Vermillion (10 West Hubbard Street, Chicago, IL 60654, 312-527-4060) is Chef Maneet Chauhan's restaurant. The Chicago restaurant is the flagship; there is another Vermillion in Manhattan, NYC, NY. Chef Chauhan competed in the Next Iron Chef Season 3 and lost in the middle of the season. With the many accolades both the Manhattan and Chicago restaurants have received and Chef Chuhan's Iron Chef fame, accented by the bright red background of the restaurant's website, I was expecting to be bowled over by its vivaciousness.
We made an early evening reservation and arrived to find a quiet restaurant (probably because it was early in the evening). Everthing was impeccably decorated, but quiet and subdued, quite different from what I had imagined. The website boasts of a bold red antique bar that dominates the lounge but I hardly noticed the bar coming in. The rest of the restaurant was as advertised, airy with translucent silver and raw silk drapes. Rather than bold and vivacious, the atmosphere is actually calm and soft atmosphere with light touches of rich accent.
The menu was on the small side, about 12 appetizer items, a separate 10-course degustation menu, about 4 or 5 Latin-Indian fusion courses, 3 "Heat" items (traditional Indian), and another 4 or 5 "Truckstop" items (again traditionally Indian, but more casual fare). My husband picked the Tandoori Skirt Steak and I picked the Shrimp Paella, which actually comes with both shrimp and mussels. Exquisitely plated, the portions were smaller than expected. Neither entree, however, managed to bowl us over. The skirt steak comes with a delightful little jicama citrus salad and a mint-cucumber dressing, which were the highlights. The two fried plantain chips were nice touches as well. The steak itself was unremarkably seasoned, neither Latin-tasting, nor Indian-tasting, and frankly didn't seem to have much salt or spice at all. The paella, though attractive in presentatio,n was strangely imbalanced in taste. The Indian rice poha was attractively yellowed by Turmeric, and nicely moistened by the pearl onions cooked with the rice. But the ancho tequilla marinade did not work for me at all. The ancho chiles were overpowering in heat, and then a strange sour taste that I could not quite place followed. It wasn't until I read the menu again that I discovered that the rice was marinated in ancho tequillia, and it dawned on me that the sour taste was lime from the tequilla!
The highlight of the evening was dessert. We chose to share the three-piece immoderation plate, which came with a nice smooth mango cardamon flan interestingly flavored with pink peppercorn accompanied by an exquisite coconut foam. Here the Indian flavor of cardamon worked very nicely with the Latin flavor of coconut and of course mango is a key ingredient in both cuisines. The middle of the plate was a rice dark chocolate molten cake, with an orange-blueberry sorbet lightly flavored by masala and chili. Another surprisingly nice combination. The chili highlighted rather than overpowered the rich but bittersweet taste, yielding a sophisticatedly textured dessert. Having two nice desserts under our belts (literally), we were surprised to find the third dessert to be even more excellent. The warm plantain cake was very nicely flavored with anise, moalsses, brown sugar, and turmeric. And what we thought was a pudding was actually banana ice cream and traditional Indian shirkhand (strained yogurt). All these different warm flavors were nicely balanced, yielding a warm and comfortable taste but very complex at the same time.
Overall, I rate the restaurant good but not excellent. The atmosphere was calm and sophisticated. The dinner dishes did not win us over, but maybe we'll try some other dishes another time. The desserts, though, were success stories of Latin-Indian fusion, blending rarely seen spices and ingredients in the most harmonious ways.
Beyond the food, as I was reviewing the restaurant's website, I discovered the underlying story of a remarkable woman entrepreneur. Owner Rohini Dey is a PhD economist, who has worked at both the World Bank and McKinsey, and is young and beautiful as well. Read her profile at Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/75ff3456-6ce0-11de-af56-00144feabdc0.htmlGourmet#axzz1Bs5vHuSe
With such a talented and driver leader at the helm, I would watch for more success stories from Vermillion in the future.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Cooking for a crowd
When Tom and I were resident heads almost 20 years ago, we used to cook for large groups all the time. The University of Chicago organizes residential units into "houses". Smaller buildings are sometimes just one house, but larger building were divided into houses that run from 30 to a little over 100 students each, with most houses running around 60 students. These days houses are larger, average about 80-100 students. Each house has a single resident head or a resident head couple, and at least one RA (formally titled Assistant Resident Head, rather than Resident Assistant). We had 60 students in our house, so cooking for 30-60 students was a regular occurrence.
Since we moved out of the dorms in the late 90's, we haven't hosted many large parties at home. There were some church dinners, but then the church we attended at the time was smaller, so church dinners were only 30 people occasions, at the most. The church we are attending now has at least 150 people attending its Sunday worship service. Last month, after one such Sunday, I had the job of providing the "family dinner".
I took a Mostaccioli Casserole recipe from Cooks.com and multiplied everything by 6. So here's how I made enough baked mostaccoli to feed 100 people. I asked the congregation to bring the sides (those with last names A-L bring a salad or vegetable side dish, and those with last names M-Z bring a bread or dessert). I also made one special mostaccioli with mushrooms instead of sausage; one with sausage and no cheese; and one with mushrooms as well as no cheese.
Baked Mostaccioli for 100
modified from Cooks.com
15 lbs. Italian sausage
60 cups of Spaghetti sauce (a 24 oz bottle of Spaghetti sauce is about 2.5 cups)
7.5 cups water
7.5 cups of Parmesan cheese
15 lb Mozarella cheese
15 lb Mostaccioli (or any small dry pasta like penne, rotini, etc)
This works best if you cook about 3 lbs of pasta at a time in a stock pot. While the pasta is cooking, cut up the Italian sausage and brown in a very large pan. Put cooked sausage, the spaghetti sauce and the water in a big pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce.
