Cleansing my Stomach

Been feeling pretty FAT lately... : /

Resolution?
Eat some veggies for dinner! : D

Since i don't like salad, canned tomatoes +
canned corn became my best friend! : )

The other night, i bought some Japanese
Seaweed salad (basically some kunbu,
mixed with sesame oil, red pepper flakes
& white sesame as dressing)
and mixed that with Corn...

MMMMmmMMmM : D
Veggies can be yummy and filling, too!

Go ahead! Serve Each Other : )

Last Friday, my church fellowship -- YCF
(Youth Career Fellowship) had a special program:
SERVE EACH OTHER DAY!

It originated from the past years' Valentine's Day
celebrations -- when one year the guys surprised
all the girls by preparing dinner/programs/
decorations / gifts all on their own...
then the following year the girls returned the favor : )

We had very fond memories of love & surprises
that sprung from these events...
but it also involved a lot of work/pain that takes
to plan / prep / make events like these a SURPRISE!

So this year, we went a 3rd route...
and established the SERVE EACH OTHER DAY instead!

We all signed up for various roles...
& without hesitation, i, of course,
signed up for COOKING! duh!

Here's GG cutting the parm. cheese for Goh goh /
biting them off because his tummy's rumbling...

Here's the 3 trays of Baked Ziti with Sausage
that goh goh made : )))



My favorite cooking partner Jules was so helpful
in chopping the various veggies & garlic for me *0*

While Shirls was the main coordinator that
helped us transport the trays from 4/F down
to the basement... for a couple of times!



GG helped out a lot : )
Here he's washing some of the veggies i got...
Although... he got confused about the difference
between Choy Sum (菜心) /
Dau Miu (Snow Pea Green豆苗) /
Bok Choy(白菜)......
GG: "I DON'T KNOW MY VEGGIES!"
; ) hehe that's ok... as long as you eat them : b



Here's my lovely sis Karen,
posing with a full plate of food that
each of us was served : D



P.Al & Cindy made some VERY DELISH beef stew!
Could you please tell me the secret to your dish?! 0_o




Other dishes --
Jules: Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo with plantains;
Justin: Drippin' w/ Butter Mashed Potatoes;
My Veggies Delight A: Slightly Salted Edamame

P.Al & Cindy: Fresh Bread (to go with the beef stew!)
My Veggies Delight B: Garlicky Soy Sauce Choy Sum
My Veggies Delight C: Spicy Snow Pea Greens
My Veggies Delight D: Garlicky Broccoli

My Veggies Delight E: Soy Sauce w/ scallion
over Enoki + Button Mushrooms & Asparagus

Desserts:
Megin's Spice Cakes (below)/
JJ's Spiked! Tiramisu
(which i didn't get to take a pic of : / )

Everybody was full at the end of the night,
as was God's love & abundance obvious : )
YAY!!!

***********************************************

Usually, when a group of people get together to eat,
i'd always wait to see what others make / order,
and come up with something that compliments /
balances the meal : )

This time, i signed up for VEGGIES for the same reason.
But i've never been a Vegan nor
had any signature dish that is based
primarily on veggies '_'

Hence, this was yet another challenge / experiment! : D
I named my dish(es) Veggies Delight,
because i had no idea what would be
in it until that night! : b

I picked up a book from the library --
Great Dishes -- Just Blanch and Eat!
(See my book review at: http://365booksayear.blogspot.com/
2008/02/book-32-great-dishes-just-blanch-eat.html)
hoping to be inspired...

& it sure did! : D

I ended up buying 7 kinds of veggies,
blanching them,
& then drenched them in the 2 sauces i whipped up ; D

WOOOHOOO! : ) STF Mission Accomplished!
Maybe we should have more
Serve Each Other [FOOD] nights! ; )

Valentine's Dinner #2 -- OMAHA

I'm a little behind in posting this...
but here's our 2nd Valentine's day dinner! ; )

Since goh goh wasn't able to schedule the Kittichai
dinner on Feb. 14th, he decided to go the extra mile
& cook a special homemade meal ; )

Here's the mushroom / onions / diced Tilapia side dish
bubbling in the red wine / Balsamic Vinegar : )

When goh goh announced 2 weeks prior to V-Day,
that he's gonna cook and has planned a special meal,
i knew that something's up.

