Cinnamon Raisin Bread French Toast

This is my kids’ very favorite way to have French toast. I use cinnamon raisin bread dipped in egg that I add cinnamon, vanilla and milk to. It’s served with butter and maple syrup and it puts a smile on my children’s faces every time - my husband’s too. I love that it’s so delicious, easy to make and has little clean up. It’s a great way to make breakfast a little more special.Cinnamon Raisin

Italian Chicken Nuggets

I found an amazing looking recipe for homemade chicken nuggets at Aggie’s Kitchen. I ran to the grocery store to get honey for the honey mustard dip and was ready to make them when I realized I had Italian style panko crumbs. There goes the honey mustard - UGH. I will be making Aggie’s version soon. I decided to use up the last bit of the Roasted Tomato, Garlic and Onion Marinara as a dipping

Dish on Dining: Otoro Sushi

Latest Hip Addition to Hayes Valley
205 Oak St. (near Gough), San Francisco
Hayes Valley neighborhood
PH: 415.553.3986
Open daily for lunch and dinner (except closed for lunch Sundays)
Major credit cards, reservations accepted

Whenever I visit my old neighborhood in San Francisco, I'm always amazed at all the new places opening up. Funny how they all opened up after I moved!

Oh well, it makes the return trips down memory lane even more fun. Recently I checked out Hayes Valley for a pre-ballet dinner with my friend Peter. We stopped by Otoro Sushi, which had been open for just two weeks and is housed in what used to be a longtime Cuban restaurant.

The restaurant is tiny but had that spanking new look with freshly painted walls, new furnishings and contemporary ambient lighting. The wait staff stood patiently for customers and greeted us warmly as we arrived. There were already a couple of people at the sushi bar (with elevated stools) but we had our pick of tables along the window.

Otoro Sushi is a combination sushi bar and izakaya, which is the trend of small grilled dishes often eaten in Japan as a kind of happy hour. I liked the idea of having a variety of choices to choose from.

After ordering some Japanese beer, Peter and I delved into the menu and ordered a variety of things. I don't know if it's because Otoro had just opened and the kitchen is still feeling its way around, but I thought the order of when the food arrived at our table was a bit illogical. (Thank you, Mr. Spock.) To illustrate what I mean, I'm going to give you a run down of what we ate in the order that they arrived at our table.

First up was our sushi platter of sushi we ordered. This included nigiri orders of ebi (cooked shrimp, $3.50) and hotate (raw scallops, $4.50) and one special roll order of the Otoro, which is made of spicy tuna, avocado and mango ($12.95). Both the ebi and hotate were nicely presented and tasted fresh. The rice was nicely packed but not overly seasoned with rice vinegar.

The Otoro special roll was beautiful but the mango, to me, looked oddly fake because of its bright orange coloring and its bendable nature. But it tasted great, with the sweetness of the mango providing a nice contrast to the spicy tuna. Although it looked odd and I'm generally not a proponent of weird California-inspired rolls, this was very satisfying and different.

Then arrived a bowl of the Goma Ae ($3.75), our attempts to get some greens into our diet. Goma ae is a traditional Japanese spinach dish made with sesame paste. Otoro's version was fresh and vibrant, and even though the paste was thick, it blended nicely with the spinach. The bowl was also very big for what is usually ordered as a side dish.

Next came an order of the chicken yakitori ($4.25), two skewers of plump succulent chicken with the tasty teriyaki sauce. The chicken pieces were grilled with scallions, which were cooked tender from the heat and provided a mild onion flavoring to the chicken.

Then we got our Baked Green Mussels ($5.95), which ironically was listed on the board near the sushi bar as a special appetizer. So it seemed odd arriving near the end of our meal. The baked mussels were topped with some breading and baked and overall it was filling and tasty. I enjoyed it although honestly I can't really remember what other flavors were in the topping, other than the fact that the mussels tasted fresh and plump.

Finally, we had the Tara ($8.95), a miso-glazed black cod dish. The cod had a slight fishy taste to it, and not necessarily in a good way. The miso glaze tried to cover it up, but it was still apparent to me. This was my least favorite dish.

