I almost died... (The Roasted Elephant Garlic Mashed Potatoes Saga)

I know, it's been a while. Nothing food-related has happened to me lately, really...except a pretty good dinner at this restaurant called Stanford's (if you order the tenderloin tips, be sure to ask for the bing cherry demi-glace instead of the original!), and I made muffins last week (if I make them again today or some other time, I'll be sure to post pictures and the recipe). The day before yesterday, though, shall go down in my cooking history as the best mashed potatoes I have ever made. Actually, I think this was the first time I've ever even made them, but still.

Okay, it's not rocket science. But after tweaking an already good recipe I found for garlic mashed potatoes, I think I really have a winner here. So, without further ado, I give you:


Roasted Elephant Garlic Mashed Potatoes!

Elephant? Elephant garlic?? What the heck? ....That's what you're saying or thinking, right? Well, yes, that's what I said. ELEPHANT GARLIC.


As in, garlic so big it comfortably sits in the hand of your palm.


It's actually more related to a leek than a garlic, which explains why it has such a milder garlic flavor than one would expect, especially with it being so large. I happened to see this little (ha!) baby at WinCo, and damn it all if I didn't buy one because it was just so big. When I brought it home, I really didn't know what to do with it. I used 1/3 (ONE THIRD!!) of one clove as a substitute for one clove of a regular-sized garlic in some sardines from a tin in tomato sauce that I cooked up last week and was disappointed, of course, in how mild the flavor was.

It wasn't until the day before yesterday that I thought of my Elephant garlic in the pantry, just crying out for attention. Kevin grilled up with some steak the other day in my new 14" Weber grill, but we didn't grill all of it in one go. Not wanting to make haste and in turn possibly make waste, I thought of making mashed potatoes to go with some of the steak I wanted to fry up for dinner the next night. The next day, we passed by the Renton City Center on my way to drop Kevin off at the transit center to catch his bus to work, and I realized that there was a Farmers' Market (every Tuesday from 3pm)! I proceeded to buy 4 large (read: ones the size of my fist) Russet red potatoes, a bunch of asparagus, and some strawberries that I have yet to figure out in what I shall use them.

Anyway, so by the end of the night, the menu was as follows: Thin steak marinated for two days in Stubb's, Elephant Garlic Asparagus with Parmesan, and Roasted Elephant Garlic mashed potatoes. Here are the recipes, but before I continue I would like to say that I. LOVE. CHEESE. Having said that, the measurements below for Parmesan cheese is probably half of what I actually put in there.



Roasted Elephant Garlic Mashed Potatoes

You need:
4 Russet potatoes the size of my fist (heh), peeled if desired, and cubed
3 cloves of Elephant garlic, chopped
olive oil, to drizzle over garlic
1/2 (or more..) cup of grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp butter (add a tbsp or two if richer potatoes are desired)
1/2 cup milk (half and half or heavy cream may be substituted for creamier potatoes)
salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, to taste

1. Drizzle olive oil over chopped Elephant garlic, bake at 375 degrees (or broil) until golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, boil potatoes in slightly salted water until tender enough to mash with a fork.
3. Using electric mixer or masher, combine all ingredients above, beat or mash until consistency desired is reached. Serves at least 4.


Elephant Garlic Asparagus with Parmesan

You need:
1 bunch of fresh asparagus, bottoms cut off, can be cut into 1- or 2-inch pieces if desired
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove Elephant garlic, minced
salt, to taste
grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium to medium high heat. Toast garlic until golden brown, taking care to stir often so garlic sticks as little as possible.
2. Toss in asparagus, sprinkle salt on top, and saute until the asparagus is tender.
3. Transfer to serving bowl or plate, and top with grated Parmesan. If desired, the asparagus and cheese can be placed in the broiler for a few minutes to make the cheese crispy. Serves at least 2.


BONUS PICS!!

my sexy mixer


my sexy grill


cream puffs I made for our small get-together at Lois's to meet baby Aria! I'm reaching out for the small ducky shaped one...


see? ^_^

Heston Blumenthal is my new hero.

Not so long ago, my friend, Nick, told me about his attempt at bacon ice cream. Needless to say, he was almost banned from his mom's kitchen for it, but that only propelled us into finding more unconventional uses for bacon.

That was about a month or so ago, and since then I hadn't really thought about bacon ice cream until now. Through a bit of link association (you know, when you start reading one thing, find and click a link to something interesting, and on that page you find another link, so on and so forth), I ended up on the blog archives of Ice Cream Ireland. Once again, bacon ice cream had resurfaced into my conscious, but this time in the form of Egg and Bacon ice cream.

This little gem is from "Kitchen Chemistry", which aired on Discovery Science in the UK. Through another bit of link association on Youtube, I came upon Heston Blumenthal's mini-series, "In Search of Perfection", in particular, the search for the Perfect Burger.







With an opening theme song almost as catchy as the Katamari theme and the very charismatic Heston Blumenthal as your host, I found it extremely hard not to like this show. And now I have another really bad reason why I will be late to work today. :)

Bodacious Barbecue!

