I am from...everywhere...?

When I took a bite of the sweet potato Kati roll the other night at Bombay Pizza Co, I wished I were from India. But then I realized, any time I took a bite from ANY food, I wished I were from there. When I breathe in the chorizo and egg taco from Chimosa's or the Chile Relleno from Los Gallitos, I wish I were from Mexico. Anything from Phoenicia's Deli makes me want to tell people that I'm from Lebanon, and anything with feta or olive oil makes me want to say I'd swum in the Mediterranean Sea. I'm going to stop myself here, because just thinking about chimichurri sauce and how much I want to go to South America, I'm getting angry that I haven't tried all the recipes in this world.

I'm not knocking on my motherland, of course; Thailand offers so many must-eat-again-soon dishes. The chiles, peanuts, curry, rice, noodles; the list doesn't stop.

My attempt of cooking tonight hails from Greece, or at least hails from the recipe Martha Stewart had posted, imitating a Greek dish called pastitsio. I remember sitting at Niko Niko's a few years back and thinking, "I've got to eat something else besides this gyro. There's a whole other menu there." Good thing that I ventured beyond the pita and lamb, because the pastitsio was wonderful. Pastitsio, or macaronia tou fournou, is a luscious dish of layers of pasta, ground beef or lamb, and baked bechamel sauce on top.

It was a great dinner, nothing compared to Niko Niko's version, of course. I used beef instead of lamb, and whole wheat penne pasta. The recipe didn't call for much bechamel sauce, so I would probably double it next time, but hey, it was my first stab at it! And being a true Thai person, I added some Sriracha on top of the pasta dish. Laugh now, but that spicy kick made it worth saying that I wish I were from Greece and Thailand.

Popover Love

I don't think I've ever had a popover. I've seen people savor over fresh baked popover on the Food Network; there's a chef out there that's supposedly the Popover King.

So I had my stare down with my popover pan. Yes, I have one, and have never used it. I researched a few recipes, in which endless tips were blogged. Some tips were so complex, some tips were so simple, some just said don't use a timer and just "feel" when it's ready, and some tips didn't sound like I would try any time soon.

I'm a definite convert. It was exciting enough just by watching through the oven door how the bread rose beautifully in the pan. At that point I didn't care if it tasted any good. After pulling the pan from the oven, a sense of joy just came over me. Now I know what it meant when people said they would get so excited seeing their awesome cake for the first time out of the oven, or tasting that great barbecue sauce on their ribs.

When I tore the first popover open, the steam greeted me and I could smell the butter and the love. The taste was delicious from such a simple recipe. I love it.

I think I ate a lemon... at the Burning Pear

My friend Michele mentioned the restaurant The Burning Pear to me a long time ago. She said it was a nice restaurant within the Marriott Hotel and I should try it one of these days.

And Eddie and I did, on our date night, finally venturing out to something different.

The decor and the feeling of the restaurant was not at all impressive. It looked like I walked into a Holiday Inn for their continental breakfast. The only difference was that there were some rolled silverware sets on the table, and an eager server that was ready for his second table. We sat down, looked at the somewhat impressive menu, and was ready to challenge our taste buds. Nothing, however, jumped out at us immediately. The listings seemed dull, and the only other table there were eating sandwiches. I was beginning to think Michele was losing her touch.

Troy, the server, said he usually did not like pork chops, but their pork chops were amazing. Hence the side note they'd put on the menu that the pork chops were voted "Best Pork Chop" by the Houston Chronicle. I closed the menu and said bring it on, I'll try the much revered pork chops, while Eddie went with the Braised Short Ribs.

Someone please tell The Burning Pear that their decor and atmosphere gave them no justice because the food was wonderful. We started with a small caesar salad and a cup of tomato soup. The piece of anchovy on Eddie's caesar salad gave it a nice touch, and the jalapeno cornbread presented in a metallic basket was great. The short ribs, served with roasted asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes were done well. Underneath the giant heap of the short ribs were some veggies that pulled everything together. That was when Eddie stopped quickly after the first few bites, and said, "I think I ate a lemon. I'm not sure." At this point, we are still not sure what it was, and we didn't ask.

After laughing at Eddie, of course, it is my duty to do so, I dove into the great pork chops. The dish was served with perfectly made poblano cheese grits, brown sugar glazed carrots, and creole mustard sauce. I imagined the person who came up with this combination woke up in the middle of the night and made the dish and fell back asleep happy. The carrots were done well, the pork chop was a nice cut and cooked nicely, glazed and sat on top with a great amount of the sweet creole mustard sauce. The poblano cheese grits were a nice cushion to tame down the creole mustard sauce. I felt like a carnivore with this huge cut of pork in front of me, and wondered if I really needed a knife and fork. Why not go all prehistoric-10,000 B.C. on that?

