Wafels + Coffee (or Tea)

I've had a waffle obsession for years now. I even asked for a waffle maker for Christmas a few years back. Since then I've waffle-d everything from grilled cheese sandwiches to making waffle ice cream sandwiches. In the great pancakes vs. waffles debate, waffles totally win! Pancakes are good but waffles have more texture, the square patterns hold toppings well and make eating it so much fun.

But I've also been inspired by a different type of waffle, or stroopwafel to be exact. Rip van Wafels. The steam from your coffee or tea warms the filling and makes it taste delicious. This wafel obsession has also made me more curious about the coffee ritual and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.

Here is a sketch I did of involving stroopwafels. I was sitting at Coffee Bar last weekend and noticed the string of lights that were hanging from the ceiling. It looked really cool and inspired me to create a sketch where instead of lights, it was stroopwafels, that were hanging down. These stroopwafels (some half-eaten) are being warmed by the steam from cups of some of the most popular coffee companies in San Francisco.

Coffee Bar

Coffee Bar is my new favorite coffee shop. The space is amazing with tall open windows that bring in bright rays of sunlight and it's by far the best spot to get work done. There are a number of communal tables, sofas, bar seats, and outdoor seating. A bit of a hidden gem.

Breakfast Moment

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Not only is my usual greek yogurt + granola + fruit and coffee a killer combination, but the quiet in the morning, when all is still and I can just be mindful of the present moment... it's the best way to start my day.

p.s. breakfast for dinner is pretty grand as well.

Umami Burger

Return of the burger! After having burgers like four times a week during my burger craze, I felt like I needed a burger detox. But not for long because I heart burgers so much. I tried the Umami original burger tonight. I've had it before but down in Palo Alto and I remember it being completely unmemorable. My friend convinced me that the San Francisco location is way better so I gave it a shot. The burger was not that great. I made a few realizations: real melty cheese is far superior than a parmesan crisp, the texture of mushrooms is weird and I don't want it anywhere near my burger, and that mushy burger patties are the worst. Also, I'm not a fan of the soggy bun and my burger pretty much fell apart halfway through. I'd rather have a Roam or Nopa burger.

Rip van Wafels

Just a sketch I did of my favorite stroopwafels.

Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach

Not sure what came over me this morning but I felt an extreme need to just clear my head. My favorite yoga instructor was out this morning so I figured I'd rather do something outdoorsy instead of paying $$. I scooted to Golden Gate Park this morning and jogged along the trail past the Bison Paddock (so funny!). Unexpectedly, I ended up at Ocean Beach. It felt SO refreshing to see the water and feel the breeze. I miss beaches, oceans, and swimming in general and so it felt so good to be near one again. The park is so big and has so many places to explore, I'm excited to keep discovering new places. 

Bison!

OC Spring Break

It feels so amazing to be done with graduate school. The past few months have been stressful from writing the last big paper and studying for exams. I've become a hermit and need to come back out of my shell. I wasn't planning on it but decided at the last minute to go home down to Orange County for spring break. It made me realize how much I missed being home: my parents, Popcorn, the warm weather (the kind where I can just walk out wearing a t-shirt and jeans). Oh, and the food! I heart my mom's cooking so much. Perhaps it is worth making the trip down even if it's just for a few short days.

Kimbap dipped in egg

Kote Dae Ji Korean BBQ: cold buckwheat noodles, salt pork ribs

Green Chile Kitchen

I've been trying to learn more about Mexican food these past few months and with the perfect excuse to grab dinner with a friend, I had my eyes set on trying the food at Green Chile Kitchen. In the land of fancy restaurants, I liked that Green Chile Kitchen is a casual, order at the counter, get a number, pick a table, grab your own water and utensils, and wait for the food type of place. The menu is pretty eclectic and my vegetarian friend had lots of options to choose from.

I ordered the 2 homemade tamable dinner, which came with pinto beans, mild red chile, rice, and salad. I chose to order one vegan sweet potato tamale and one chicken tamale to try different things. The vegan sweet potato tamale was amazing! The tamales were made with blue corn, which made the colors of the food so pretty and made me happy.

The one and only time I've ever had a tamale was back when I was in elementary school and went to Disneyland with my family. I remember peeling back the corn husks and thinking it was the coolest food ever. I don't know why it's taken me nearly ten years to eat a tamale again considering how delicious I thought it was back then.

I had a bite of my friend's veggie savory stuffed sopaipillas but it was too rich and heavy for me. Overall, the food at Green Chile Kitchen is solid.

Ritual Coffee Roasters

With one last exam to study for to complete my Masters degree and credential, I've been planting myself in coffee shops with my study book. It was a particularly sunny day today so I made my way to Hayes Valley to sit in the little park and sip my first cup of Ritual Coffee. I got the Decaf Los Gigantes, Colombia pour-over.

Marin Headlands

My friend and I went on a Sunday adventure across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands. It was a beautiful day so it only seemed right to spend the weekend outdoors. We did the Coastal Trail and explored the old bunkers and batteries spread throughout the trail. The view from the top was breathtaking and left me so appreciative of living in the California.