The assembly is fun, very similar to assembling lasagnas. In a 13" by 9" foil pan layer one cup sauce, then one layer of pasta, then two cups of sauce, and two cups of mozarella on top of the sauce. Repeat with a layer of pasta, a layer of sauce, and a layer of mozarella. Bake each pan for 30-40 minutes until heated through and enjoy.
Since we moved out of the dorms in the late 90's, we haven't hosted many large parties at home. There were some church dinners, but then the church we attended at the time was smaller, so church dinners were only 30 people occasions, at the most. The church we are attending now has at least 150 people attending its Sunday worship service. Last month, after one such Sunday, I had the job of providing the "family dinner".
I took a Mostaccioli Casserole recipe from Cooks.com and multiplied everything by 6. So here's how I made enough baked mostaccoli to feed 100 people. I asked the congregation to bring the sides (those with last names A-L bring a salad or vegetable side dish, and those with last names M-Z bring a bread or dessert). I also made one special mostaccioli with mushrooms instead of sausage; one with sausage and no cheese; and one with mushrooms as well as no cheese.
Baked Mostaccioli for 100
modified from Cooks.com
15 lbs. Italian sausage
60 cups of Spaghetti sauce (a 24 oz bottle of Spaghetti sauce is about 2.5 cups)
7.5 cups water
7.5 cups of Parmesan cheese
15 lb Mozarella cheese
15 lb Mostaccioli (or any small dry pasta like penne, rotini, etc)
This works best if you cook about 3 lbs of pasta at a time in a stock pot. While the pasta is cooking, cut up the Italian sausage and brown in a very large pan. Put cooked sausage, the spaghetti sauce and the water in a big pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce.
The assembly is fun, very similar to assembling lasagnas. In a 13" by 9" foil pan layer one cup sauce, then one layer of pasta, then two cups of sauce, and two cups of mozarella on top of the sauce. Repeat with a layer of pasta, a layer of sauce, and a layer of mozarella. Bake each pan for 30-40 minutes until heated through and enjoy.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
New Year Pork Roast
Yesterday was a quiet a home New Year's day with white chili at home because New Year's Eve was a big food fest at a friend's home, with wonderful Argentinian food. Today we had friends over after church so we can have a proper New Year's Day celebration (albeit one day late). In order to speed up the cooking, I started the rice and beans in the Chinese rice cooker with chicken broth and also put the pork roast in the slow cooker with just a little water and a little soy sauce. We left home for about 1.5 hours for church and then I rubbed the pork with the spice mixture and put some of the liquid from the crockpot in the roast pan and finished the pork by roasting in the oven for another hour. In the mean time, I finished the Hopping John and quickly sauteed the broccoli and wild mushrooms. Here are the recipes:
Pork Roast
1st step in crockpot:
3.5 lb pork loin roast
2 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 cup water
Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of a 6 qt crockpot (I used an oval-shaped crockpot so I didn't have to cut the roast). Carefully place pork roast inside the crockpot. Spoon soy sauce over the roast, trying to cover as evenly as possible. Turn crockpot on high.
2nd step in oven (after 1.5 hours in crockpot):
1 teaspoon each dried thyme, rosemary, basil, coriander, fennel
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
Put partially cooked pork roast in roast pan . Mix dried herbs and pepper. Use a food processor if desired for a smoother consistency. Rub herb mixture onto pork roast. Mix olive oil and soy sauce. Pour over the pork roast. Add as much of the liquid from the crock post to cover the bottom of the roast pan as possible. Roast in 375 degree oven for about an hour (until center temperature registers 155 degrees).
Hopping John
1st step in rice cooker:
3 cups long grain rice
1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas
2 chicken bullion cubes
6 cups water
Put all the ingredients in rice cooker and cook according to instructions. Rice will be pretty sticky. Can reduce amount of water for a grainier, less sticky consistency.
2nd step on stove top:
3 cups chopped celery
1 small onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Cooked rice and beans mixture from step 1
Heat oil in 4 quart saucepan or dutch oven. Saute celery and onion until soft. Add cooked rice and bean mixture. Stir to mix well.
Broccoli and wild mushrooms
2 broccoli crowns, cut in stir-fry size pieces
8 oz. mixed wild mushrooms
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Put water in frying pan. Cook broccoli in the water. Cover frying pan and cook broccoli until soft. Remove lid. Add mushrooms. Cook until everything is tender. Season with the soy sauce.
Pork Roast
1st step in crockpot:
3.5 lb pork loin roast
2 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 cup water
Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of a 6 qt crockpot (I used an oval-shaped crockpot so I didn't have to cut the roast). Carefully place pork roast inside the crockpot. Spoon soy sauce over the roast, trying to cover as evenly as possible. Turn crockpot on high.
2nd step in oven (after 1.5 hours in crockpot):
1 teaspoon each dried thyme, rosemary, basil, coriander, fennel
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
Put partially cooked pork roast in roast pan . Mix dried herbs and pepper. Use a food processor if desired for a smoother consistency. Rub herb mixture onto pork roast. Mix olive oil and soy sauce. Pour over the pork roast. Add as much of the liquid from the crock post to cover the bottom of the roast pan as possible. Roast in 375 degree oven for about an hour (until center temperature registers 155 degrees).
Hopping John
1st step in rice cooker:
3 cups long grain rice
1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas
2 chicken bullion cubes
6 cups water
Put all the ingredients in rice cooker and cook according to instructions. Rice will be pretty sticky. Can reduce amount of water for a grainier, less sticky consistency.
2nd step on stove top:
3 cups chopped celery
1 small onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Cooked rice and beans mixture from step 1
Heat oil in 4 quart saucepan or dutch oven. Saute celery and onion until soft. Add cooked rice and bean mixture. Stir to mix well.
Broccoli and wild mushrooms
2 broccoli crowns, cut in stir-fry size pieces
8 oz. mixed wild mushrooms
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Put water in frying pan. Cook broccoli in the water. Cover frying pan and cook broccoli until soft. Remove lid. Add mushrooms. Cook until everything is tender. Season with the soy sauce.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Shut down, level up, restart!
