I was wondering if anyone was interested in traveling to Hungary and Croatia around mid may for two weeks. I found a pretty decent deal to Budapest on May 14th from Buffalo for $757.00. The only plan I have in place is to get all the way down to Dubrovnik for a few days. We could do the rest of the planning on the fly. If it works out I will be purchasing flights within the next few weeks. I have to do more research on exactly what a reasonable budget would be, but I'm guessing around $1000 for two weeks should be sufficient, it may even be less but that will depend on what it costs to get all the way to Dubrovnik and back. Fortunately neither or these countries uses the Euro yet so its still a bit of a bargain for Americans. You wouldn't need a visa, just a passport. I think they are about $100 if you don't have one. I'm usually pretty fun to travel with and you get the added bonus of watching me eat strange shit. Anyway let me know if you are interested.

Although it isn't quite my bedtime, sounds of construction above my head at 11:45pm is not my idea of relaxing ambiance. I am amazed how quickly the noise stopped after blasting the sex pistols louder than I could stand.

So I have wanted to try this recipe for Bánh Bò Nuong(Vietnamese honeycomb cake) for the last two months. It didn't quite turn out the way I expected. It called for single action baking powder which I thought I found. However I couldn't seem to find my measuring spoons tonight so I just took a guess at what 2 teaspoons was. Also the recipe I used didn't say what size pan to use. Apparently I was wrong about something. When I pulled it out of the oven it was almost touching the top of the door. It was larger than a basketball.



Less than 3 minutes later it deflated and now looks like this.



I wish I had the sense to video it as it died a quick and dramatic death.
Even though it looked really pathetic I had to try it. It tasted nothing like cake, more like a lightly sweet glutinous omelet.

So this soup has lots of ingredients but the finished product is well worth your efforts. There are a couple of things that will be difficult to find at Wegmans. I suggest going to Sungs on Niagara Falls Boulevard, because they will know what you are asking for. The first which is probably the most crucial Kochukaru. Its a Korean red pepper flake and more than likely the package will either be entirely in Korean or what is english won't state Kochu. The other is fresh noodles, don't use the dried stuff, it will be a strange texture. Look for either vermicelli or Chinese water noodles. Basically they are the same thing. But these are what you are seeking.


apparently I'm partial to the Wang brand

Prep list:

Noodles
1 cup pork thinly sliced
1/4 lb squid (tubes and tentacles) Wegmans sells it already cleaned
1/4 lb shrimp shells removed and deveined
10-15 mussels
5 or 6 shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
small onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup carrots julienned
4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
4 green onions cut into 1" lengths
2 red chilies sliced and seeded(I couldn't find fresh this week so I used dried)
tablespoon minced ginger
tablespoon minced garlic
Oil
8 cups of chicken stock
soy sauce
Slightly less than 1/4 cup of Kochukaru

Most of the prep list is self explanatory except for maybe cutting up the squid or cooking mussels. In all honesty I'm not certain I did this right but I was experimenting so I'll show you what I did. Cut the tubes down the seam and make it look like this



Slice into small pieces



Take a small knife and score a criss-cross pattern across the outside surface of the squid. Cut about half way into the meat.



This is supposed to give that "pineapple" look to the squid once its cooked. I think it would have turned out better if I had a heat source that was worth a shit. They did curl up but I think i would have worked better if my wok was hotter.

Clean the mussels well. If there are any broken or open shells discard them. If you tap on the shell and it closes its okay to use, that means its still alive. I don't envy the amount of time you will spend in the bathroom for the next several days if you cook bad mussles. fill a pan with an inch or so of water and boil it, toss mussels in and cook till the shells all open, about 4 minutes. You can either remove the meat or leave it in depending if you want shells in your soup or not.

