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What's Cooking this Week--The Season of "Lasts"

5/15/2013

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The end of the school year torpedoes away in a mad rush of "lasts"--piano recitals, soccer games, concerts, school functions, end-of-the year/season parties, banquets, proms. I think that unless one lives in a rocking singles community, a lot of your life's cadence is based on the academic year. It's a bittersweet time, so what's cooking this week is my personal comfort food.
PictureBusy, bittersweet times
Not Meatless Monday
Chicken, Stuffing and steamed green beans. I LOVE stuffing, and yes, this happened on a work-day. It's an injustice that stuffing happens only when it's cold or during the holidays. Here's how I did it on a Monday.

1) Buy a Costco or Safeway rotisserie chicken, green beans and a small-diameter loaf of very crusty french bread. 2/3 of a complete meal before you even unload the car.

2) If you are really in a pinch, also buy pre-sliced onions, mushrooms and celery. I chose to chop, but mainly for the therapeutic mental health benefits.

3) When you get home, chop onions, mushrooms and celery and cube up the whole loaf of bread. The small-diameter bread means more crust, less chopping, and better texture on stuffing.

4) Make stuffing and dump it into a pan. Turn the oven on and let it go until the bread gets crusty, about 20 minutes. Put the green beans into a microwave-able glass bowl, cover it with a damp paper towel. Go 2 minutes.

5) Eat, be happy and pretend it's the weekend or a holiday.

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Take-out Tuesday
L&L Hawaiian BBQ. This is the most consistent plate lunch when I'm not in Hawaii. Game 1 of the Sharks vs. Kings didn't go the way we wanted, but at least we ate well.

Meatless Wednesday
Summer Soba Salad. A good quick full-meal salad.

Thursday
Chicken Divan, with the rest of the rotisserie chicken. Another one of my comfort-foods. When I first started cooking, this was the one of the few things
I could make consistently.

PictureYep, this was once a fish.
Fish on Friday
Okonomiyaki with kamaboko. No char siu/chashu after last week's literal pig fest. 

If dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets are still considered chicken, then kamaboko is most definitely fish.

Good luck to all those students in or approaching finals angst...and to their Very Patient, Always Even-Tempered, Supportive Parents!

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What's Cooking this Week--When It's Hot as ....

4/22/2013

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Today it is 88 degrees and sunny. Very hot for the Bay Area, so no stoves today. This week is all about cool, quick dinners. We may even eat outside! Here's what's cooking this week.
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Cooking not required
Meatless Monday
Na-omi-take tofu. Temperature in the 90s in the Bay Area means no stove. A cool meal for this temporary blast of summer. We may even be in the pool today.

Tuesday
Chicken Tikka Masala. Trying out Safeway's brand of starter sauce as the Seeds of Change brand can be harder to find.

Meatless Wednesday
Simple Spaghetti and a simple salad. A Feeding My Ohana Like-er recommends adding slivered almonds to salad. Genius! I'll probably toss in some dried cranberries as well. Pasta and salad is one of the best weekday dinners.

Fish on Thursday
Stuffed Tuna Melts. Again, minimal cooking.

Plate Lunch Friday
Bulgogi, Wonbok coleslaw and rice. Short ribs cook really fast and with more daylight, Friday night grilling is on!

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New recipe posted
My Daddy's Aburage Thingy
The first time I made this, it was a little too much everything--sweet, salty, liquid-ey. Not Feeding My Ohana-worthy. However, I fixed all the above-noted troubles. It is now family-approved.

Working on a couple of new recipes this week. Stay tuned for mid-week posts!

What are YOU cooking this week?

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What's Cooking from Mom and the Husband

2/28/2013

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Where has Feeding My Ohana been?! I spent last week back home in good ole' Leeward O'ahu. Offline. 

Although my friends gave me grief for not having a smart phone, and I did have to seek out a Starbuck's for WiFi to my iPad for directions to get together with the above-noted friends, it was very relaxing not to be online-all-the-time. Everyone should do this once in awhile. 

Here is a quick summary on what we've been eating--here and at Mom's house. While we had plenty of vegetables, there was no meatless any day. We were on vacation, after all.

Bay Area Monday
Yakisoba. I cam home with yet another head cold, so this was made by the husband. This is my son's favorite meal, and soon we'll have to start making three packages.
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Crispy wonton and roast pork.
Great Aloha Run Day
Crispy wonton, roast pork, and pork with sweet and sour cabbage. I also introduced the family to Co-worker Kale Salad. Mom approves. 