It's another new year, full of resolutions, hopes, and dreams. I decided to dust off this old blog, dormant since early 2007, and restart with a fresh new look.
This blog will mostly be devoted to food and cooking, and restaurant reviews as well. And there will be a separate blog for my other interests.
Here is a recipe I just shared on Facebook for white chili. Basically any white bean can be used with this chili. Using canned beans and ground meat saves time, but shredded or chopped turkey and chicken would work too. For a spicier version, consider adding green chiles or more cayenne pepper.
Easy White Chili
1 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey (can also use ground chicken or turkey and chicken chopped into small pieces)
2 cans (15 oz each) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (can also use white navy beans or other white beans)
2 cups chicken broth or turkey broth
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
cayenne pepper, to taste
sour cream and/or shredded Monterey Jack cheese to thicken
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
In a medium saucepan, saute onion and turkey until turkey is cooked. Add beans and broth, bring to boil. Add cumin, oregano, rosemary, pepper, lower heat and let simmer for at least 20 minutes or until flavors are well blended. Add sour cream and/or Monterey Jack cheese to thicken chili a little (I only had mozzarella at home and used that instead). If desired, add more shredded cheese on top and chopped parsley to garnish. Serve warm with tortillas or bread.
This blog will mostly be devoted to food and cooking, and restaurant reviews as well. And there will be a separate blog for my other interests.
Here is a recipe I just shared on Facebook for white chili. Basically any white bean can be used with this chili. Using canned beans and ground meat saves time, but shredded or chopped turkey and chicken would work too. For a spicier version, consider adding green chiles or more cayenne pepper.
Easy White Chili
1 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey (can also use ground chicken or turkey and chicken chopped into small pieces)
2 cans (15 oz each) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (can also use white navy beans or other white beans)
2 cups chicken broth or turkey broth
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
cayenne pepper, to taste
sour cream and/or shredded Monterey Jack cheese to thicken
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
In a medium saucepan, saute onion and turkey until turkey is cooked. Add beans and broth, bring to boil. Add cumin, oregano, rosemary, pepper, lower heat and let simmer for at least 20 minutes or until flavors are well blended. Add sour cream and/or Monterey Jack cheese to thicken chili a little (I only had mozzarella at home and used that instead). If desired, add more shredded cheese on top and chopped parsley to garnish. Serve warm with tortillas or bread.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Celebrate success
I heard some good news on Friday. So I decided to have a celebration dinner last night. It was a scrumptious meal:
Spiced Squash Soup
Lettuce Salad
Crab Cakes
Broiled Salmon with a medley of green, red, and orange peppers
Mint Chocolate Ice Cream (no I didn't make this myself, but Edy's is pretty good)
It's fun to marry the hearty fall flavor of squash soup with seafood. I was originally going to bake pork chop but I think I ended up with a better combination. Here's the recipe for the crab cakes, real simple, but yummy:
24 oz crab meat
2 tb mayonnaise
1/2 tsp each cayenne and salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2/3 cups breadcrumbs
Mix crab meat, mayonnaise, cayenne, and salt. Add onions. Mix until well blended. Add the 2 eggs and breadcrumbs until the mixture just binds. Form into patties 1.5 inches in diameter. Don't handle too much or mixture will become too dry and tough. Heat skillet over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil until just sizzling. Fry until golden brown on one side. Turn and fry until the other side is golden brown too.
Bon appetit!
Spiced Squash Soup
Lettuce Salad
Crab Cakes
Broiled Salmon with a medley of green, red, and orange peppers
Mint Chocolate Ice Cream (no I didn't make this myself, but Edy's is pretty good)
It's fun to marry the hearty fall flavor of squash soup with seafood. I was originally going to bake pork chop but I think I ended up with a better combination. Here's the recipe for the crab cakes, real simple, but yummy:
24 oz crab meat
2 tb mayonnaise
1/2 tsp each cayenne and salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2/3 cups breadcrumbs
Mix crab meat, mayonnaise, cayenne, and salt. Add onions. Mix until well blended. Add the 2 eggs and breadcrumbs until the mixture just binds. Form into patties 1.5 inches in diameter. Don't handle too much or mixture will become too dry and tough. Heat skillet over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil until just sizzling. Fry until golden brown on one side. Turn and fry until the other side is golden brown too.
Bon appetit!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Simple Fall Salad
My out-of-blog life has been kind of chaotic for the past two months, but here I am again.
Today I created a nice salad for lunch. We needed a quick and nutritious meal between eye appointments and fabric shopping. So I cut up some roast turkey breast to make a salad. Thinking that a turkey and lettuce salad seems bland, I added raisins for a nice punch of flavor. But the contrast of taste between turkey and raisin seems a little sharp, so as a binder of the two flavors, I added some cubes of fresh pear. No salad dressing needed. The salad is fine eaten by itself. Here is the recipe:
3 cups of lettuce leaves ( I used a combination of red and green leaf)
about 0.5 lb turkey, cubed( I used a roast turkey breast)
2 small pears, cubed
half a cup raisins
That's it!
Today I created a nice salad for lunch. We needed a quick and nutritious meal between eye appointments and fabric shopping. So I cut up some roast turkey breast to make a salad. Thinking that a turkey and lettuce salad seems bland, I added raisins for a nice punch of flavor. But the contrast of taste between turkey and raisin seems a little sharp, so as a binder of the two flavors, I added some cubes of fresh pear. No salad dressing needed. The salad is fine eaten by itself. Here is the recipe:
3 cups of lettuce leaves ( I used a combination of red and green leaf)
about 0.5 lb turkey, cubed( I used a roast turkey breast)
2 small pears, cubed
half a cup raisins
That's it!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Recipes from the heart
This weekend some of my husband's relatives are in town for a family reuion. Although we had decided not to join the reunion activities, we did have a chance to get together with a handful of relatives yesterday afternoon. One of the many topics we covered was food. It was delightful hearing this group of older African American women recount memorable dishes by their mothers and aunts.
