"the lover whose soul shaken is in some decuman billow of bliss." - francis thompson
29.5.09
the way of a maid, c. 1890
"the lover whose soul shaken is in some decuman billow of bliss." - francis thompson
26.5.09
fantastic fish pie
i had a dinner party the other week for my girlfriend, lyn, who moved to denver and was visiting home. she loved the fish pie that i cooked, a jamie oliver recipe. she searched it on the internet but couldn't locate it, so i typed up the recipe. since i typed it out, i might as well share it with the masses.
serves 6
5 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1-inch squares
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, halved and finely chopped
EVOO
approximately 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2 good handfuls of grated sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese
juice of 1 lemon
1 heaped teaspoon english mustard (colman's)
1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1lb haddock or cod fillet, skin removed, pin-boned and sliced into strips
fresh nutmeg (optional) <-- do it though.. i think it taste nice!
--
preheat the oven to 450F. put potatoes into salted boiling water and bring back to a boil for 2min. carefully add the eggs to the pan and cook for a further 8min, until hard-boiled, by which time the potatoes should also be cooked. at the same time, steam the spinach in a colander above the pan. this will take only a minute. when the spinach is done, remove the colander and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. then drain the potatoes in the colander. remove the eggs, cool under cold water, then peel and quarter them. place to one side.
in a separate pan slowly fry the onion and carrot in a little evoo for about 5min, then add the cream and bring just to the boil. remove from the heat and add the cheese, lemon juice, mustard and parsley. put the spinach, fish and eggs, into an approximately sized earthenware dish and mix together, pouring over the creamy vegetable sauce. the cooked potatoes should be drained and massed -- add a bit of evoo, salt and pepper, and a touch of nutmeg if you like. spread on top of the fish. don't bother piping it to make it look pretty -- it's a homely hearty thing. place in the over fora bout 25 - 30min until the potatoes are golden. serve with some peas or greens, not forgetting your baked beans and ketchup. tacky but tasty, and that's what i like.
--
here are my revisions/additions.. john and i have played with it, and found that we like these extras:
-5 eggs instead of two.. cut them in circle rounds, and then halved as we did last week
-john likes more potatoes.. so either 10-12 small ones or 7 big ones
-2 bunches of fresh spinach for more veg/greens
-2 carrots for more veg
-just a little under 2 cups of cream, if you decide to add more potatoes, spinach and carrots
-i used a shredded blend of cheeses.. john and i found that any combo of cheeses as oppose to one taste better. make sure you get cheddar and parmesan as the base, and any other cheese as well. those two cheeses are nice and sharp.
-i used 2 heaping if not close to 3 teaspoons of mustard.. it adds a nice kick and more flavor. -john found the secret ingredient: smoked salmon! i buy a small package that's just about 4oz or so, and chop it up into small bits mixing it with the fish and cream mixture.
-top the dish with more shredded cheese for a nice cheese topping
guten appetit!
final meal requests
http://web.archive.org/web/
apparently fried chicken, steak, and cheeseburgers are the top requests in this texas slammer.
25.5.09
sushi night
in these hard economic times, we've been recreating meals that would cost us a good chunk of change at a restaurant. we've dabbled in cuisines and dishes from all around the globe. some of our favorites have been cajun inspired (coco's crawfish) shrimp and crab boils, mock tu lan (the best hole in the wall vietnamese restaurant in s.f.) pickled cabbage dish, fresh spring rolls, thai seafood curries, middle eastern foul madammas, lamb and falafel kebabs, spanish paella and lentils, crepes, quiche, and our personal favorite: sushi.there truly is an art in sushi making, and it took us a couple times to get a technique down where it was decent enough. john even surprised me with a professional sushi knife as a gift, so we could do as the pros do. i'd say john would be way more savvy in prepping the sashimi, and rolling. i'm his prep chef. i did the shop at nijiya market in japan town, and got everything ready for him to start rolling after he sliced the fish.
this past weekend we shared what little we know in sushi making with our friends, stephen and janice. they were delighted to learn and cook with us.
here's what was on the menu:
tempura
deep fried soft shell crab
sashimi - tuna, salmon, yellowtail
rolls and nigiri with the above mentioned fish and crab, salmon roe, different veggies, herbs, sauces, and cream cheese
crepes (which we only prepped the batter and didn't get to make, since we were so full)
all in all the night and dinner turned out well. i will say that it was very time consuming as we are not pro chefs, and it took us a good 2 hours between the 4 of us to complete everything. we ate as we were cooking to get us through, and quenched our thirsts with sake and sapporo. stephen made endless batches of variations of chocolate chip cookies.
we all had severe food comas by the end of it all, but well worth it!
www.myspace.com/cocoscrawfish
tulansf.blogspot.com/
www.nijiya.com
carnaval
every year in may, san francisco celebrates carnaval. it showcases latino and caribbean countries, and their cultures. people are dressed in their native and traditional costumes, and parade down the mission district. they perform authentic dances of their country's origin, play exotic instruments, and strut their stuff decked out in their gear.
a portion of harrison street is shutdown, and lined with different vendors, food booths, beer gardens, and stages for performances. you can indulge in the plethora of ethnic cuisines, have a refreshing beer, and swing your hips to the bands that play tunes for the masses.
www.carnavalsf.com
golden gate bridge
the token iconic landmark that is branded with san francisco: the golden gate bridge.
