Food Porn - Memorial Day BBQ

Beth and I made our own burger in honor of the American soldiers... beef patty, Havarti cheese, portabella mushroom, arugula, onion, tomato and pesto! and some tater tots !!!

Old Iphone Polaroids

I've been taking photos of food for a while... here is a collection of old Polaroids taken with my original Iphone ... from LA to Chicago to Louisville... enjoy :)


I forgot where this was... but i remember that it was good!


Bison Burger from Proof.. Louisville, KY


Tacos El Pastor (The Window) Hollywood, CA


The Weiner Circle, Chicago, IL


Scallops? ha I don't remember but I do know that it's from this Mayan restaurant in Louisville, CA


Bibimbap, Korean tofu place in a strip mall in Arcadia


Taco salad from Taco Spot, Eagle Rock, CA


The Hainan Chicken from SAVOY... google it or yelp it... if you are too lazy to research this place, then you don't deserve it...



Another Bison burger from some bar in Louisville, KY

First Contest Winner: Jessica Meith Keithoff

Jessica and I met when I was a 10th grader living in Belize... then she moved away to Florida a year after... so we were friends for like... a year? hahahah BUT we are able to stay in touch thanks to the convenience provided by this awesome thing called... social network.

Anyway, she WON eatwithjoe's FIRST ever contest!!! So for winning the contest I prepared a care package filled with Taiwanese snacks :) I hope you enjoyed the package!




Sam the cat knows whats in the package... and he's going for it !!!

ALSO...

Representing California, Kari Adamsen Spampinato is the other winner of the contest. She will be served with a meal cooked by me... Stay tuned!

Breakfast 8:30 PM

Beth came up with the best cure for a long day at work... press F2, restart, breakfast.

Cinnamon raisin toast topped with string cheese, Canadian bacon, scrambled eggs and Tapatio

A Taste of Taiwan in Los Angeles

Before the actual meal that's meant to be blogged in this post... Beth and I needed a little appetizer.  We stopped by a boba restaurant down the street to fill our teeth gap... deep fried yam chips and boba green tea :)





Doe Jan Station is definitely my favorite Taiwanese breakfast joint here in LA... there are other restaurants in San Gabriel Valley that serves the same kind of food... but we've tried all and they all suck.

We've arranged this Sunday brunch just for Alex.

Alex is Taiwanese.

Ales is craving Taiwanese food.

Alex is heading back to Portland.

So what is the best food to pack in Alex's belly to take back to Portland? Taiwanese breakfast of course!!!


This photo is awesome! it has all the info you need to visit this joint! check it out now!


These things are called "Oily Sticks" its basically the Taiwanese version of donuts... bigger. deep fried. dough. :)


Best way to eat these Oily Sticks is to dip em in Taiwanese style soy drink (served in bowls).


This wonderful looking shrimp fried rice is by far THE BEST eff'n fried rice EVER! (according to Beth)


Beefy Cake (Andrea's favorite)


turnip cake... stir fry A-Choy... almost done shrimp fried rice... soy drinks... AND RICE BALLS !!! well, my friend Dana saw this photo in my Flickr account and she is eager to find out whats stuffed inside the rice balls...

Dana, inside the rice balls you will usually find... pork sung (aka Rousong), oily sicks and pickled radishes... but what you are looking at is a vegetarian rice ball... and the only difference is the pork sung... instead of pork... it is filled with a vegetarian version of it that's made of soy products.

Thanks to Alex for giving us another excuse to brunch Taiwanese style!!!

NOTE: If you are interested in trying out some Taiwanese restaurant... feel free to email me (eatwithjoe@gmail.com). It's more fun to go with someone that speaks mandarin and/or knows what they are ordering... I am always available for this! so hit me up :)

Judgement Day Weekend BBQ

Here are a few photos from the BBQs throughout the weekend :)

It's Uncle John's 21st Birthday... He got the BEST CAKE EVER!!!


This grill setup looks fake haha !


Pre marinated chicken from the Mexican market down the street.


Zoom in


My Mexican rice from scratch !!!


Guest chef Van made her special Potato Chicken Tacos... Soooooo Good!


Ta Da!!! Taco Night !!!

Real Food Daily

My great uncle and aunt are both in town from Taiwan... They are vegetarians and they love to try new things! We wanted to avoid the traditional Chinese style vegetarian restaurants... so Beth and I decided that we should introduce them to RFD (Real Food Daily). I mean if Ellen DeGeneres recommends this place, it should be the bomb diggidy, right?