There was the story of how one woman who grew up in a rural Missippi town was happy that her older sister who had moved to town to work had come back one weekend. Their father had just bought some beef stew meat. The older sister woke up early in the morning and cooked the stew down, really down low, getting the meat all tender and flavorful. It was so good that the other sister still remembers the dish and the love the sister poured out on it more than six decades later.
There was another story about how one woman can bake anything. Moist cakes, crisp biscuits, and ooh she would make biscuits and then use the biscuits to make pie crust for the yummiest peach pie. Sounds great, especially if the peaches were picked from the backyard too.
The lady who hosted this gathering was of course herself a good cook. Even though she had just "gotten something together quickly", the food she served at this gathering was again honest down home cooking with no cheating--baked sausage, jerk chicken, creamed corn, spaghetti salad with tomatoes and imitation crab meat. And she served her famous pound cake for dessert--buttery, moist, sweet but balanced with a slight lemon flavor. A little piece hits just the right spot after dinner.
It gets me to thinking that these Black grandmother on my husband's side of the family are cut from the same piece of silk as the Chinese grandmothers on my side of the family. OK neither of my grandmothers were good cooks because of their particular circumstances. But my great-grandmother was a passionate cook just like these other ladies we talked about yesterday. She made the dessert soups ever--red bean soup, sweet potato soup, etc. She made them whenever she felt like it, whenever I felt bad, and just because.
After hearing about all these recipes that warms the stomach as well as the heart, I decided to make some county food myself. No, not African American county food the ladies were dwelling on yesterday, although I make some finger licking corn bread myself too. But I thought about the movie The Road Home (2001, starring Zhang Ziyi) in which the young girl kept making Green Onion Pancake to send to the school, hoping to get the young teacher's attention. In the end, it did, and they were married for many, many years, running the little village school together.
So I made Green Onion Pancakes (it's actually not a pancake but a savory flatbread). Here's the very simple recipe:
2 cups flour
1 tsp sale
1 cup water
Mix together to form smooth dough. Knead on floured surface for a few minutes. Divide into 12 balls. Flatten each ball into a thin circle using a rolling pin. Heat over oil in skillet for 3-5 minutes each side. Serve warm. Goes very well with soy milk.
Feels good to close the loop on yesterday's conversation with a good country biscuit from my own tradition.
There was the story of how one woman who grew up in a rural Missippi town was happy that her older sister who had moved to town to work had come back one weekend. Their father had just bought some beef stew meat. The older sister woke up early in the morning and cooked the stew down, really down low, getting the meat all tender and flavorful. It was so good that the other sister still remembers the dish and the love the sister poured out on it more than six decades later.
There was another story about how one woman can bake anything. Moist cakes, crisp biscuits, and ooh she would make biscuits and then use the biscuits to make pie crust for the yummiest peach pie. Sounds great, especially if the peaches were picked from the backyard too.
The lady who hosted this gathering was of course herself a good cook. Even though she had just "gotten something together quickly", the food she served at this gathering was again honest down home cooking with no cheating--baked sausage, jerk chicken, creamed corn, spaghetti salad with tomatoes and imitation crab meat. And she served her famous pound cake for dessert--buttery, moist, sweet but balanced with a slight lemon flavor. A little piece hits just the right spot after dinner.
It gets me to thinking that these Black grandmother on my husband's side of the family are cut from the same piece of silk as the Chinese grandmothers on my side of the family. OK neither of my grandmothers were good cooks because of their particular circumstances. But my great-grandmother was a passionate cook just like these other ladies we talked about yesterday. She made the dessert soups ever--red bean soup, sweet potato soup, etc. She made them whenever she felt like it, whenever I felt bad, and just because.
After hearing about all these recipes that warms the stomach as well as the heart, I decided to make some county food myself. No, not African American county food the ladies were dwelling on yesterday, although I make some finger licking corn bread myself too. But I thought about the movie The Road Home (2001, starring Zhang Ziyi) in which the young girl kept making Green Onion Pancake to send to the school, hoping to get the young teacher's attention. In the end, it did, and they were married for many, many years, running the little village school together.
So I made Green Onion Pancakes (it's actually not a pancake but a savory flatbread). Here's the very simple recipe:
2 cups flour
1 tsp sale
1 cup water
Mix together to form smooth dough. Knead on floured surface for a few minutes. Divide into 12 balls. Flatten each ball into a thin circle using a rolling pin. Heat over oil in skillet for 3-5 minutes each side. Serve warm. Goes very well with soy milk.
Feels good to close the loop on yesterday's conversation with a good country biscuit from my own tradition.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Back to food, and more
Back to food, one of my favorite topics.
Yesterday I made pasta with bay scallops (the tiny kind, 60-80 count), brocolli, and a yummy pesto I made on Sunday with parsley and basil. I like making pesto with a 50-50 mix of parsley and basil because the parsley stays green with refrigeration whereas the basil turns black after a while. It doesn't affect the taste, just the asethetics, but I must remember to balance all three senses--color, fragrance, and taste--in my cooking so as not to offend my Chinese ancestors. Anyway, the pesto was great with the pasta. I still have a jar enough for at least 2 more similar sized meals, or maybe one good dinner with friends. Guess I should pull up that address list on my Yahoo mail before the summer is over.
Tonight's dinner was broiled chicken breast with a balsamic glaze. OK, I confess, the glaze was from a bottle, and a free sample from Peapod no less, but it was good stuff. Talking about friends, the last time I used it was almost a whole year ago when an old friend visited from LA with her fiance. She's a teacher and he's an artist. We had great fun and got several very creative original prints a few months later as thank you gifts.
