Every time I purchase heirloom tomato I feel the need to team it up with mozzarella. Store bought is great…but hey…why not make my own mozzarella…woowie! Um…the direction I got from the Pasta Store looked easy…but creating round mozz cheese balls was a whole different story…how do they get it so perfecto round?
What you’ll need…
Mozzarella curd bar
Salt, Water
Heirloom Tomatoes, Olive Oil and Vinegar
Mozzarella curd
Cut the curd in cubes
Soak them in heavily-salted-boiled water
Remove the curds from container and knead them
My favorite heirloom tomato
Perfect with olive oil, vineger and a loaf of bread
I satisfy my Chinese food craving with a monthly trip to U-Lee. They do not deliver but you can call in advance and pick up the food. I’ve been eating at this place for over a decade—and NOTHING compares to it. The same family had owed the place and I only know the owners by the name Ken and Judie. I love it when they recognize my face when I walk in…yeah, there’s nothing like getting a five-star treatment at a hole-in-the-wall eatery…total bliss!
I order the same three entrees every time I’m at U-Lee. They serve the best Fried Chicken, Pot Stickers and Mongolian Beef. I pair it with Tsingtao. This joint gets the Diiver Hall of Fame.
Here’s my version of a blissful food day…. breakfast—coffee cake with decaf coffee (yep, picture me caffeinated…grrrrr)…lunch—chef salad with slices of turkey and ham. Ah…and yes, I did get a tad bit of work done!
I have a tendency to gravitate towards street food wherever I travel. I guess it all started when I was 13 and got off at a wrong train station in Chiba, Japan. I was lost and asked a street vendor for directions…he stopped what he was doing and offered me a takoyaki (octopus dumpling)…probably because I looked like I was about to cry. So, years later, while traveling to Kathmandu, Valley, I came upon these two vendors cooking these luscious fried treats.
My friends, Steve & Samantha, prepared a mouth-watering three course meal for us. I told them my budget and asked them to surprise six of my friends—the night was filled with drinks, friends and delicious food.
Appetizer: tomato soup
Main Course: salmon and salad
Dessert: biscotti and ice cream
It was nice not to have to cook for a change and just chill! I could definitely get used to this lifestyle…S & S wore the chef’s uniform minus the traditional hat…cute!
I rarely chow food served on the airplane…the mere smell of various entrées makes my stomach queasy…but the meal served aboard Thai Airways International (Bangkok → Kathmandu) was unreal.
The smell of the entrée hardly bothered me. Naan, lamb curry with green peas…fruit salad for dessert. Plus the service was impeccable.
Lunch: uber-healthy if you don’t drench the Mentaiko (baby fish) sauce. Love the soba noodles. This lunch combines my four favorite foods.
Mackerel-goes well with brown, white, jasmine rice or soba noodles Spinach-steamed, sautéed, broiled–I love spinach Buckwheat Soba Noodles-buckwheat sounds healthy doesn’t it? Mentaiko Sauce-I call it Japanese mayonnaise–it goes with everything.
At least once a month, I take the BART and MUNI to San Francisco, Japan Town and shop for Mackerel (San ma) sold in a can at Ichiban Kan (Japan’s version of a dollar store). Then it’s a walk down to Nijiya Market (popular Japanese grocery store) for Mentaiko Sauce and Buckwheat Soba Noodles. It’s an adventure…a long travel from Berkeley, but so worth it!