Yesterday, Kevin and I went to this great little mom and pop place in Renton with wonderful service and some great sweet tea called Bill's Bodacious Barbecue. Kevin and I felt like going out and enjoying the sun, which seems to be making more and more of an appearance finally, so we headed out in search of food and a park to enjoy the rest of the afternoon (as we got a late start to our day). As we began our drive, we were deliberating what to get (fast food? Panera? Famous Dave's?), but Kevin could tell that I ultimately didn't want any of our usual fares. Suddenly, he asked me again, "Do you want barbecue?" Knowing full well he didn't mean Famous Dave's which I had already shot down, I said, "...Sure..." and before I knew it, Kevin had turned into the Ikea parking lot to make a shortcut and drove back around to where we came from, and then headed in the complete opposite direction than what we had started.

We drove up to a place that didn't look so charming on the outside which made me apprehensive of what I might find inside, but once we stepped in the door my mind changed a little. There were well done murals of a forest and a mountain (most likely Rainer), a nice big flat screen up in the corner, and, of course, the display cases showcasing some very homestyle-looking desserts. Carol, Bodacious Bill's wife, took good care of us at the register, helped us decide what to order, and gave us great directions on how to get to a very nice park by the water near the Fry's in Renton (I know, strange location, but really a nice oasis in the business district jungle).

So we munched on tender, smoky ribs, beef brisket, corn muffins, and red beans and rice (for Kevin) and potato salad (for me). I think the star of the meal (not including desserts, because they each deserved a star of their own) was definitely the ribs; the meat was tender, juicy, and just fell right off the bones. The beef brisket, too, was soft and flavorful, but half of me wished we had just gotten a whole slab of ribs. The barbecue sauce was tangy, not too sweet, and had just the right amount of spice to give it a kick, but not to mask everything with a peppery fire. I'm not quite a connoisseur of cornbread, so I personally thought it was dry compared to the cornbread I had made out of a Jiffy box and to which I added sundried tomatoes and garlic for Thanksgiving last year. But once I slathered butter on it, I couldn't help but gobble the golden morsel up in a flash. Kevin said the cornbread was good (he drizzled a bit of honey on his), and he loves cornbread, so if you can't take my word for it, take his.



The sweet tea was the best I have ever had, and was served full in cups the size of my head. Who can beat that?



The blackberry cobbler and sweet potato pie were great enders to the feast. We had eaten so much before dessert, though, that we had to end up taking them home barely touched... which is no problem to me, because I have a feeling I will fully enjoy eating some reaheated pie and cobbler with some of the Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream I have stashed away in the freezer at home. :)


My favorite dessert anytime, anywhere. :) Anyway, we took a nap/lazed about in the park for a good hour or so after our feast, then went to Fry's to drool over all the electronics we were too broke to buy. We consoled ourselves by watching Iron Man, which was a really great movie! Hopefully, it's the start to a string of movies that look really good that are coming out this spring/summer. Next up, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight, Wall-E.

I should find a good recipe for sweet tea and ribs and cornbread (homemade this time!)...

sheer joy

It's one of very few things I will miss about Washington, but eating Aplets and Cotlets seem to do my soul good once in a while. I guess it's the memories that come attached to it (my mom would let us have one late at night once in a while as a special treat), but who can resist the apple- or apricot-flavored jelly candies with delicious crunchy walnuts inside? Cola-flavored gummies come in close, but not too close..



Also, Haagen Dazs is premiering (rereleasing? Apparently, it was sold about 10 years ago as well..) a new flavor of ice cream! Vanilla Honey Bee!! It is AMAZING. At first, the honey taste isn't so strong, but the more you eat it, the more intense it becomes! If I ever work on my own kind of honey ice cream (the ice cream attachment for my Kitchenaid is sooo expensive.. $80 T_T), I might add some swirls of real honey in it, but the Vanilla Honey Bee ice crea is perfect how the honey flavor builds as you eat. In fact, I told Lois when we tried some that people would be sad after they ate a scoop, because once you start really getting into the flavor, your ice cream is finished! I was speaking from personal experience, of course. :) So come try some at FREE CONE DAY, May 13, at University Haagen Dazs on the Ave!! :D

Dinner at Andy's on Friday night was amazing...kakifurai (fried oysters), and tiny fried fish, sushi and rolls, miso soup made up the bulk of the menu. Next time we will tackle macaroons with Frangelico-flavored filling! :D

In other news, I bought myself a new 7-inch santoku knife with a pink handle by Kitchenaid. I will post updates on said purchase once I get a chance to try it out. ^_^

Moving, sushi, movie, brunch.

Kevin and I spent the weekend together finalizing some things in the old apartment. We had to drop off a few things at my dad's, and naturally while we were there, my dad had us help him with a couple of chores (Kevin helped my dad move in some things from the patio to the garage so they wouldn't get rained on, and I had to help my dad figure out why his new wireless mouse wasn't working...sometimes going back to basics and starting from square one really helps). Then we had to have a late lunch, which wasn't bad...paksiw na lechon (with lechon, or Filipino roasted whole pork, from last week's barbecue), pancit, and mechado, with saba for dessert. I also got to eat (and take home!) some fresh young coconut. It was cool, seeing my dad hack at the top with a cleaver and crack it open and drink the juice with the straw, just like back home in Manila.