After dinner, I played the piano for a while. Yes, after one's filled with good food, one needs food for the soul as well. I picked up this volume of 68 piano classics from Borders the other day for under $8. It contains a wide range of pieces from Bach to Shostakovitch. But unlike the other 3 or 4 compilations I own, I haven't played at least half of these songs before. It promises to be a fun summer of piano adventures.
Here's what I played tonight: Beethoven's Ecossaises (sounds vaguely Asian, very delightful tune); Beethoven's Minuet in G (heard this before, didn't know it was Beethoven); the intro and Var. 1 of Beethoven's Six Variations from the opera La Molinara (never played this before, will try the other variations later in the week); Brahms' Hungarian Dance (a bit heavy fingered, hey I was sight-reading after all); Chopin's Prelude Op. 28. No. 7 (a short three liner); Caesar Franck's The Doll's Complaint (or Le Plaintes d'une Poupee); and finally Mendelssohn's Venetian Boat Song Op. 19. No. 6 (which I practiced for months years and years ago for music festival competition). It felt good to pour my feelings on the keyboard for a while at the end of a work day.
Yesterday I made pasta with bay scallops (the tiny kind, 60-80 count), brocolli, and a yummy pesto I made on Sunday with parsley and basil. I like making pesto with a 50-50 mix of parsley and basil because the parsley stays green with refrigeration whereas the basil turns black after a while. It doesn't affect the taste, just the asethetics, but I must remember to balance all three senses--color, fragrance, and taste--in my cooking so as not to offend my Chinese ancestors. Anyway, the pesto was great with the pasta. I still have a jar enough for at least 2 more similar sized meals, or maybe one good dinner with friends. Guess I should pull up that address list on my Yahoo mail before the summer is over.
Tonight's dinner was broiled chicken breast with a balsamic glaze. OK, I confess, the glaze was from a bottle, and a free sample from Peapod no less, but it was good stuff. Talking about friends, the last time I used it was almost a whole year ago when an old friend visited from LA with her fiance. She's a teacher and he's an artist. We had great fun and got several very creative original prints a few months later as thank you gifts.
After dinner, I played the piano for a while. Yes, after one's filled with good food, one needs food for the soul as well. I picked up this volume of 68 piano classics from Borders the other day for under $8. It contains a wide range of pieces from Bach to Shostakovitch. But unlike the other 3 or 4 compilations I own, I haven't played at least half of these songs before. It promises to be a fun summer of piano adventures.
Here's what I played tonight: Beethoven's Ecossaises (sounds vaguely Asian, very delightful tune); Beethoven's Minuet in G (heard this before, didn't know it was Beethoven); the intro and Var. 1 of Beethoven's Six Variations from the opera La Molinara (never played this before, will try the other variations later in the week); Brahms' Hungarian Dance (a bit heavy fingered, hey I was sight-reading after all); Chopin's Prelude Op. 28. No. 7 (a short three liner); Caesar Franck's The Doll's Complaint (or Le Plaintes d'une Poupee); and finally Mendelssohn's Venetian Boat Song Op. 19. No. 6 (which I practiced for months years and years ago for music festival competition). It felt good to pour my feelings on the keyboard for a while at the end of a work day.
Language Research
I'm participating in a language research project by U Penn, http://mixer.ldc.upen.edu. Basically folks are recruited to call into the line and have a 10 minute conversation with another caller in theri native language. Usually you just dial in and see who is around who may speak your language. If not, you continue the conversation in English. Earlier today (I know it's past midnight, but I haven't gone to bed for the night yet...) I talked to two different Cantonese-speaking women. Very fun. And of course I fell asleep with the full intention of dialing back in at 9 pm EST for another round of conversations. The purpose of the research is to gather a large speech corpora recorded over the phone to help telephone sound technology deliver high quality speech sounds for a large number of languages. Hey only an ex-linguist would understand the significance. My conversation partners this afternoon were totally in the dark with respect to why anyone would want to record Cantonese phone conversation.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
A new look and feel
I decided to retitle this blog to "Not By Bread Alone". This is a reference to Matthew 4:4, where Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". I thought, how appropriate to frame my interests in exactly these two categories--food and words. Food of course refers not only to food that we eat, but also food for thought (i.e. ideas, learning) and food for the soul (i.e. music, art, etc). And word of course is expression of thought (again not just in written and oral expression, but also as expressed in culture, in emotions, and in spirituality.) In other words, food can also sometimes be word and vice versa.
But now onto some real words about some real food...
Here's the list of entrees I made last week: Broiled Salmon with Lemon and Soy; Lemon-Oregano Chicken (a fantastic organic chicken from Peapod, with fresh lemon and fresh oregano from my Angelic Organics boxes); Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cauliflower (the garlic tops from my Angelic Organics box give a mild and fresh garlic flavor) ; and Portabello and Tomato Pasta (at which my husband gently suggested, "This would taste good with Italian sausage in it") Humph, carnivores!
Unfortunately because I had to work late on Friday, hubby ordered Edwardo's. Good hearty all-meat pizza for the rest of the family and a wimpy chicken caesar salad for mommy. Saturday again was another order out day, because I came home after a long day of shopping with my oldest daughter. Knowing that I wanted more flavor for dinner, I ordered from Noodles, etc (www. noodlesetc.com), a very cute, woman-owned Pan-Asian noodle shop in the neighborhood. I think everyone else enjoyed their selections, but I especially enjoyed the Pancit, a nice mild blend of flavors very reminiscent of the luscious terrain of the Phillipines.
After having to taste other people's cooking two nights in a row, tonight I made a pork tenderloin with Charlie Trotter's Thai BBQ sauce. The guy may be a primadona, but he sure makes good food. The pork was accompanied by roasted yellow squash, very tender and yummy. I also roasted some beets too, but haven't yet figured out what to do with the roast beets. They'll probably make an appearance in a salad within the next couple of days. Right now, bread is being baked in the bread maker for the kids to make sandwiches to take to day camp tomorrow. Hey my mother never did this for me. :)
That's enough talk about food (even bread). Tomorrow I shall turn to other kinds of things that feed my soul.