24.5.09
bacchus kirk and cairo nights
saturday night we dropped into bacchus kirk. john's mate owns the bar, and invited us to their event that evening. they were previewing their new cocktails, and all the featured cocktails were complimentary from 8-9pm.
bacchus kirk, located in nob hill, reminds me of a sultry lodge you'd imagine in a ski town of lake tahoe or jackson hole. the lights are dim with red hues, the interior is wooden, and of course there is the token fire place. they placed a huge chalkboard in the back so the art students at the nearby college would stop marking up the bathroom walls, and display their work on the board. there is an enclosed smoking area, which helps brace the cold on those windy san francisco nights. my favorite are the huge mirrors that are framed by old 2x4 boards, c.1920's or so.
we ended our night at cairo nights. as always, khalid was in great spirits and warm as he greated us, and worked the crowd puffing away on hookahs. we were with the company of some fun french students who are studying abroad at u.c. berkeley. they were a lively group, and we had a right ol' time sharing stories, jokes, and whiskey.
www.bacchuskirk.org
hookahloungesf.com
cohabitation
my cat, freddy, and john's dog, chopper, have come a long way. initially, when the two of them were in the room together freddy was either hiding, or the two were squabbling.
after months of freddy and chopper sussing each other out, and john and i coaxing and reassuring the both of them, they are somewhat buddies and are able to coexist.
one day i was sitting on the floor with them, and freddy sat on chopper's front legs and cuddled up to him. it brought tears to my eyes.
i think they're slowly realizing they're brothas from anotha mutha.
23.5.09
asian heritage festival, wing chun
john has been training in wing chun, a style of kung fu (think bruce lee), for quite a few years. last weekend his kung fu academy performed at the asian heritage festival in san francisco.
here's a video clip of part their performance. this segment is a real-to-life scenario where women get attacked by men, and the kung fu used to retaliate.
john is the initial creepy guy in the fight scene.
www.uswingchun.com
cairo nights - hookah bar
best hookah bar -- EVER! byob, byo-munchies, great music, open till 4am, $13 for a single hookah...you can't beat this place! a must see if you are an avid shisha fan. khalid the owner is a fabulous host, and plays fun upbeat tracks. you might just get up and start shaking your tail feather.
check it out!
hookahloungesf.com
fire brigade protest in the bastille ** paris, france
a once in a lifetime experience to be among hundreds and thousands of firemen, in paris.
*le sigh*
*le sigh*
this little piggy
my sweetie pie, jen, shared this with me. she said if i was ever mean to her or disowned her as a friend, this would be one of the consequences.
scenes from ireland - 12/2008 through 1/2009
o'briens tower, cliffs of moher, john and myself @ mizen head (most southwestern tip of ireland), john and a [not as happy as california cows] cow in connemara, and an island in connemara en route to galway, respectively.
batman dead on my driveway
i nearly crushed him as i was stepping out of my car one day. when i looked closer he was nearly flat anyway, so stomping on him wouldn't of brought him back to life, nor kill him even more. i was pretty weirded out, and left him on the driveway.
i guess a proper burial would have been appropriate, but i never knew the guy.
a couple days later i found him near my front gate. he either still had some fight in him and was trying to come in for medical attention and some shelter, or one of the stray neighborhood cats left him on my doorstep as an offering.
i left him where i saw him, again.
rest in peace batman. i'm sorry i didn't place your body in a proper resting spot -- please don't haunt me.
prague - czech republic
i'm on a forever mission to sort out my photos, and came across some hard prints of my stay in prague. coming across these pictures brought nostalgia of a backpacking trip through europe in 2006. here are some snaps shots of the ever-so romantic st. charles bridge, and a view of prague's skyline.
snoozing at clooney's
my boyfriend, john, bartends at clooney's -- a seedy dive on 25th and valencia streets, san francisco.
his shift on sunday nights can be fairly slow, if not dead.
this was how bored we were.
pop in for a drink or a snooze sometime!
*sunday nights: 6 to close, or until you get dragged out of the bar.
hunky jesus contest
how weird faire
it's like a combination of burning man, the love fest, and an amalgamation of all the faires in san francisco that provide quirky and interesting vendors, and booths of all different ethnic cuisines.
another one of san francisco's iconic and token street parties!
www.howweird.org
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