I do, however, have a lasting impression of Otoro as a fun, fresh addition to Hayes Valley. The space is small and I don't know if the table arrangements really take advantage of the space, which has a loungey feel with the music playing, but it's definitely worth checking out for yourself. Otoro is a bit away from all the shops and restaurants a couple of blocks north on Hayes Street, but it's still adding to the emerging neighborhood hip factor.

Single guy rating: 3.75 stars (Fresh Japanese Bites)

Explanation of the single guy’s rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy’s dream dinner

Fruit Tomato Wedges with Lemon Dressing

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

100g pistachio nuts, skinned (set aside a few for garish)

3/4 cup  flat-leaft parsley leaves

1/2 cup  mint leaves

100ml olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

sea salt, to taste

16 fruit tomatoes

Method: 

1. Chop pistachios, parsley and mint and then combine. Add oil,  lemon juice and salt to blender and blend. Let stand 10 minutes while preparing the tomatoes.
2. De-stalk, rinse and pat dry tomatoes, than cut them into halve. Arrange them on a serving plate and spoon dressing over. Chop reserved pistachios and sprinke over. Serve immediately.

Asian Noodle Salad with Chicken and Cashews

It’s been really hot outside and I didn’t want to cook a big heavy meal. I was craving an Asian noodle salad with chicken. I looked through the refrigerator and cupboards to see what I had on hand and founds lots of veggies, cashews and mandarin oranges. I imagined all the flavors combining well so I went in search of a dressing/marinade. I found this one on Epicurious and adapted it just a bit.

Farmers' Market at the Metreon

The Sony Metreon is going through a transformation, probably dropping the Sony name soon since it’s been taken over by the Westfield shopping empire (they already operate the San Francisco Centre on Market Street). And one of the latest additions to fill up the empty spaces while the “real” transformation occurs is a daily farmers’ market in the old Discovery Store spot, called the Island Earth Farmers Market.

One thing nice about a farmers’ market that’s opened every day is that you can even visit it on a holiday, like today when I went on Memorial Day after spending the day at AT&T Park watching the Giants finally get their bats swinging to beat the Braves. So I went to celebrate over some fresh fruits and vegetables.

The market has a mix of local farmers, food vendors and arts and crafts booths. And since it’s opened into the evening (for those after-work food shopping errands), the produce selection can be plentiful or waning depending on the time of day.

See what I mean? These tomatoes actually look like a work of art to me, but it’s probably because the vendor didn’t have a lot of supply or it’s the end of the day and he/she’s running out. It’ll probably take some time for the collection of farmers to gauge the supply and demand.

When you walk through the front entrance of the market, there are a few food vendors and it actually makes it smell good. I did try this great dessert empanada from a vendor called El Porteno, and it was made with banana and dulce de leche (he’s from Argentina). I really liked the crust and the filling was tasty but not overly sweet. And it was just $1.50. (He sold savory empanadas for $3 each.)

You can tell there’s still challenges to the market, like the odd layout that gets squeezed in the center, making it difficult to walk if the place is crowded, and the weird flourescent lighting that gives the place a dingy feel. It’s not like this is the only market that’s indoor (the popular Vancouver market is indoors and still do well), but it just needs to adjust the look so it doesn’t look tired when it’s only a week old. Still, I do like the daily hours, giving people in SOMA a place to get farmer fresh produce every day.

Fresh Oysters with Honey Soy Dressing

Ingredients:

12 freshly shucked oysters

1/2 tsp honey

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp Yamasa Zarusoba Senka  (This is the soy dressing used with cold soba)

4 tbsp cold water

1/4 tsp grated ginger

Few stalks of chervil or chopped spring onions

Method:

1. Place the honey, soy, lemon juice, water and ginger in small bowl and mix well.
2. Pour a tbsp of the dressin on each oyster and top with a chervil leaf or some chopped spring onions.
3. Serves immediately.

Strawberry Trifle

Ingredients:

1 butter cake

250ml whipping cream

2 cups custard

1 can strawberry  jam

1 punnet fresh strawberries

1/4 cup sherry

Method:

1. Whip the whipping cream till frothy using an eletric blender or ballon whisk.
2. Cut the cake into slices and line the bottom of the bowl with one layer of cake slices.
3. Sprinke one to two tablespoons of sherry onto the cake.
4. Top with a layer of custard, followed by a layer of strawberry jam, and a layer of whipped cream. 
5. Repeat with a layer of cake, a sprinke of sherry, jam and whipped cream. Chilled till ready to serve.