Bay Area Tuesday
Carbonara Hironaka. We've not eaten this in a really long time and it was nice to come home to this.

Day at the Beach
Sanny's Hamburgers and Gravy. Homemade plate lunch.


Back in the Bay Area Takeout Wednesday
Yiassoo Greek Food, Tapioca Express and Whole Foods Chocolate Cake. Procured by my fabulous husband.

Thursday
Unfried Baked Chicken from People Magazine. It was very peppery and a little too salty. This is a good idea that needs some re-tooling. Stay tuned.

Weird Rainy and Windy Hawaii Day
For the last two days of our vacation, it poured. Buckets. So it was Mom's Watercress Soup, but made with kale, and just as good. Watercress can be tricky to get in the Bay Area, so this was good advice from Mom.

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Leeward Drive Inn, very retouched
Glorious Hawaii Beach Day
Leeward Drive Inn Fried Noodles. Just a satisfying lunch after a morning at the beach. Please note they don't make mandoo anymore, but the Pork Cutlet and Gravy is still fab. And remember, it has and will always be cash only.

Back to the Mainland, but definitely keeping the Hawaii vibe going as long as we can. 

Aloha Friday All!

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Five Star Falafel--Turkish Plate Lunch

8/10/2012

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Oh, the power of real friends and a little Facebook. Here is how I happened upon Five Star Falafel. 
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Iskender Kebab--Sliced lamb and beef
Our real-in-the-flesh friend posted some dreamy and drooly food pictures on Facebook for her real- and cyber-friends. Turns out her husband's friend launched Five-Star Falafel in Santa Clara about three weeks ago.

Based on this, we tried it last Sunday. It was so good I went back there on Thursday for lunch with my Boss. He ate everything and I still have a job, so this is a very good sign.

This is the Turkish version of plate lunch. Tasty food, BIG portions and the place is spotless. The owners are very friendly and they'll even show you the spits of meat they are using and explain the cool Turkish tea machine.

The appetizer plate, pictured below, is a hefty meal of 8 different items, plus all the pita bread you can eat. The specialty platters range from about $8-$12. You'll have plenty of leftovers unless you are REALLY hungry. They have a bakery case full of baklava and all manner of combinations of filo dough, walnuts, honey and pistachios.
Best value goes to the $5.99 for 12 pieces of falafel. A great deal, especially considering that I bought 13 bagels for $10 earlier that morning!

Five Star's location is not exactly easy, but it's well-worth seeking out. It's tucked in the corner of a nameless, faceless strip mall on El Camino Real, with a weird entry turn on one side. The food is ono and made to order, the portions make it a great value, the staff is friendly, and the place is spotless.

This place is good food and good people. All the more reason to eat there.

Five Star Falafel
3099 El Camino Real (close to Calabazas Blvd.)
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 241-1900
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Credit cards accepted
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Appetizer Sampler Plate
NOTE: I was not paid for this post.
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Chicken Shawarma
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Eating on O'ahu (and a few places on Maui & Kaua'i

12/8/2010

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People often ask "What are your favorite places eat when you go home?" After 1) Mom's house and 2) Mother-in-law's house, the list is actually pretty short. A friend of mine spent Thanksgiving in Hawaii and asked me for a list of plate lunch places. And I was glad to hear that she and her husband were very happy and full on their trip. 

So here's the list I gave her. Keep in mind that this is down-home, "onolicious" Hawaii comfort food at its finest--think "Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives". Don't go for the "Hawaiian Fusion, " date-night ambiance, or even indoor dining (in some cases). That is the realm of sit-down restaurants and an entirely different list. 

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The (very) short list of our favorites are: 1) Rainbows, may it live forever 
2) Zippy's, for 'chain' plate lunch and chili 3) Grace's especially since it's next to Dave's ice cream and the Marujyu Market (where you can get fresh Hawaiian food--lau-lau, lomi salmon, long rice...but I digress) 4) Elena's in Waipahu, 5) Giovanni's Shrimp Truck 6) Ichiban in Wailuku, Maui and 
7) Hamura Saimin in Lihue, Kauai. 

Click here for locations, phone numbers, and our very non-scientific assessment. They must be doing something right because every time we go there they are still in business and bustling!

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Finding the Absolute Favorites--It's Not Just the Food

9/2/2010

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Thanks Shutterfly's offer of a free book and my husband's thrifty ways, in two weeks, I'll have my very own Feeding My Ohana | Family Favorites hard-bound book. Print run = 1.