Ok so once you have washed, chopped, sliced and "measured" your mise en place should look vaguely like this



Alright the hard part is over, have a beer and relax for a minute. Heat the wok or heavy bottomed dutch oven till screaming hot. Dump in some oil till just about smoking and add garlic and ginger, stir fry for about 10 seconds, next add the kochu and fry for another 10-20 seconds. Add pork and stir-fry, add shrimp, squid,mussels and stir-fry till it is all cooked through. Remove the meat and let the pan get hot again and add onions, carrot, chili pepper and stir-fry for a few minutes. Once the veggies have started to give off their juice add the meat back into the pan and mix with the vegetables. Add Napa and green onions and let it cook down a bit. Add the stock and a couple of dashes of soy sauce and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let it gently simmer for about 20 minutes. If it isn't spicy enough add a little bit of Sriracha hot sauce and salt and pepper if you think it needs it. While the soup is simmering boil some water and and cook the noodles according to the package directions.

Place the noodles in the bottom of a deep bowl and ladle soup over them. Garnish with some green onion and sesame seeds. Bon appetite!

I really made this a couple of days ago. But its such a massive undertaking and it freezes and reheats so well It will be my new years dinner. So I made two courses Mandoo (korean beef dumpling), except I used leftover pork, and Jhampong(spicy seafood soup) although this is really Chinese/Korean fusion. I will not BS you, this takes a long ass time to make and has an ungodly amount of ingredients. So if you don't really enjoy cooking this is not the dish for you. I believe everything took me about 3 hours. Measurements are all very rough. If you like more of something add more of it. If you despise an ingredient remove it. Other than maybe something crucial like the stock or spice.

Prep List:

Mandoo:

about 1 cup of Beef or Pork thinly sliced
about 3 cups Napa Cabbage shredded
about 1/2 cup carrots julienned (make them look like a matchstick)
half a small onion sliced thin
a clove of garlic sliced thin
a green onion or two julienned
a package of dumpling/wonton wrappers
Oil(use whatever you like) I used Olive which isn't very asian.

Sauce:
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Sliced green onion

Take ingredients and make them look like this



Stir fry them:
Heat oil in a wok or heavy bottomed dutch oven till almost smoking aka really freaking hot. Add garlic and fry for about 10 seconds add pork and wait for it to brown up a bit, add carrots and onions and cook till it looks edible. Add a couple of splashes of soy sauce then Napa and green onion. Let the napa cook down a little bit till everything looks like this.



Take a spoon of the stir fried goodness and put it in the center of the wrapper. You can either beat up an egg or take a little water and rub it around the perimeter of the wrapper. Like this



There are two ways I know how to fold dumplings the one on the left is significantly easier and quicker while the one on the right looks cooler and takes forever and a day to do. I suggest the one on the left.



When you have made them all you can either boil them for 4 or 5 minutes or fry them till they are Golden on each side. As for the sauce mix said ingredients till it tastes good. I use roughly a soy sauce:sesame oil:rice vinegar in about a 4:3:2 ratio and add a the onions and seeds however you like. These freeze well and can be cooked after an hour of thawing.

Why does my coat smell like windex??? Anyway as usual I rang in the new year serving meals to the drunk, beautiful, and ungrateful. I wished I had made it to the party. Judging by the pictures it looks like everyone had a good time. I had the pleasure of cleaning a mess that two servers who normally don't ever close, (apparently for good reason), left for me. There is something less than celebratory about picking up half eaten lobster tails that didn't quite make it into the trash. Yet another day of taking one for the team.

Despite a few bumps 2007 was a good year. I make only one resolution for 2008. To find one real friend in Buffalo. Moving to a new place I find this is the hardest thing to do. I can adjust to all of the other things. But having real friends in the end will determine whether or not I make Buffalo my home.

Despite my previous post griping about Ice Bowl tickets I'm pretty excited to be able to see a Sabres game at home. Being of the non-cable persuasion the only games I ever get to see are teams from Canada via CBC. Lets Go Red Wings!...er Sabres!

One of the cooks at work has a friend who makes these and he hooked me up with one. Its got all sorts of copyright infringement going on and I guess he isn't making them anymore due to those nagging cease and desist letters. I think its the coolest t-shirt ever.



I love living in an NHL city. Even though I haven't been to a Sabres game yet this year its great to see people actually watching hockey around here. Everywhere I have lived its been a hassle to find a game on at a bar. In Buffalo the game is always on. I'll root for the Sabres as long as they aren't playing my team. I can't wait till they come to town in March. I'll have to sport the new home jersey (e:john) and (e:lizabeth) gave me for Christmas this year.