Nasi Goreng

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 bowls cooked rice

2 eggs

200g medium prawns, shelled and halved

1/3 cup frozen whole kernel corn

1/4 cup chopped red capsicum2 cabbage leaves, shreeded (about 2 cups)

2 shallots, peel, crush and chop coarsely

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 red chilli, seeded

2 tbsps dried shrimps, softened in warm water

2 tbsps celery chopped

2 tbsps crips fried shallots

1 tsp seasoning sauce

4 tbsps cooking oil

9-12 pces prawn crackers (optional)

Method:

1. Beat eggs lightly and pan fry on lightly greased pan to make 2 ommelettes. Cut into fine match stick sized shreds.
2. Pound seeded chilli, garlic and softened dried shrimps till fine.
3. Heat cooking oil in wok and fry shallots and pounded ingredients till fragrant. Add fresh prawns, toss and fry till prawns are almost cooked. Add red capsicum, corn and rice. Toss and mix thoroughly.
4. Add  shredded cabbage, seasoning sauce and ligh soy sauce. Toss and mix over medium heat till prawns are thorougly cooked.
5. Garnish with chopped celery, fried shallots, shredded omelette and prawn crackers, serve.

Farmers' Market at the Metreon

The Sony Metreon is going through a transformation, probably dropping the Sony name soon since it’s been taken over by the Westfield shopping empire (they already operate the San Francisco Centre on Market Street). And one of the latest additions to fill up the empty spaces while the “real” transformation occurs is a daily farmers’ market in the old Discovery Store spot, called the Island Earth Farmers Market.

One thing nice about a farmers’ market that’s opened every day is that you can even visit it on a holiday, like today when I went on Memorial Day after spending the day at AT&T Park watching the Giants finally get their bats swinging to beat the Braves. So I went to celebrate over some fresh fruits and vegetables.

The market has a mix of local farmers, food vendors and arts and crafts booths. And since it’s opened into the evening (for those after-work food shopping errands), the produce selection can be plentiful or waning depending on the time of day.

See what I mean? These tomatoes actually look like a work of art to me, but it’s probably because the vendor didn’t have a lot of supply or it’s the end of the day and he/she’s running out. It’ll probably take some time for the collection of farmers to gauge the supply and demand.

When you walk through the front entrance of the market, there are a few food vendors and it actually makes it smell good. I did try this great dessert empanada from a vendor called El Porteno, and it was made with banana and dulce de leche (he’s from Argentina). I really liked the crust and the filling was tasty but not overly sweet. And it was just $1.50. (He sold savory empanadas for $3 each.)

You can tell there’s still challenges to the market, like the odd layout that gets squeezed in the center, making it difficult to walk if the place is crowded, and the weird flourescent lighting that gives the place a dingy feel. It’s not like this is the only market that’s indoor (the popular Vancouver market is indoors and still do well), but it just needs to adjust the look so it doesn’t look tired when it’s only a week old. Still, I do like the daily hours, giving people in SOMA a place to get farmer fresh produce every day.

The lure of old cookbooks

I finally got to post about the two old cookbooks I picked up for a song in Topsham the other day. Do I need them? Absolutely not - the shelves are already bulging with cookbooks but for less than the price of two glossy magazines, how could I resist?

The first - for which I paid a princely £3.50 - is Len Deighton’s quirky and original ‘Où est le Garlic’ first published by Penguin in 1965 (this is the ‘67 edition). Deighton was a successful thriller writer who turned his hand to cookery writing. The appeal is equally though in the charming comic strip illustrations (below), done not by Deighton but a team of designers

The diagrammatic treatment of the families of French sauces and how they relate to each other are particularly good. I love the sound of the improbably named Sauce Mohammed - a variation on tartare sauce flavoured with chopped eggs, anchovies, capers, celery, cucumber and chopped onion.

