? UM, I LOVE YOU CRAIGIE.   I love Fish Collar Bone [aka Kama]

Even the waitress told me to make sure to take a pic – I think she saw me taking pictures before… and probably assumed since I was asian HAHA

It’s all about this:
the Tuscan Olive Oil, Citrus Vinaigrette

And cuz we were “her friends” she poured it on for us. AWWWWW I felt so loved….!!!! She even said “Of course Tiff, you’re my friend” hahahaha… maybe she remembers me from my past eatings there…. LOLOLOL… I always eat SO much here

This was my piece… Woo Bear and me both picked our pieces CLEAN!!!!!… We ASIAN YO.  We waste NOTHING!!!

House-Made Red Beet Conchiglie Pasta
Boudin Noir Ragoût, Fava Leaves

This was beautiful. Fucking beautiful. BEET PASTA? It’s like taking a veggie I love with a pasta I love and combining the two.  When I first looked at it, I was like UHHH.. meat? blah? WHAT? But it was delicious.   The sauce didn’t overwhelm the beet taste in the pasta and the lava leaves added a nice green freshness to it.   Will definitely try to make a beet pasta in the future… altho I’ll probably make pappardelle or gnocchi.

Slow-Roasted Veal Sweetbreads
Wild Mushrooms, Farm-Fresh Egg, Chorizo Sauce

This may have been my favorite dish of the night, minus the bone marrow later, but I can never not LOVEEEEEEEEEE and orgasm with bone marrow.  But the poached egg was SOOOO beautiful.  The sauce, the mushrooms and of course SWEETBREADS.  I really need to find a place that sells sweetbreads so I can start cooking them.  They’re one of my favorite delicacies.. even more than bone marrow and foie gras cuz I can never find them to cook them myself… and because of that, I ALWAYS ALWAYS have to order sweetbreads when it’s on the menu.. well I guess the same with the other two but still….

And then when we thought it was all over….

Axis Venison Two Ways: Spice-Crusted Leg, Crepinette
Mustard Spaetzle, Hakurei Turnips, Red Cabbage Purée

And obviously we got it with the BONE MARROW!!!!

Can you believe they asked us if we would rather have duck fat roasted carrots OR bone marrow? UMMM… we didn’t even look at each other and Woo Bear and I both screamed BONE MARROW!!!

It was all so freaking delicious….  the crepinette was SOOOOOOOO delicious. It was a yummy venison meatball!!!… and the venison leg, sliced and cooked rare was just SOOO tender and delicious.  I ended up eating the marrow on toast and then the rest of the marrow all over my veal dish and licking it up. The spaetzle was crunchy and divine and while it was from “mustard” it had almost a delicate “cheese” taste to it.  Definitely some of the yummiest spaetzle I’ve had.  The turnips were great.. I thought it was daikon – which I guess is basically a turnip/carrot – and just all of the items combined was ORGASMIC. We had SOOOOOO much bone marrow it could feed a family of 10.

Palate Cleanser
House-made Lime Frozen Yogurt
Basil Seeds

Delicious. Refreshing. YUM.

We got this amazing Bourbon:
Michter’s 20yr Cask Strength Single Barrel 114.2°

At 67$ a glass it better be fucking amazing and it was… smelled like caramel and was soooooo tasty. Yeah disgustingly expensive but also disgustingly delicious.

Dessssert time.. so it was definitely more than just 8 courses….

Moroccan ‘Upside Down’ Carrot Cake
Goat Cheese Sorbet, Dates, Caramelized Almonds

I told them no goat cheese but they gave me some anyways.  I ate it anyways.  But the cake was super dry, even though I loved the look/concept of the cake.  Next time I make carrot cake I’ll have a beautiful slice of carrot on top.  It didn’t go with the goat cheese even tho I tried it together to make it “wetter” and neither did the sauce.  It was kinda sad to see such a fantastic meal end so badly.

Chocolate-Fernet Branca Crémeux
Roasted Lemon Puree, Tarragon Ice Cream

I don’t really think that was what we got… it tasted like mint ice cream on chocolate mousse and crunchy sticks hahahaha…. it was good but didn’t feel like a FULL dessert, like a side to a dessert…

BUT AT LEAST THIS SAVED THE NIGHT

We had a special complimentary Hot Cocoa to warm us up… there was definitely some chilies and cardamum in it <3

Everything was talked about, we definitely spent a good few hours there… and in the end we realized:

Love you Woo Bear. Can’t wait to play again soon!!!!! Miss you dearly already!!!!

Fattest Country in the World ISNT the USA

As of July 2013

Apparently the US is no longer the fattest country in the world….. it’s Mexico.  70% of Mexicans are obsese. Absolutely terrifying.

Mexico has surpassed the United States as the world’s fattest nation, with 32.8% of its population now classed as obese.

This worrying figure is higher than the percentage of obese US citizens, who weigh in at 32%.

The information comes from a report by the United Nations charting obesity rates across the world.

It reveals that 70% of Mexicans are overweight and childhood obesity figures have tripled in the last decade. – Source

and I was actually surprised that the UK wasn’t in the top 5.  I have been so obsessed with “Supersize vs Superskinny” and “Secret Eaters” Shows and many more that I really thought the UK was one of the top one. I was super surprised with NZ and Aussie. AND wtf is Finland food???…… OK I’m gonna put my ideas in PINK after each one.

#1 – Mexico: They may be the world’s fattest country with a 32.8% obesity rate, but they may also have the world’s best food. (Source: United Nations)

Fried. Tortillas. Corn. Meats. Cheese. Fat. Delicious. I get it.  What I DON’T get is that I feel like Mexican food CAN be healthy. Guacamole. Fresh salsas…. WTF. Too much fried food, sour cream and margaritas I guess?!… FUCK THAT. I love margaritas. But I guess it’s like the US…. fresh food costs more than convenience food. That and too much cheese.