This turned out to be a harder task than I thought. Currently, Feeding My Ohana has over 200 recipes, and there were 18 8" x 8" pages for the book. What do you pick? Add three very opinionated at-home 'consultants' proposing their own preferences. "Why can't you put Spam musubi in there?" "But I looove broccoli salad!" "You can't seriously be thinking kamaboko sandwiches" and "I can't believe you're not putting lemon bars in"...

We came to consensus on most items, and have managed a detente for the rest, with side agreements to make the non-book ones in the near future. But why did we pick out these as our favorite? Tastes good, of course. Some of them, like tofu steaks or sesa-miso eggplant, were definitely descended from magazines and cookbooks, but we've made them our own, by adding, subtracting, or just plain changing things up a little.
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But beyond flavor, most of the family favorites revolve around a good time or friends and family. Shave ice, Rainbows plate lunch and malasadas always make us appreciate going home to Hawaii. Sugar cookies in the shape of our favorite Sharks (12, 22, 15 & 20) attacking a hapless duck bring together our annual Christmas cookie-making and our family Sharks games. Even the names remind us--my Mom's Chicken Katsu in Hawaii, Christine's Clam Chowder at our annual Christmas party, Steve's Hummus from my long-time boss, and Todd's Pecan Pie every Thanksgiving and Christmas.


So what are your family favorites? What do they remind you of?

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Ode to Plate Lunch

8/17/2010

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Korean Fried Chicken Mini-Plate from Zippy's
Thank you to L---, one my Facebook "like-ers" to get me pondering plate lunches. She said, "I've always wondered about the scoops of rice and mac salad. Seems like overkill." After 2 weeks at home on O'ahu eating a variety of plate lunches, I (grudgingly) agree, but only to a point. 2 scoops of rice is overkill. Mac salad is a necessity.

This got me thinking--what defines a plate lunch, why does an otherwise nutritionally-conscious, ex-pat Hawaii girl make a beeline for it as soon as her feet touch Hawaiian soil, and why on earth are there no vegetables? Heck, even President Obama has Rainbow's when he goes home to Hawaii! I've made a living doing market research, so I Googled away. Then I asked my Dad.

Here is the anecdotal history. For the entree part, Hawaiian Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese and Korean plantation workers all shared their various lunches, with not a sandwich to be found. A recent New York Times article concurs.

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Choices, just in Korean food
For the rice part, according to my ever-wise and pragmatic Dad, "They used the leftover rice, but the vegetables were eaten the night before. You know, rice is cheaper than meat, so more rice and sometimes noodles makes the meat go farther." Says the man who lived through the Depression, Pearl Harbor, gas masks with his lunch pail at school, and has graduated to great-grandpoppa-dom. Lots of starch stretches out home-cooking.

The macaroni salad kicked in later, with refrigeration I suppose. It also incorporates the concept of using the left-over dinner food. I've had mac salads with carrots, peas, leftover shrimp, crab, chicken, cucumbers, tsukemono, and of course, gobs of mayonnaise. And let's face it, it just tastes good with gravy or teriyaki.

So in marketing-speak, what is the plate lunch's value proposition? 

1) It offers ridiculous, best-of-breed variety. You can choose from kal-bi, tonkatsu, garlic ahi, lau-lau, pork adobo, hamburger steak, oxtail soup...the list goes on. Even more, Zippy's has daily *and* weekly specials. And at the Korean plate lunch places, you can actually pick vegetable sides, along with your macaroni salad and chop chae (see above).

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Boneless Chicken w/Sloppy Gravy from Rainbow's
2) It's a good value: Spend $5-$10 for a complete meal. $5 is a complete meal (OK, likely without vegetables) and a $10 plate lunch can usually feed at least 2 people. What can $5 buy at Starbucks? Rainbow's says it best, "generous portions of hearty, simple food with two scoops of rice and a side of macaroni salad at a reasonable price." The boneless chicken plate lunch (left), is only $6.50(!), includes two full sides of chicken, and put both my husband and me into a blissful afternoon food coma.

3) It's accessible to everyone. Served with plastic utensils on a flimsy paper plate, plate lunches are not pretentious, and you can always find whatever you're in the mood to eat. There's no right way to eat one and everyone has their favorite place to get one. Lawyers, surfers, and lawyers who surf all eat plate lunches.

Really, it's just a brilliant product--an awesome food value, consumable to ensure repeat business, marketed virally, and with a target customer base of anyone who eats. Now I'm hungry!

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    I love to eat, so I had to learn to cook. This is my personal reference and I use it daily. Looking forward, when I turn a profit, 95% of net profit will go to programs to feed the hungry.

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