There’s a useful chart on Measuring Heat and Bulk which tells you what temperature milk boils at (196°, less than salt water at 224°) and that butter burns at much lower temerature (278°) than beef suet (356°) Heston Blumenthal would approve.

There are diagrams showing how to julienne vegetables, make quenelles and create a Chaud Froid, a type of aspic used to glaze boiled chicken (One forgets how in thrall England still was to French cooking in the ’60s. Did Observer readers, for whom Deighton wrote, really make such things?)

The writing is also wonderfully lucid. “The most difficult thing to explain in a cookery book is the amount of moisture that should be added to flour mixtures” Deighton writes. “Batter mixtures are like cream; they can be poured. A cake mixture is wet and will almost pour; it will drop from a spoon. Yeast mixtures are moist and plastic like modelling clay” Perfectly put. Who needs photographs, or even videos?

There are forgotten, frugal recipes for making brawn or stuffing a cabbage, all of which would take hours. Even bombes which Deighton says “date from the time when men in long beards with ’ski’ at the end of their names hid these gadgets, still, smoking, beneath ankle-length cloaks.” As you can see, a great book to dip into.

By comparison Green Cuisine: the Organic Vegetable Cookbook, self-published 10 years ago in my home town of Bristol is a much more modest affair though again I was seduced by the illustrations (above) Unlike Deighton’s book I don’t think it will become a regular kitchen companion though their are some nice ideas for cooking different vegetables such as Spicy Green Beans, Parsnip and Potato Dauphinoise and Pea and Cucumber Soup and for kohlrabi, a vegetable I admit I’ve never got to grips with) And at £1 who could resist?

By the way I bought both of these books in a charity shop, a much better-priced source of cookbooks than most second hand bookshops although you can occasionally get good bargains from Abe Books and Amazon. (Incidentally I just looked up ‘Ou est le Garlic?’ on Abe and the cheapest price for that edition was £40. So it was a bargain!)

Do you share my weakness for old cookbooks? If so which are your favourites and have you picked up any good bargains lately?

Meatball Sliders

I had some leftover marinara to use up and decided to try making meatball sliders. I am trying to cook healthier so I didn’t smother them in cheese, although I think that would be tasty. I did add a bit of Asiago to the meatballs along with lots of garlic, mushrooms and onions. I used dinner rolls for the bun and topped them with a fresh basil leaf. The Roasted Tomato, Garlic and Onion Marinara

Fro-yo at a San Francisco ‘Pioneer=?UTF-8?B?4oCZ?=

I call Yogurt Bar in Cow Hollow a "pioneer" in the title of this post because it was the first real fro-yo place to open in San Francisco in 2007 when the state was enraptured by the Pinkberry fro-yo craze. And yet, I still hadn't made a visit.

I've traveled to Pasadena for a Pinkberry cup and to Palo Alto for Red Mango, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to Union Street for a Yogurt Bar fro-yo. So recently I purposely made a trip to the tony Union Street neighborhood and visited Yogurt Bar, named the best fro-yo in the city by San Francisco magazine.

If you don't have the address, you might miss the place because it's actually on Octavia Street, which is on the more quiet end of the Union Street shops. It's a tiny spot with a few outdoor seating but a nice, cute interior.

They offer four flavors of fro-yo: original plain, green tea (why is green tea always more expensive than other flavors?), chocolate and the flavor of the month (which happened to be blueberry). Yogurt Bar is also a bit cutesy with its sizes, calling its small "The Rock" (5 oz., $2.50), medium a "Union Square" (8 oz., $3.50) and a large the "Golden Gate" (13 oz., $5.70).

I ordered an original plain "Union Square" and topped it off with my usual strawberries. But I added a twist this time by asking for chocolate chips since toppings cost $1.50 extra for every one to three choices.

It turned out to be an unfortunate mistake to add the chocolate chips. The girl at the counter overloaded my cup with the chips, which I wouldn't have complained if they were yummy. But they were dry and super hard to bite in to, making it almost hurt my teeth.

Despite the chocolate chips, the fro-yo itself was pretty nice. It's made with organic yogurt from Straus Creamery, and taking the first bite I could tell the quality of the ingredient. It was fresh with a slight tart flavor typical of most fro-yo shops. I liked that it wasn't too icy like some other places, but it wasn't very creamy like Pinkberry or Red Mango. It was good, and I can see why people come back again and again when other newcomers pop up.