Recipe: Zuni Café Roast Chicken

I went to Zuni Café back in February and vowed to make the roast chicken at home because I just can't justify spending $50 for roast chicken... I didn't make the warm bread salad this time because this was a trial run but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the chicken turned out. While the prep was a little messy and left me paranoid about raw meat safety, the rest of the recipe was easy to follow. This roast chicken recipe is perfect to make for a dinner party. I had a lot of leftovers that I used to make chicken salad and stir-frys throughout the week.

Zuni Café Roast Chicken
Adapted from Alexandra Cooks
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
One small chicken, 2 3/4 to 3½-pounds
4 tender springs fresh thyme, marjoram, rosemary or sage, about ½-inch long
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp pepper

Instructions
Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat very dry inside and out. Be thorough -  a wet chicken will spend too much time steaming before it begins to turn golden brown. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Approaching from the edge of the cavity, slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, making 2 little pockets. Now use the tip of your finger to gently loosen a pocket of skin on the outside of the thickest section of each thigh. Use your finger, shove an herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Choose a shallow flameproof roasting pan or dish barely larger than the chicken. Preheat the pan over medium heat. Set the chicken breast side up in the pan. It should sizzle.

Place the chicken in the pan in the center of the oven and listen and watch for it to start browning within 20 minutes. If it doesn't, raise the temperature progressively until it does. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce temperature by 25 degrees. After about 30 minutes, turn the bird over - drying the bird and preheating the pan should keep the pan from sticking. Roast for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size, then flip back over to recrisp the breast skin, another 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven and turn off the heat. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a plate. Set the chicken in a warm spot and leave to rest. The meat will become more tender and uniformly succulent as it cools.

Set a platter in the oven to warm for a minute or two. Cut the chicken into pieces; arrange on the warm platter. Drizzle the chicken with some pan drippings if you wish.

Recipe: California Barley Bowl with Lemony Yogurt Sauce

I absolutely adore this recipe. It tastes so quintessentially California to me.

The lemony yogurt sauce is citrusy, tangy, and pairs so well with the avocado and sprouts. I've never considered mixing cooked grains in salads before and it's now sparked a whole new world of hearty salads for me. I usually have cooked brown rice in my freezer so making this bowl took no time at all. I'd like to experiment with other grains like farro and millet as well. I used alfalfa sprouts and chopped romaine lettuce the first time I made this recipe and topped the whole dish with a fried egg for extra nutrition. Everything about this recipe is versatile and can be created with whatever vegetables you have in your fridge that day.

California Barley Bowl with Lemony Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Whole-Grain Mornings

Serves 2

Ingredients

1½ cups / 255 g cooked barley, still warm

1 cup / 55 g bean sprouts, any variety

1/3 cup / 60 g crumbled cotija cheese or queso fresco

¼ cup / 20 g sliced almonds, toasted

½ tsp kosher salt

1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced or sliced

2 fried eggs (optional)

Lemony Yogurt Sauce

½ cup plain yogurt

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp black pepper

flaky salt

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir the barley, sprouts, cheese, almonds, and kosher salt together.

Scoop into 2 individual bowls and top with the avocado and a few generous spoonfuls of yogurt sauce.

Sprinkle with flaky salt and pepper and top with fried egg if you wish.

Mission Chinese Food

Made it to the long-awaited Mission Chinese Food tonight! Danny Bowien is a very well-known chef and I've had my eyes on his restaurant ever since I first came to San Francisco. The exterior of the restaurant is very obscure and there's no signage to even indicate that it's Mission Chinese Food. Instead, it's a storefront for a different Chinese restaurant. No wonder I've walked past this restaurant a million times while out in the Mission and never thought twice about it.

We arrived at 6:30pm on a Tuesday night and there were plenty of tables open. By the time we were digging into our food though, there was a swarm of people waiting outside. I'm a big fan of going out to restaurants with a large group of people so we can order a bunch of different dishes to share family-style. We ordered the Tea-Smoked Eel, 3x Cooked Bacon and Rice Cakes, Salt Cod Fried Rice, and Braised Pea Leaves. It's kind of odd in my opinion though that they charge extra for a side of rice considering it's pretty impossible or at least difficult to eat the dishes without something to balance out all the spice and salt. I also got a bottle of Mission Chinese Beer because I was curious. Turns out beer with szechuan peppercorn isn't that great...

My favorite dish of the night by far was the Tea-Smoked Eel and the 3x Cooked Bacon and Rice Cakes a close second because I like rice cakes a lot... Other than that, I wasn't that impressed and everything was just ok. I don't really like Chinese food, authentic or not, and most of the dishes just seemed too greasy and overly fried or salted. No regrets but I probably won't go out of my way to go again except maybe to try the Westlake Rice Porridge.

Tea-Smoked Eel: fresh rice noodel, chinese celery, salted plum hoison, braised pork, cognac soy
Thrice Cooked Bacon and Rice Cakes: sweet tofu skin, bitter melon, szechuan pepper
Salt Cod Fried Rice: mackerel confit, chinese sausage, lettuce, egg
Braised Pea Leaves: pumpkin, pressed tofu, salted chili broth