#2 – United States: We may not be the world’s fattest country anymore, but we may still be the best at being fat. We did turn eating food into a competition, after all. Obesity rate: 31.8%. (Source: United Nations)

Not that hard to realize. Fruit costs more than the 1$ menu at Mcdonalds… which doens’t mean I don’t like my occasional fries and nuggets but you know what I mean. It’s sad. And this makes me sad. Bad food is cheaper than healthy food.

#3 – New Zealand: The United Nations says New Zealand has an obesity rate of 26.5%. That said, it’s really hard to find a picture of anyone in New Zealand eating or looking unhealthy… (Source: United Nations)

So I had to google this.  And this is what I found….  still need a good reason…. I had a good gf who went to school in NZ and she is sexy as hell.

Yeah I have fucking hot gfs… BUT hey it might be our asian genes…. but still.. blaming obsesity on genes or junk food is just LAME.

#4 – Chile: Some of the best seafood and wine around comes from Chile, so we get it. Obesity rate: 25.1%.(Source: United Nations)

 Actually not sure about this. I dated a Chilean guy who said that they weren’t into “bigger” people and it being a South American place I’d figure it wouldn’t be a problem.

#5 – Australia: When most people think of Australia, tanned beach bodies dotting the country’s coastlines come to mind, so it comes as a bit of a shocker that the nation cracks the Top 5 in world’s fattest, with an obesity rate of 24.6%. (Source: United Nations)

NO IDEA.

#6 – Canada: Canada’s 24.2% obesity rate gives North America its third country in the Top 10 in obesity.(Source: United Nations)

One word: Poutine.

#7 – United Kingdom: America’s fat gene may have been passed down from our colonial parents who have a 23% obesity rate. (Source: United Nations)

Srsly, how are they not right after or before US? All they do is eat takeout and curry and fried crap and fry ups and SHIT SHIT SHIT. Sorry.

#8 – Ireland: Slainte! Obesity rate: 23%. (Source: United Nations)

Meat and Potatoes…. and Guinness?!

#9 – Luxembourg: If you were sandwiched between the world class chefs in France, Belgium and Germany, you might be a little pudgy, too. Obesity rate: 22.1%. (Source: United Nations)

Don’t Germans just drink DAS BOOT and eat like brats?…. and Pretzels… and what saukraut? I guess that’s not healthy but I duno I feel like Euros are either starving or eating shitty greasy fatty fried food,

#10. Finland Traditional Finnish food includes fresh fish, cabbage and wild game – all relatively healthy eats. What gives? Obesity rate: 20.2%. (Source: United Nations)

HAHAHAH so wrong but I saw this forum thread about “Why are Finnish women so fat” so now I read ——— OK now all I read about on google is why are Finnish people so ugly… UHHHHHH……. so this remains another MYSTERY!!!!

Sources:
Health Zone
Huffington Post

Bloody Finger….. so free meal at Giginos at Wagner Park

Remember this meal?

Just simple minced beef with onion, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and some  chili pepper if you wanna spice it up.  Baked int he oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes and let rest for 5.

That turned into a late night dinner since I sliced almost the whole tip of my ring finger off while prepping in the kitchen? Yep, J and I were happily partying it up with drunk people in the ER for an ill minute.

Thankfully this baby is feeling up quite well now…

Anyways mama felt bad for me and our night being ruined so to cheer me up she offered to treat J and I to a lovely dinner of our choice, anything under $200.

See poor finger? :[ Need yummy food

Besides. J wouldn’t let me go near a knife for awhile….

I found an ear cuff to hide my “alien bump” ahhahaha….

We played around with food ideas but really just wanted to stay in the neighborhood. It was beautiful out so we decided on Italian or Tapas… and we wanted to dine outside. So J immediately suggested Giginos At Wagner Park and we got a beautiful seat outside with a gorgeous view of the Statue of Liberty.

J picked out two wines we could try and I chose the one with a cooler name that I liked.

And he let me pick out the food :] As long as he got his olives!!!!

[ps they have yummie bread which you get to dip in EVOO and Balsamic Vin.]

The olives come in a mezze trio or whatever of also cured meats and other stuff but we only wanted olives. J <3 Olives hehe Olive Monster…. so they let us just order that.

As an appetizer we got the simple Mussels with white wine, garlic, black pepper and…. basil I think it was. DEEEELISH!

There were a ton of mussel dishes to choose from, and just saying, the menu was HUGE… HUUUUGE… intimidatingly so which is why I ended up choosing the simplest items.

Grilled Monkfish with Broccoli Rabe and Baby Bok Choy

This was a special…. it was between this and the branzino but since I had gotten the branzino last time I had Italian, when J’s parents were in town, I wanted some tender juicy Monkfish.  Need to spice things up a bit, y’kno?!

Pappardelle San Marzano – Fresh pappardelle with San Marzano tomato, garlic, olive oil and basil AND a beautiful fresh shavings of parm all over it. YUM.

SUPER SUPER FRESH TENDER AMAZING NOODLES.  Perfectly al dente. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.. pasta made so simple and delicious with my favorite type of pasta. HEAVEN.

We opted out of dessert… and I think we ended up back home watching tv and probably having a scotch or whiskey  on the rocks. It was a beautiful walk around FiDi even tho it started to get a bit chilly. MMM MMMM MMMMM I would love to come back during the day and when it’s a tad bit warmer to see the day time view.