Single Guy’s Fro-yo Rankings:

1. Red Mango, Palo Alto
2. Pinkberry, Southern California
3. Tuttimelon, San Francisco
4. Yogurt Bar, San Francisco
5. YoCup, San Francisco
6. Fraiche, Palo Alto
7. Icebee, San Francisco
8. Yoppi, San Francisco
9. Jubili, San Francisco
10. SoGreen, San Francisco
11. Yogurt Harmony, Berkeley
12. Yogen Früz, San Francisco
13. Céfiore, San Francisco

Yogurt Bar, 2760 Octavia St. (at Union), San Francisco (second new location in the Mission District). PH: 415.441.2585, Open daily except Mondays. www.yogurtbarsf.com

10 Steps to Master Your Grill

Lifehacker has ten steps to mastering your grill for the Memorial Day long weekend.  If you are looking for other picnic, long weekend, or barbecue recipes, take a look over here and you may find out what you are looking for.

Also, Lifehacker links to a Washington Post guide on how to cook 9 different cuts of steak.

Mixed Greens with Raspberries and Pears PLUS Pay it Forward Winners

I found a recipe for a mixed greens with raspberry and pear salad in my Cooking Light Cookbook, I adapted it just a bit to use what I had on hand. The raspberries and pears were really sweet while the vinaigrette was a bit tart. The feta added a nice creamy texture and the sunflower seeds gave a bit of a crunch. This was a light and flavorful salad that we all really enjoyed.Mixed Greens with

Korean BBQ Chicken

Copyright 2009 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
1 lb. chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
2 T crushed hot pepper paste
¼ cup sugar
½ cup rice vinegar
1 T fresh ginger, skin removed, minced
1 clove garlic, minced

Butterfly your chicken breast so that they're thinner and of equal thickness. Mix all other ingredients in a shallow dish or plastic Ziploc bag, then place chicken to marinate. Refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.

Fire up an outdoor grill or grill pan and cook over medium high heat. Shake off excess marinade from the chicken before placing on the grill. How long they take to cook depends on the thickness of your chicken and the heat, but average about 6 to 8 minutes per side, especially if you've made the breasts thin cuts.

While the chicken cooks, you can place some of the marinade in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, allowing it to concentrate and thicken up. Serve on the side when eating.

Serve your chicken with steam rice and some panchan dishes (traditional Korean sides) such as kim chee, spicy pickled cucumbers, sautéed bean sprouts, or sautéed broccoli.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Pair with dry sake.

TIP: I get my crushed hot pepper paste from a Korean grocery store in Oakland, but you can find it at large Asian grocery stores as well. Called kochujang, you can also order it online at KoaMart in Los Angeles.

So what did you cook when you were a student?

My publisher Absolute Press released details of our new student book yesterday which is called The Ultimate Student Cookbook. It’s a big claim but we make it because it combines my 6 years experience of writing for students in the Beyond Baked Beans books and website with that of three current students who have been contributing videos, recipes and tips to our Facebook page this year.

As a bit of fun I thought I’d ask my fellow tweeters on Twitter what they used to cook at uni and got a flood of fantastic replies. There were all the usual suspects such as spag bol (or Slag Bol) as Oliver Thring rather nicely put it), cheese on toast and tuna pasta but also some surprisingly sophisticated dishes such as Helen of World Foodie Guide’s tonkatsu and Japanese curry, Lorna Yee’s boeuf bourguignon and Catlily’s French onion soup

There were also some really weird ones - to me at any rate such as sophiemostly’s husband’s preference for sweet and sour sausages, Kavey Eats’ Sausage Curry and Kerri of Dinner_Diary’s tinned Oxtail Soup together with Matt of Absolute’s odd weakness for boiled rice and salad cream (ugh).

