Home-made Ramen

Since our Hawaii trip Dan and I have constantly been craving ramen.  He decided to make some from scratch - including the broth.  So we went to 555 and he got half a pound of chicken feet (and other delightful goodies) and set to work.  I didn't take a picture of the process of making the broth, because frankly those little feet were pretty gross.  But Dan simmered the broth for a few hours one night, and then the next night added cooked beef, frozen veggies, green onion, and of course ramen noodles.  The noodles we got were great because they absorbed the broth so easily.  Also Dan used Hawaiian sea salt, which makes everything just a little bit better.  This was definitely the best ramen I have had outside of Hawaii - great job D!

Dinner at Taqueria in Jersey City, NJ

So I've been to Taqueria a million times but never once have I taken pictures of the food, so decided to this time, especially since Dan and I both attempted to try something new.  We each got a taco that we were used to just in case the food was bad, but of course everything was great. 

Carnitas Taco - my absolute fav and go-to meat there

Enchiladas verdes with chicken and rice and beans.  Dan got this for the first time.  It was tasty but not especially memorable

Chorizo quesadilla - sadly you can't see the chorizo. Should've waited to take the pic until after I broke into it.  It was tasty but very greasy.

Steak taco - Dan's go-to.  Surprisingly spicy

Brunch at Maharlika in NYC

We tried to go to Krystal's Cafe 81 in NYC and it was CLOSED.  So tragic!  Fortunately Maharlika was right nearby and they were still serving brunch food.  I still don't understand why some places are cash-only, but this is one of them.  The food overall was tasty but not as authentic as I've had compared with my parents' cooking or relatives back in the Philippines.  Also the food was pretty expensive considering what we were eating.  Pros - the fun t-shirts worn by the staff (i.e. Our white bartender's t-shirt said "My ex is filipino, some waitress's shirt said, "My best friend is filipino, etc.) and that they had San Miguel Light beer.  The menu is a little more whimsical than traditional but they could still work on some of the basics.

Sam Miguel Light - breakfast of champions

Chicken n Ube Waffle - Creativity-wise this was a brilliant idea.  Filipino fried chicken over a waffle made of ube with macapuno jam and anchovy bagoong garlic chive compound butter.  Dan said the waffle was the best thing he ate there.  Never having had an ube waffle prior to this date, I would say it was pretty good.  The chicken was okay. Max's/Jollibee's are both better, and of course pales in comparison to my Dad's

Tapsilog - Beef tapa, garlic fried rice, and fried egg.  I was pretty disappointed by the tapa.  It was very tasty, don't get my wrong, but NOT filipino tasting. It tasted like the steak that I get at Beechwood in Jersey City.  Sweet but nothing special.  Did not have the appropriate tapa texture (ie. almost like jerky).

Home-made Pecan-Encrusted Salmon, new potatoes with dill, and garlic green beans

Decided to try to be both healthy and take a break from Bar hell to cook some dinner.  I made my pecan-encrusted salmon and it came out perfectly juicy and tasty.  I also tried to mimic Boston market's potatoes.  I think the potatoes ended up a tad undercooked, but they still had the buttery dill taste of BoMa.  However, usually I liked the potatoes lukewarm (vs. super hot) and we just couldn't wait and ate them right away.  And to balance it off, had some green beans that I first blanched and then sauteed with lots and lots of garlic.

Close-up of one piece of salmon

Garlic green beans

Dill potatoes

Entire plate ....yum

Dinner from Taj Mahal in Jersey City, NJ

After my epic weekend in Hanover I was still a little bummed that I didn't make it to Jewel of India for brunch, so for dinner we ordered Indian food from Taj Mahal.  Everything was wonderful and we had a ton of leftovers.  I want to expand my Indian food base but for now am sticking to ordering dishes that I know I will like (and thus hope Dan likes too, which he did).  I also didn't realize they gave rice with each entree (in retrospect that seems obvious but for some reason I wasn't thinking), so we had a ton of rice (not pictured - two big tins of plain basmati rice).

(clockwise from the top) Garlic naan, Chicken Tikka Masala (Tandoori chicken cooked in chef's special creamy sauce), Peas Jeera Rice (Basmati rice cooked with green peas and sauteed with cumin seeds), and Aloo Gobi Masala (Cauliflower florets and potatoes sauteed in spices, onion, tomatoes and ginger)

Home-made Spam Musubi

I finally got to use my Musubi press that I ordered off of Amazon.com.  I was too cheap/lazy to buy sushi rice so I used Jasmine rice.  Definitely a poor decision because the rice kept falling out as I tried to eat.  Taste-wise it was great though.  I had pre-cut the Spam before and frozen it.  They were kind of thin so I used two slices instead of one - I double spammed ha.  Then I cooked the Spam in a home-made teriyaki sauce and just fried for a few minutes on each side.  Then made a rice sammie in the musubi maker, wrapped it all up in the nori and let it rest for a few minutes before I ate it.  Just as good as the one I had in Hawaii.  Next time I will definitely use sushi rice to avoid the spillage.  But a quick and easy lunch.  All Spam haters should try this and then see what you have to say ha.

Dinner at Komegashi in Jersey City, NJ

I didn't realize that Komegashi was so close to my apartment. Literally on one of my cross-streets ha.  The exterior is a little off-putting, as there is no clear signage and it looks a little shabby.  However, the interior was quite chic and there were more people eating here than the outside would suggest.  They gave us a few different free appetizers which was nice, including edamame (not pictured b/c edamame looks pretty much the same everywhere), a house salad, and Inarizushi (which I had to look up - sushi rice wrapped in fried tofu.  Originally I thought the rice was in egg).  Then Dan and I shared a sushi roll and got two different kinds of ramen.  Overall the food was definitely better than any other Japanese place in JC, including Honshu.  It was a little pricy though.  Glad we tried it.  Now post-Bar, will have to find the best ramen in NYC.

Inarizushi - sushi rice in fried tofu wrapper

House salad with ginger dressing

Spicy Rivalry Roll - Inside shrimp tempura & spicy tuna. Outside- eel & avocado.  Delicious

Hot & Spicy Ramen -
Roasted pork, memma, hard boiled egg, scallions, seaweed, in a spicy chicken broth.  Dan enjoyed it and it definitely had a kick.  Unsure what the thing at 3:00 was though...

Kimchi Ramen - Spicy Kimchi with special broth, hard boiled egg, and roasted pork.  It was sooo yummy. Just the right amount of spice and salt.  Only complaint was they only had one slice of pork.  LAME.  The portion was really big though so I had a nice, large lunch the next day