But i definitely didn't think he'd go so far...
as to order Omaha Steaks!!!



I ended up picking out Ribeye &
Pork chops for the night...

Pork chops were cooked on the stovetop
in a corningware dish -- i didn't know that
could be done!
It's so true that you can learn something new
every day : ) hehe...

Here's the chef's content smile,
with a special occasion drink: Sparkling cider!
(Although, we both agree that the traditional
Apple flavor tastes better than the berries / peach!)

Yipppeee! : ) Such a wonderful meal ; )

Thanks, goh goh : D

** p.s. In terms of the Omaha Steaks,
we agreed that they didn't really live up to the hype,
the fame and the $$$.

A normal Ribeye, i suppose, would be much thicker
than what we received in the package.

It doesn't taste bad,
but it doesn't taste any better than
the fresh ones we can get at Stop n' Shop either.

It wasn't an unpleasant experience,
but neither was it spectacular : 0

Well, let's see if the other cuts are better
(we still have the filet mignon & the burger patty
in the freezer).
I'll certainly let you know '_'

Challenge: Cook whatever's home!

What's more fun than having friends over for dinner?

: D The answer is... not much!



So this time, we had the NGs over : )

Since i cooked for the past few times
when guests came by,
this time around,
we had goh goh cook instead : b

To make it challenging,
goh goh had to use whatever he can find
in the fridge / pantry : )

What did he come up with, then? : D



Creamy broccoli x spinach : )


Parmesan Cheese Crusted Tilapia Filets


Highlight of the meal:
Sprite marinated Pork tenderloin!


In other words,
Homemade Roast Pork aka Cha Siu : D


A miracle happened after our meal:
NO LEFTOVERS!!!!! *_*

This almost never happened...
But obviously,
a) Goh goh did a great job estimating the portions
of food;
b) the food tasted YUMMMM : )
c) we invited some great guests!!! : D

Afterwards, we got to enjoy some beautiful
+ tasty desserts our guests so graciously brought:


Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie


Pear Pie / Clementine Pie /
Chocolate Mousse Dome Cake /
Espresso Marshmallow Chocolate cup /
Strawberry Cream Eclair

: DDDD we also had Haagen Dazs coffee ice-cream /
Friendly's Orange cream ice-cream /
Bread Pudding : )

OH... SO FULLLLLLLLLL... *0*

Valentine's Feast #1 -- Kittichai

Last year's V-Day,
goh goh and i made reservations at
WHITE CASTLE... 0_o

HAA!
Not because of their food,
but that it was funny enough,
to mock the rave about spending mucho $$$,
celebrating a 'holiday' we don't believe in.

However, due to the snow storm & the car failing on us,
we couldn't even go through with this silly plan.

This year, however, we turned around and decided:
Hey, why not make this yet another reason
(read: excuse) for us to enjoy some good food?!

Considering that goh goh & i:
A) love sharing Thai food together
B) never miss the Iron Chef show on sundays;

We're bound to come to come here,
after watching that amazing episode:
www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/
episode/0,1976,FOOD_16696_47931,00.html

Taaaaa DAAAAAAAA! : D

KITTICHAI RESTAURANT

This restaurant is quite busy,
hence the required reservation beforehand.
Yay for goh goh ; ) who took care of that.

The design of the restaurant is very artistic & classy,
while the atmosphere is romantic & comforting : )

Here, take a look:



A sense of Modern Thai --the theme of the restaurant's
cuisine -- is richly conveyed in the decorations.

Hanging Orchids + Floating Candles = WOW!!!

Goh goh: "Are you done taking pictures yet?
Can we please look at the menu now?"

What's a girl to do,
when so many amazing choices are presented? : (

Appetizer:
Seabass Tempura with Sweet-Chili Tamarind Sauce

Verdict: How in the world can the seabass bites
be SO JUICY?!?!?! 0_o

After the appetizer, i was admiring the design
of their glasses: It's in a rounded square shape,
with a slight dip on each side, very well
fitted for the customer's fingers : )

I admire their detail-oriented design,
even down to one single water glass!