But now onto some real words about some real food...
Here's the list of entrees I made last week: Broiled Salmon with Lemon and Soy; Lemon-Oregano Chicken (a fantastic organic chicken from Peapod, with fresh lemon and fresh oregano from my Angelic Organics boxes); Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cauliflower (the garlic tops from my Angelic Organics box give a mild and fresh garlic flavor) ; and Portabello and Tomato Pasta (at which my husband gently suggested, "This would taste good with Italian sausage in it") Humph, carnivores!
Unfortunately because I had to work late on Friday, hubby ordered Edwardo's. Good hearty all-meat pizza for the rest of the family and a wimpy chicken caesar salad for mommy. Saturday again was another order out day, because I came home after a long day of shopping with my oldest daughter. Knowing that I wanted more flavor for dinner, I ordered from Noodles, etc (www. noodlesetc.com), a very cute, woman-owned Pan-Asian noodle shop in the neighborhood. I think everyone else enjoyed their selections, but I especially enjoyed the Pancit, a nice mild blend of flavors very reminiscent of the luscious terrain of the Phillipines.
After having to taste other people's cooking two nights in a row, tonight I made a pork tenderloin with Charlie Trotter's Thai BBQ sauce. The guy may be a primadona, but he sure makes good food. The pork was accompanied by roasted yellow squash, very tender and yummy. I also roasted some beets too, but haven't yet figured out what to do with the roast beets. They'll probably make an appearance in a salad within the next couple of days. Right now, bread is being baked in the bread maker for the kids to make sandwiches to take to day camp tomorrow. Hey my mother never did this for me. :)
That's enough talk about food (even bread). Tomorrow I shall turn to other kinds of things that feed my soul.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Creative outlets
Catching up on my daily blog here with a little pre-dawn action. My current job (or role as they call it in my company) has proven to be rather restrictive in terms of scope, influence, and creativity. So to balance the style I'm boxed in for about 10 hours each day, I've been trying to feed the creative side of me with music making and food making. Soon I should get into some craft projects and perhaps learn a new language. The possibilities are endless when you're interested in so many things.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Passion for good taste
Among my many passions is the desire to create good food. I naturally like Asian or Asian inspired tastes, but sometimes also like good old American, but always with a bit of a twist. For Memorial Day, I wanted to create a Surf and Turf meal, but with a bit of an Asian and Middle Eastern mixed in for a modern American taste. Here are my recipes for Broiled Steak and Fish and Tomato Chickpea Salad. If you work quickly, the salad can easily be completed while the steak and fish are under the broiler. Enjoy!
Memorial Day Surf and Turf
2 10 oz NY Strip Steak
4 TB olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 TB soy sauce
Memorial Day Surf and Turf
2 10 oz NY Strip Steak
4 TB olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 TB soy sauce
2 8 oz. Mahi Mahi filets
4 TB olive oil
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 TB soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Brush each steak with 1 TB olive oil, then put ¼ tsp each salt and pepper on steak. Spread with brush or back of spoon to evenly coat. Then repeat seasoning in the same proportions on the other side. Place steaks on broiler pan.
Brush each filet with 1 TB olive oil followed by ½ TB lemon juice, then put ¼ tsp pepper on each filet, again be sure to coat evenly. Again repeat on the other side. Place filets on the same broiler pan with the steaks. Be sure to set the filets with skin side up.
Tomato Chickpea Salad
1 15-oz can of chickpeas
1 small onion, chopped
2 green scallions, chopped
3 plum tomatoes , cut in large pieces
1 teaspoon cumin
3 TB balsamic vinegar
Put the cumin and chickpeas in saucepan. Simmer in just enough water to cover the chickpeas for approximately 3 minutes. Take out the chickpeas, draining the water and set aside. Cook chopped onion and scallions in 2 tsp oil for 30-45 seconds until just tender. Take out and add to chickpeas in bowl. Cool completely (I put the bowl in the fridge at this point while I cut the tomatoes up). When cool (about 3-5 minutes in fridge), toss tomato pieces, chickpeas, onions, and scallions in 3 TB balsamic vinegar and serve.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
I have a dream
My youngest child learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr at school this week. In his words, "The teachers asked me if I knew about him and I said no, so they read a book, and then everyone had to talk about it." The teacher then posted what the children said on the bulletin board entitled "I have a dream" and my son's entry was "that the black ones and the white ones can drink water together." Very nicely accomplished for a 4-year-old.
Then I asked him if he is a white person or a black person, to which he answered, "I have a white shirt so I'm a white person; and Daddy has a black shirt on so he's a black person." It's refreshing to know that 4-year-olds don't distinguish between people based on skin color yet. :)
Then I asked him if he is a white person or a black person, to which he answered, "I have a white shirt so I'm a white person; and Daddy has a black shirt on so he's a black person." It's refreshing to know that 4-year-olds don't distinguish between people based on skin color yet. :)
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Time to breathe again
I left my job yesterday. Well at least officially, though there is still a temporary contract being finalized. This gives me time, for the moment, for some non-work interests. It will be fun to spend time on writing, music, and crafts again. Also time to clean and organize. This is a new month and I'll be writing every day again. What joy! It feels like I put a large part of my life on hold for a past couple of years. Today begins a new day. I'll take a new breath and enjoy life.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Back from Hong Kong
It's great to be back "home" in Hong Kong for just over a week. I had the opportunity to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday with my family. There was of course the usual sightseeing and shopping, paying respects to departed loved ones at their gravesites, getting together with friends... I also got to see my old school, albeit from the outside, and the neighborhood I grew up in, and was very surprised to see the old tire shop and the old snack store still in their old places, still with the same owners.