Don't they look nice together?

Since I'm on the subject of hockey I'm so happy that its been warm this week in Buffalo. Even though I think its cool they are doing an outdoor game here, I'm still bitter about not being able to get tickets. I'm hoping for a high of 50 on new years. I love hockey and even the NHL, but they really need to get rid of Gary Bettman. He is a shitty commissioner and has done nothing but fuck up the league. Im thinking this should be my next shirt purchase.

It was really nice to see my family. But this Christmas really sucked. I have never been so pissed leaving a holiday gathering. Why somebody invited the aunt that nobody likes is beyond me. I almost wonder why I bothered to go. The most fun I had was hanging out with my brother in South FL away from all of the bullshit. Christmas Day was filled with fights and crying and me trying to get people to fucking smile. Even though I have come home to an empty apartment and no plans for the night its way better than having to hear people bitch about about who said what to whom. I hope you all had a better holiday than me.

I have been here since Thursday, I was promptly whisked away from my parents house near Daytona Beach by (e:john) to enjoy a few days in South Florida. It was mostly filled with driving and shopping but we did get a chance to sample a few good restaurants and watch the Maple Leafs beat the Panthers in overtime last night.

A few nights ago we went to an Argentine Steakhouse called Beafeaters in Hollywood. I went there in March last year when I was here. This place is pretty awesome. It is reasonably priced and they have some really good stuff that is hard to find elsewhere. For dinner I had the gaucho plate. It consisted of Churrasco(which is skirt steak), Blood Sausage, and Sweetbreads. I know nothing about Argentine cuisine but based on the menu offerings it seems to consist of meat, with sides of meat, our waitress also offered us a meat appetizer. It all tastes pretty good washed down with a pitcher of sangria. I have been told that Sangria is what the tourists drink in Spain and it usually consists of leftover fruit that is about to go bad. Which I tend to believe, but it doesn't stop me from drinking it because its damn refreshing when it's hot out. Afterward we stopped at the bar next door which has a great selection of beers that I have never seen outside of their respective countries. It appears the bar owner is Polish, and they have about 12 or so types of Polish beer, and an even bigger selection of Belgian Beers. It was strange to see a guy in a Blue Tusk shirt. Blue Tusk is one of the bars in Syracuse with a pretty decent selection of tap beers. I think they boast 69 or something like that.

They hangover cure was at Churchills, a British pub in Little Haiti to watch the Liverpool vs. Portsmouth game. I had my first bangers and mash ever, pretty greasy and delicious, sausages with mashed potatoes and a thin light onion gravy covering it. Since I'm on vacation we decided to get a nice Strongbow buzz going before noon in order to start the day off right. We did some shopping for ingredients/stuff and I found some brew appropriate for my Christmas day. This was the first time I have ever found Hofbrau Dunkel in this country. Although I did find out they have Hofbrauhaus locations all over the world other than Munich, including Miami, which is probably why they had it at this liquor store.

Saturday we went to the Toronto vs. Florida game at the Bank Atlantic center in Sunrise. Thankfully (e:john) and (e:lizabeth) are half season ticket holders and had an extra for me. I haven't ever been to this arena to see a game but of the few I have been to I would have to say it's the nicest. It's kind of odd to see the lone banner hanging from the rafters. There were as many Toronto fans in the crowd as there were Panthers fans. It's similar to being in Buffalo, there is no shortage of Ontario plates around here. There a bunch of restaurants serving "Canadian Cuisine" which I can only assume means poutine. I can't really think of anything else that is strictly Canadian other than maybe peameal bacon. So anyway Florida lost the game in OT on the penalty kill due to a bad call.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Since there has been two posts regarding Absinthe I thought I might share the lesson I recieved last night on how to drink the stuff. So I guess you are supposed to take this leaf shaped spoon with holes in it, and place a sugar cube in the center. Pour the absinthe over the sugar, and then light the what hasn't dissolved on fire. It gets cloudy and actually tastes slightly less like lighter fluid.