At the sight of the utensils presented to us,
i got all giggly and exclaimed,
"Goh goh, LOOK! These look exactly the same
as the ones we used in Bali!" **huge grin**

awww... such lovely memories : )))

Here comes our entree!

Goh goh's pick:
Wok-seared Tiger Prawns
with Garlic Pepper sauce and green beans

My pick:
Pineapple Braised Short Ribs in Green Curry,
Thai Eggplant and Sweet Basil

Side (A given): Jasmine Rice

Verdicts:
- Prawns were FRESH & HUGE!
Crunchy and flavorful ; )

But we've had better sauce before...

- The Short Ribs were so AMAZING *_*
We were speechless after the first bite,
and had to pause to let the tenderness of the pork,
the fragrance of the coconut milk,

the tartness of the pineapple,
the smooth texture of the curry... sink in.

i deliberately ate really really slow,
and drank very little water,
in order to savor every bite as long as possible *0*

However, we didn't order enough,
given the small portions of the dishes : /

Hence the Random Pick:
Baked Chilean Sea Bass marinated in
yellow salted beans with morning glory.

What's yellow salted beans?

What's morning glory?

NO IDEA.
But we ordered it anyway! : D

Goh goh said, "Let's hope that this dish is
even more amazing than the Short Ribs!"

Verdict?

Haha... goh goh said we must show the world
how fat we are, for we cleaned all the plates : b

The Sea bass, just like the appetizer,
is THICK + JUICY + SMOOTH : 0

The glaze on the fish is mildly sweet,
giving off a faint resemblance to a miso glaze.

Morning Glory turns out to be Water Spinach's
other (prettier) name : )
& somehow, the garlicky veggies complement
the fish PERFECTLY.

It was dish-licking good *0*
& i consider it a (high) tie to the Short Ribs : )

In HEi's book, meals are not complete without desserts!

But... i wanted to try so many of them 0_o
What to do?????

These days, i feel like goh goh's been spoiling me,
esp. when it comes to food.

& here he said, "Go ahead. Order an extra.
You know you want to." : )

Taaa Daaa! ; )

My pick #1: Coconut Crepes with Kalamanci Sauce

Verdict:
I was expecting coconut inside the crepes,
but it turns out to be a ball of REALLY SMOOTH
& MILKY coconut ice cream ; )

The crepes were not filled, but were thoroughly
soaked up in the citrus syrup,
topped with sweet tangerine slices & glazed orange zest.
Loved it, but was below my really high expectations : b

Goh goh's pick: Jasmine Flan on a Sweet and Sour
Fruit Salad with Jasmine Rice Ice Cream

Verdict:
The flan was OUTSTANDING.
I've never tasted anything quite like it.

The petite beauty was infused with
the unique flavor of jasmine,
& it complements the jasmine rice ice cream
like a match made in heaven! *0*

The fruit salad was top quality also ; )

My pick #2: Thai Tea Ice Cream Sundae
with Palm Seeds and Coconut Jelly

Verdict:

The chef's creativity was overflowing in this dish!

All homemade ice-cream:
Thai Iced Tea -- Silky texture,
every bite filled with the aroma of traditional thai black tea
Creamy Coconut -- as mentioned above ; )

Thai Iced Coffee -- Crushed coffee beans infused;

So glad this wasn't smooth like the others,
for the difference in texture makes a sharp contrast ; )

What's even better?

Top them all off with Chocolate + Caramel Sauce +
crushed almond caramel bits!

i was eating so slow at one point,
that goh goh had to coax me into speeding up,
before all the ice cream melted : b

The only disappointment in this dish:
the coconut jelly sat in the banana-like flavored syrup
too long : ( & the jackfruit tasted like banana, too.

(yes, i don't like bananas...
so i'm making personal preferential criticisms.)

All in all, i couldn't have been happier with this meal!

Quoting Goh goh,
"This is one of the best meals I've ever had!"

FYI:

Kittichai Restaurant

Address: 60 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

Reservations: 212 219 2000

Website: kittichairestaurant.com

p.s. Don't you want to go there with me again,
to try the family/ tasting menu?! : DDDD