The customer service staff in shops are much more polite and patient than before, as are bus, taxi, even public van drivers. The streets are cleaner. The aire is cleaner. There are more domestic helpers--Phillipina, Thai, Idonesian--everywhere, not only in upper-middle class neighborhoods, but in solidly middle class and lower middle class neighborhoods. A growing number of Nepalese girls work in hair salons and restaurants. But as international as Hong Kong is, cultural standards and expectations are still constrained in a very narrow band. It's still essentially a monolingual moncultural society which borrows liberally from other cultures, but adapts these foreign cultural elements aggressively into a uniquely Chinese version.
Ah it's nice to visit, but it's also nice to be reminded what I didn't like about Hong Kong. Next time I'll take the children and show them that side of the world.
The customer service staff in shops are much more polite and patient than before, as are bus, taxi, even public van drivers. The streets are cleaner. The aire is cleaner. There are more domestic helpers--Phillipina, Thai, Idonesian--everywhere, not only in upper-middle class neighborhoods, but in solidly middle class and lower middle class neighborhoods. A growing number of Nepalese girls work in hair salons and restaurants. But as international as Hong Kong is, cultural standards and expectations are still constrained in a very narrow band. It's still essentially a monolingual moncultural society which borrows liberally from other cultures, but adapts these foreign cultural elements aggressively into a uniquely Chinese version.
Ah it's nice to visit, but it's also nice to be reminded what I didn't like about Hong Kong. Next time I'll take the children and show them that side of the world.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Redoubling my efforts
I'm deboubling my effort to write in my blog every day. It's just like exercising regularly, or going on a diet. It just takes quite a bit to get started, but once I get in the groove, everything falls into place automatically. I like writing but spend way too much time thinking than putting thoughts on paper (or its electronic cousin.)
So yesterday I gave my administrative assistant her annual review. As usual, it is glowing. She is organized, professional, responsive, discreet, deals well with internal and external customers, what more can you ask for. Well, you can. She herself wants to move away from supporting others to building an expertise of her own. Last fall, in large part due to my encouragement, she started evening classes towards completing an undergraduate degree in business. It will take her another 2 to 2.5 years to finish at this point. Unfortunately she'll have to take a leave of absence in the fall semester due to surgery, but I encourage her to go back in January.
Once her undergrad is completed, she wants to pursue a career in training and development. So we discussed different career paths and preparations. It's fun to play academic adviser again. When I used to do it as a full-time job, it was exciting to see all the possibilities in front of 18 and 19 year olds. Now it's great to see all the possibilities in front of a 45 year old. Life is ever changing and ever growing. Each of us needs to grow with our lives.
So yesterday I gave my administrative assistant her annual review. As usual, it is glowing. She is organized, professional, responsive, discreet, deals well with internal and external customers, what more can you ask for. Well, you can. She herself wants to move away from supporting others to building an expertise of her own. Last fall, in large part due to my encouragement, she started evening classes towards completing an undergraduate degree in business. It will take her another 2 to 2.5 years to finish at this point. Unfortunately she'll have to take a leave of absence in the fall semester due to surgery, but I encourage her to go back in January.
Once her undergrad is completed, she wants to pursue a career in training and development. So we discussed different career paths and preparations. It's fun to play academic adviser again. When I used to do it as a full-time job, it was exciting to see all the possibilities in front of 18 and 19 year olds. Now it's great to see all the possibilities in front of a 45 year old. Life is ever changing and ever growing. Each of us needs to grow with our lives.
Monday, August 15, 2005
My great aunt
My great aunt passed away a couple of days ago following a stroke. It was a good peaceful way to pass away. She was spending time with her children and grandchildren at a vacation home on the ocean front when she had her stroke. She had always said that she desire to just pass away in her sleep. This is very close, since she never regained consciousness from the stroke, and died within a few days.
I won't be able to make it to the west coast for the funeral. But I am grieving quietly from afar, not only grieving for the passing of a woman with an interesting life, but grieving for the passing of yet another person in her generation. I think she is the last person in her generation I have known enough to get part of her story. Everyone else has passed on.
There are some remarkable stories, mostly of strong-willed women, in my family. I keep saying I want to write these stories. Now is not too late to start.
I won't be able to make it to the west coast for the funeral. But I am grieving quietly from afar, not only grieving for the passing of a woman with an interesting life, but grieving for the passing of yet another person in her generation. I think she is the last person in her generation I have known enough to get part of her story. Everyone else has passed on.
There are some remarkable stories, mostly of strong-willed women, in my family. I keep saying I want to write these stories. Now is not too late to start.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
The Disappearing Govbot
I read in today's Hong Kong news about how the Examination Authority mis-graded the English Part B paper of the Hong Kong School Certificate Exam. No, they didn't mis-grade one or two papers. There were a total of 670 wrong grades! The Examination Authority announced this a few days after the school cert results were out, never mind that this test literally affects the life and future of millions of students. Most of the grades were adjusted upwards, yielding a total of 23 students who were previously denied spots in Form 6 because of failed English grades who now qualify for a Form 6 spot.
The aggravating thing is that the Education Department urged schools to be "generous" in opening one or two extra spots for the students, but wouldn't give the schools more funding if they do. Also aggravating is the fact that news of the wrong grades came out on Friday and no officials were available to talk to reporters for half the day on Friday because they were "in meetings". Then on Saturday, instead of putting in emergency increased hours to answer questions from students, parents, and schools, the relevant departments only opened their usual half-day Saturday hours.
Watching this from across the Pacific, I just can't help but compare HK government to US government. Okay, we don't ever open on Saturdays, so HK is one up on us. But the disappearing civil service bureaucracy is a reality here as well as in other countries. Thirty forty years ago, HK government was a fine place for a bright young man (okay, they only took care of bright young men then because there was nothing for bright young women other than teaching and nursing). People used to say that going into banking is getting a gold rice bowl and going into government is getting an iron rice bowl--not as glamorous or expensive as a gold rice bowl, but it wouldn't break! Now, bright young people don't go into public service and civil service positions are being eliminated left and right in the name of budget management. Top level civil service positions are being replaced by political appointments, in HK, as in the US.