We left The Burning Pear happy with great food, great service, and Michele is back on the cool side.

Honey Chipotle Glaze Ribs

... and that is what's for dinner tonight! The ribs have to be in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Not sure what to serve with the ribs, and I don't really want to go get something from the store. We're gong to need something to tone down the heat from the chipotile besides the honey that's already there.

This is the second time I've made these ribs. They are delicious, and the recipe is from the small Martha Stewart Food magazine. However, I think I've seen this recipe before from the same magazine. Do these publishers repeat their recipes? I know the holiday cookies magazine definitely repeat, or copy off each other, but not so sure about food magazines. I'm sure Bon Appetite or Savour do not copy, but wondering about the other ones...

Pie!

Ammy said she was making an apple pie yesterday. I have yet to taste it! This is her second pie in these couple of weeks. If only I could upload the picture of the first apple pie she had sent me. It looked gorgeous.

Then I turned on the television, tuned to Top Chef, and they had to make a pie of their choice. Watching these chefs make their own pie dough looks so intimidating. As much as I've made cookies and pies, I still have to look at the recipe. I don't remember anything. Nope, haven't done my own pie crust yet. Pillsbury still has a hold on me.

Burner Caught On Fire!

For the first time in my life... my burner caught on fire because of my stupidity.

It was a lot of firsts for me today: I started this blog, I fried something at home, pouring a good amount of canola oil in a frying pan. I fried some falafel (I know, sad, not homemade. It's from a box, but I promise... one of these days), and I fried some frozen waffle fries. So my attempt to pour some of that used oil into a once-spaghetti-sauce jar, some oil spilled onto the hot burner and caught on fire.

I must admit, it was one of those moments that I stared at the fire for a few seconds and really thought, is this really happening? I definitely did not think I would spill? I'm not an Amazon woman! And I didn't think that if I did spill, something crazy would happen? All because of some made-from-the-box falafel and frozen Ore-Ida french fries, neither are food items that I have ever bought in my life. Boy, it got labeled a funny moment in this cooking journey.

The dinner planned tonight was supposed to be Szechwan Beef Stir-Fry served over white rice. After peeling myself off the couch to start on dinner, the cooking channel was talking about frying in your home. So I opened the pantry, stared at the falafel box and thought, hell yeah, I can fry something in my own home. Hell, let's pull out the frozen waffle fries to accompany it and make this a party. The food came out great, and the stovetop was oily and dirty as hell.

So with all that, I made the Szechwan Beef Stir-Fry. Eddie came home. We sat down and then I realized, where is the white rice that is supposed to tame down the hoisin sauce? Yeah, I forgot it. So Eddie and I sat down with falafel, waffle fries, some pita bread we bought from Dumar's, and the beef stir-fry. Yums.

Don't worry. I made up for it from the dessert. I made Butterscotch Bars from scratch. SWEET!

Here I go...!

Jealousy. That is the first word that comes to my mind when I walk into a grocery store, or tune in on a food channel. Jealousy. I am beyond jealous of people who knows which food goes with which, which spice will make a dish extraordinary, and what are some healthiest ways to cook dishes and really enjoy and savor the one thing I love most in life, which is , yes, food.

I can follow a recipe. I have a stack of cooking magazines and a row of cooking books. Some of the pages in both magazines and cookbooks are earmarked, hoping that one day I will breathe in the sensation of that dish and make a great meal. I've attempted to make a few, and both succeeded and failed. Never again will I make Buttermilk Pie. I didn't realize I didn't like buttermilk that much.

My husband Eddie is definitely my guinea pig. He's the first one to try, and the first one to always says he loves whatever is in front of him. I'm definitely not a chef, but I love to cook, and this is my way of trying to learn whatever I can. Like I said, I can follow a recipe. I can read cooking magazines all day, stare at the pictures, marvel at the supposed taste through the colors off the page, and imagine how much cleaning I will have to do after one attempt at any recipe from Bon Appetit. But I will do it, I will take on this challenge!

So here I go, talking about my attempts at any new recipes I've come upon. I will try my best to use the freshest ingredients and make the dish as healthy as I can. I will try to post pictures of my attempts, whether it's a hit or miss. Hopefully through all of this I can become a better cook, eventually a chef, and really master something I love.