I would love to go over every dish we ordered, but I realized that it's a lot easier if I just copy and paste the name of the dish and ingredients straight from the menu :)

This is what we ordered:


NOT-CHOS
Tortilla chips, melted cashew cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, tofu sour cream


BBQ TOFU CHOP
Seasonal vegetables, barbeque tofu, shredded cashew cheese, romaine, ranch dressing


SPICY BLT WRAP
Tempeh bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, spicy vegenaise, spinach wrap


MOMMA MIA WOTTA LASAGNA
Lasagna pasta, herbed tomato sauce, roasted vegetables, house-made tofu cheese, pesto crostini, arugula, fennel, radish salad, lemon garlic dressing


BANANA CREAM TART
Creamy, luscious vanilla crème, fresh bananas

After the dinner we bought the official RFD cook book for my great uncle and aunt... So they can bring the book back to Taiwan for their son... Madwu... He actually owns a vegetarian restaurant in Taiwan, Beth and I thought it would be a great gift for him so he could use the cook book as a new fresh reference for his restaurant :)

My Lunch is Better Than Yours - Ichiban (Glendale)

nuff said

California roll, Albacore and Scallops !!! 1/2 OFF at Ichiban Lunch Menu

Shrimp and Sweet Potato Curry

Want to learn how to make this at home?



This is a twist from my mother's recipe. There is no secret ingredients or fancy spices... the key component for this home cooked curry is a pack of S&B Golden Curry sauce mix!
(you can pick up a pack of the curry sauce mix in most Asian supermarkets, but you might be able to find some in your local supermarkets in the Asian foods isle)



There are a lot of prepping for this recipe... so keep in mind that it might take up to an hour to complete this dish... takes less than 5 minutes to eat it :) this will feed at least 4 people and its THAT good.

1. Cook rice

• Click here to learn how to cook a batch of proper rice! 

2. Yam and Greens

• Peel and cut one yam or sweet potato in 1/2 inch slices... placed them in a baking sheet covered with tin foil (easier to clean) with cooking spray already applied.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper... bake in 400 degrees for 20-30 mins or till golden brown.

• Blanch about 1/2 lbs of pea sprouts... To blanch you boil the pea sprouts in slightly salted hot water for about 1-2 minutes then you soak the sprouts in ice cold water... drain and done! (you can substitute pea sprouts with other greens like broccoli or beans)

3. Curry Sauce

• Every S&B curry sauce mix contains two packets in the box. Use ONLY one pack (4 curry cubes). Mix with a cup of hot water in a sauce pan... stir in low heat until the sauce is completely dissolved.

4. Vegetables (chopped and dice to medium bite size)

• 1 large carrot
• 1 onion
• 4-5 mushrooms
• 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce
• 1/2 cup hot water

Cooking Instructions:

• Heat up one tablespoon of cooking oil (canola or olive) in a deep skillet / pan. Start with the chopped carrots cook for about 2-3 minutes or till its slightly golden brown. Pour in the onion and mushrooms... add about 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce for taste. Stir evenly, cover and let it simmer in medium heat for about 2-3 minutes... Once the vegetables a completely cooked through, pour in the curry sauce mix and add about 1/2 cup of hot water to balance out the sauce consistency... if the sauce is still too thick, add another 1/2 cup of water.

5. Add the Shrimp

• Once the sauce mix has been simmered for about 10 minutes...go ahead and add the shrimps... stir till it's cooked or when it turns red.  Remember, don't cook the shrimp too long... overcooked seafood is NO BUENO!

6. Time to Eat

• Garnish the dish with some chopped Thai basil :)

LEFT OVER SAUCE is perfect for lunch the next day!!! Beth made some multi-grain brown rice and baked some white tilapia fish... and we added some green peas to the curry sauce... simmered for a few minutes then poured over the fish and rice... TA DA !!! LEFT OVER SAUCE IS AWESOME!

Last Night In KY

There are THREE highlights from this night...

1. The Holy Grail

This is a newish craft beer place off the Bardstown Road / The Highlands in Louisville, KY. I am not a really big beer drinker but some of them special beers are super yummy!!!



2. Rusty the Jerky Man

Rusty the Jerky Man walked into the bar... with a picnic basket full of jerkys. He makes his own beef jerky and sells em in zip lock bags all over Louisville, KY.

Beth told me that he's been doing this forever and we confirmed it with Rusty, and he said that he's been doing it for about 20 years... totally crazy!

So we asked him, where did you get your beef to make the jerky? I mean it's gotta be organic farm raised beef right? well, he said ... "I got my meat from Krogers, and Sams"
GREAT ANSWER!


That's our friend Van buying dime bags of jerky from Rusty the Jerky Man.  (what's up with the demon eyes? hahah)


I picked up my own Habanero Jerky...It's spicy, but addicting!!!

3. Steak N Shake

Now we got our beers and jerkys.. all we need now is my Steakburger fix from STEAK N SHAKE !!! We literately had a minor Harold and Kumar moment when the first two Steak n Shake were closed! Due to my dramatic reaction to the restaurant being closed... We were referred to the 3rd Steak n Shake... well, mission accomplished... I got my Steakburger!