So what we find are holes everywhere. People who are not as qualified or not as bright working in civil service jobs who make mistakes grading papers, among other things. To top it off, the systems are old too. I bet you HK government is using the same crumbling old mainframes installed in the late 70's and early 80's we are using in federal, state, and municipal government agencies in the US. I am of course most familiar with my own Agency, but a friend who works for the school district says they can't even figure out who's on their payroll easily out of their system. Welcome to 2005, using a completely outdated model of human and technological infrastructure.
I'm not saying that the old civil service bureaucracy was perfect. By no means. But it was predictable. Change happened slowly, but usually in a carefully planned way. By eliminating positions willy-nilly in an effort to cut costs, by placing inexperienced, ego-puffed political hecks in powerful decision-making positions, and by not having good strategic processes to replace old physical and technological infrastructure, government as an industry is heading towards a crisis everywhere. And who would have the vision, the knowledge, and the courage to fix it?
The aggravating thing is that the Education Department urged schools to be "generous" in opening one or two extra spots for the students, but wouldn't give the schools more funding if they do. Also aggravating is the fact that news of the wrong grades came out on Friday and no officials were available to talk to reporters for half the day on Friday because they were "in meetings". Then on Saturday, instead of putting in emergency increased hours to answer questions from students, parents, and schools, the relevant departments only opened their usual half-day Saturday hours.
Watching this from across the Pacific, I just can't help but compare HK government to US government. Okay, we don't ever open on Saturdays, so HK is one up on us. But the disappearing civil service bureaucracy is a reality here as well as in other countries. Thirty forty years ago, HK government was a fine place for a bright young man (okay, they only took care of bright young men then because there was nothing for bright young women other than teaching and nursing). People used to say that going into banking is getting a gold rice bowl and going into government is getting an iron rice bowl--not as glamorous or expensive as a gold rice bowl, but it wouldn't break! Now, bright young people don't go into public service and civil service positions are being eliminated left and right in the name of budget management. Top level civil service positions are being replaced by political appointments, in HK, as in the US.
So what we find are holes everywhere. People who are not as qualified or not as bright working in civil service jobs who make mistakes grading papers, among other things. To top it off, the systems are old too. I bet you HK government is using the same crumbling old mainframes installed in the late 70's and early 80's we are using in federal, state, and municipal government agencies in the US. I am of course most familiar with my own Agency, but a friend who works for the school district says they can't even figure out who's on their payroll easily out of their system. Welcome to 2005, using a completely outdated model of human and technological infrastructure.
I'm not saying that the old civil service bureaucracy was perfect. By no means. But it was predictable. Change happened slowly, but usually in a carefully planned way. By eliminating positions willy-nilly in an effort to cut costs, by placing inexperienced, ego-puffed political hecks in powerful decision-making positions, and by not having good strategic processes to replace old physical and technological infrastructure, government as an industry is heading towards a crisis everywhere. And who would have the vision, the knowledge, and the courage to fix it?
Saturday, June 11, 2005
He'll get a Starbucks card after all
A couple of weeks ago I went to Starbucks to buy a coffee card as a birthday prensent for a colleague's birthday. Unfortunately the Starbucks near work had a computer problem and couldn't encode cards with dollar amounts--two days in a row. After trying for a second time unsuccessfully at the Starbucks I decided to buy him a clock from a nearby department store instead. Thank God I gave him the gift receipt too.
This week the colleague called to tell me that the clock doesn't work and he tried to exchange for a new one. He ended up getting bounced from one department to another in the store because nobody knew where the clock had come from. Finally someone directed him to the greeting card section. Well I could have told him the clock came from the greeting card section if he'd asked.
In any case, there were no more clocks for exchange, so he got a refund. "I'll try to find another item with the money, " he said. I laughed. "I didn't want to give you a gift and create an administrative burden on you to go to the store every day in search of an appropriate item. Tell you what, my first choice was a Starbucks card but that didn't work. So go get yourself a new Starbucks card with the money and you would have gotten what I intended to get you to begin with."
Real life is stranger than fiction. I kid you not.
This week the colleague called to tell me that the clock doesn't work and he tried to exchange for a new one. He ended up getting bounced from one department to another in the store because nobody knew where the clock had come from. Finally someone directed him to the greeting card section. Well I could have told him the clock came from the greeting card section if he'd asked.
In any case, there were no more clocks for exchange, so he got a refund. "I'll try to find another item with the money, " he said. I laughed. "I didn't want to give you a gift and create an administrative burden on you to go to the store every day in search of an appropriate item. Tell you what, my first choice was a Starbucks card but that didn't work. So go get yourself a new Starbucks card with the money and you would have gotten what I intended to get you to begin with."
Real life is stranger than fiction. I kid you not.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
My little "vegetarian"
After church today, I was broiling hot dogs for lunch. When I announced lunch was ready, my six-year-old said she didn't want hot dogs. She said, "It's meat, which means that it is animal's flesh. I don't want to kill animals and I don't want to eat animals." I said, "What do you want to eat instead? A salad?" She said, "Yes, a salad."
Meanwhile, her nine-year-old brother, decidedly a carnivore, was saying, "But you can't eat so many animals that they do extinct anyway." To which the six-year-old replied, "I still don't want to eat animals. Animals are cute."
By the time I finished washing some Boston lettuce and tearing it into a bowl, my little vegetarian said, "I think I'll have some hot dog first before eating salad."
Meanwhile, her nine-year-old brother, decidedly a carnivore, was saying, "But you can't eat so many animals that they do extinct anyway." To which the six-year-old replied, "I still don't want to eat animals. Animals are cute."
By the time I finished washing some Boston lettuce and tearing it into a bowl, my little vegetarian said, "I think I'll have some hot dog first before eating salad."
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