After we finished up at my dad's, we worked on the apartment a little more, then headed out to dinner at Wann's, which, fortunately for me, is located right across the street from my new apartment. We had the Kobe beef tataki (cold seared Kobe beef, marinated in shiso dressing), yakisoba, and of course the sushi appetizer. The sushi was fresh, and I especially enjoyed the hamachi (as did Kevin! I love sharing great food experiences with him). I never had Kobe beef before, and this was exceptionally tasty! I wasn't expecting the beef to be chilled, but I think that the flavor of the shiso dressing was highlighted better that way, anyway. I wish we had a slightly larger portion of the yakisoba, because Kevin and I finished it way faster than we wanted to. But it did bring back good memories of food back in Japan, like during street festivals when we were kids. One thing we didn't get to try was the brie cheese tempura with raspberry soy sauce...but I'll be back soon, so I'm not too worried about it. ^_^

After that, we watched Forbidden Kingdom. Let's just say, its a really cheesy movie that better belongs in the 90s era of martial arts movies (3 Ninjas, anyone?), but I really, really enjoyed it for what it was.

The next day, we ate brunch at Macrina, which is just two blocks away from where the old apartment is. Let's just say, I really regret not going there more often. The food was amazing! We ordered the Salmon Scramble, which was scambled eggs, smoked salmon, and creme fraiche on a bialy with herb roasted potatoes and some greens, and the Brunch Cafe Special, which was scrambled eggs with trout, and potatoes and greens. Both were AMAZING! Went deliciously well with our OJ and strawberry lemonade. I think the clincher for Kevin, though, was the buttermilk biscuit with raspberry jam he had for dessert. I had the Italian plum roll, which was equally good though lacking in plum for me. You know me, big sweet tooth. :)

So after we cleaned up the old place a bit more, we took some time to take advantage of the internet, which is still activated till the end of the month. Kevin did some homework, and I got caught up on the latest episode of Top Chef Chicago. At the end of the show, I really thought Mark was going home. Good thing they sent Ryan home instead, though. He was a bit of a cheeseball, anyway.

I cooked adobo for dinner that night. I don't want to talk about it any further than that I don't know what I'm doing, but it never stays the same and I'm really unhappy with it. I think I need to find an actual recipe and start from there and stop experimenting too much. lol

New forages for today: The World Ends With you (game for Nintendo DS, by the same team who brought you Kingdom Hearts. Anyone who knows me will tell you that KH is probably my most favorite game of all time), and working on the hat I started knitting in Cali last month.

Tuna in Curry? (aka, "It sounded like a good idea at the time...")

I was craving seafood on Thursday, so when I met with my ex-coworker, Lulu, for lunch, she suggested Etta's. I thought, why not, since she gets discounts for being an employee of Tom Douglas's and Etta's is supposedly known for their seafood. For appetizers, we started with the mini crabcakes were delicious (albeit too pricey...$13 for three 1.5-inch diameter crabcakes?!), especially with the green cocktail sauce. But the love affair unfortunately ended there.

First off, I was expecting more seafood choices in their already small menu (I thought the damn thing was the wine list at first, and it only opens up to two pages), but that didn't happen. Also, we were in for lunch, where the menu does differ slightly, and, unfortunately for me, has less seafood choices. I should have chosen the Rub With Love King salmon (which is grilled with Tom's famous spice rub), but for some reason I was drawn to the Kaffir lime leaf coconut curry with albacore, bok choy, eggplant, and steamed jasmine rice. Perhaps it was the prospect of seafood in curry? I had had some pretty good seafood curry at Shalimar on the Ave last Friday, and, for no good reason, decided on a repeat performance. Needless to say, the curry lacked a certain punch, and was not worth the money for how little amount of tuna I got (though delicious those 1-inch cubes of delightful fish they were). I kinda wish I got what Lulu ordered, which was the dungeness crab salad, but again, I sill don't think it was worth it's price unless she got a miniature mountain of crab on top of a bed of lettuce.

Anyway, we didn't bother with dessert. After months of sampling anything I could get my hands on at the bakery (especially Tom's Famous Triple Coconut Pie... :P), we figured we might have better luck finding something sweet at Pike's, but then decided we were too full to want anything else.

Didn't do much else afterwards, except more training at Haagen Dazs. Then I was so hungry when I came home that I fried up some eggs and then smothered them in spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese... I know, I know, it's weird, but it was good...lacked carbs though (perhaps some rice?). Haha. I ought to improve on that dish a little more.

Aids in the Kitchen

So, I had to pack away my Kitchen Aid stand mixer the other day. :( Sad. I'm not too sure I'll be able to unpack it unless someone orders cream puffs or melonpan before I leave. But to some consolation, all the kitchen appliances in my new apartment are all Kitchen Aid! Lol. The apartment is tiny, definitely meant for only 1 person (or 2 people without as much crap). But it's okay, we just gotta put up with it until I finally get out of here this July.

Nothing to write food-wise...haven't been really able to cook much, or bake for that matter. Sigh. I wish I had just moved into a temporary apartment. :(