I loved Becky of Girl Interrupted Eating’s lentil fetish, Jessica of Lovely Chaos’s Mustard Mash “with sausages when rich” and The Dieter who ‘ate a lot of feta cheese’ and ‘made a jar of pesto last a month’ (no need to diet then I would have thought)

The most appealing-sounding one came from an old friend Deb, an eternal student who has gone back to uni at the age of . . . no I won’t let on. “Thinly sliced potatoes layered with onions and lashings cheese sauce. Baked. Chuck in mushrooms, bacon etc if feeling flush”

Sounds good to me

So what was your favourite dish when you were a student or just starting to cook. Fabulous or otherwise.

Spice Up the Grill

So I mentioned awhile back how I was in this Korean kick, but I always end up ordering the same thing at Korean restaurants. That's Korean BBQ chicken.

Part of it has to do with the fact that I think eating chicken is healthier than the other popular dishes, which contains a lot of beef or short ribs (kal bi). The other part of it is I LOOOOVE the smell of Korean BBQ chicken. I don't know if it's the charring marinade or what, but I can smell Korean BBQ chicken a mile away and it always gets my stomach growling.

In surfing the Web, I couldn't really find a recipe for Korean BBQ chicken. That might be because it's a very Americanized dish served up as Korean fast food. Some of the recipes really looked just like recipes for shoyu chicken, which is basically teriyaki chicken. So below is my attempts to make Korean BBQ chicken, using the Korean kochujang hot pepper paste that I got at a Korean grocery store in Oakland.

The chicken turned out pretty good. One thing about this recipe is the soy sauce acts as a curing agent so your chicken does change in texture. I think that's why sometimes it can seem a bit rubbery. For me, the main attraction is the cooking process because I just love the smell. So maybe this Memorial Day you can grill up this chicken. I bet you your neighbors will come around asking what you're cooking. Enjoy!

"Mankind is Noodlekind"

Just got back from a book reading tonight in San Francisco. “The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life” by San Francisco writer Andy Raskin is a story about a man’s quest to meet Momofuku Ando, the man behind Top Ramen and Cup of Noodles.

I don’t think I’m giving anything away to say that, no, Raskin never meets Ando. But that’s not what the book is really about. Like all good books, it’s about a lot more. It’s about life lessons and self-discovery.

Raskin seems like a really interesting person and I can’t wait to start flipping through the page. The initial pages I’ve read seem really funny and insightful. I would be reading it now if I didn’t get sucked into the whole Adam vs. Kris sing off. (Vote Kris, OK?)

In the photo above, Raskin holds a magazine that shows a photo of Ando. And the title of this post, “Mankind is noodlekind,” is actually Raskin’s loose translation of a Japanese saying written by Ando. (Raskin takes Ando’s philosophical writings and uses it in his own Dear Abby-like Web site. Ando died in 2007.)

This is the first book for Raskin, a regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered and This American Life. Next time you’re at the bookstore (remember them?) you should check out this book. No water needed.

Dish on Dining: Bund Shanghai

Hearty Northern Chinese Cuisine Done Right
640 Jackson St., San Francisco
Chinatown
PH: 415.982.0618
Open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Major credit cards accepted, no reservations

It's rare to find good food in Chinatown, so I was especially excited to read my friend Foodhoe's post about Bund Shanghai, which opened earlier this year in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown.

Bund Shanghai, as the name suggests, focuses on Northern Chinese cuisine. Bund is actually what the Shanghainese call their waterfront. (I visited the bund 20 years ago fresh out of high school and it looked like an industrial mess with its murky water and endless row of old shipping freighters. Not sure whether it has modernized any along with that city's emergence as a world financial powerhouse.)

I recruited my friend Vera to check out Bund Shanghai on a recent Saturday for lunch. When we walked in, I almost thought we were in the wrong place because it was totally empty at 12:30 p.m. From what I read, I thought Bund Shanghai was a pretty popular spot, but it seemed like a deserted hotel lobby on this day.

The restaurant itself is quite contemporary, with a couple of flat screens tuned into CNN. Everyone who works there speaks Mandarin, so points for authenticity.

The menu has a mix of small plates known as dim sum (but with Northern specialties instead of what you find at the popular Cantonese dim sum tea houses) along with noodles (soup and fried) and entrée plates. Vera and I started with a few dim sum plates, including the red bean puff ($3.95) and traditional Xiao Lung Bao ($6.95).

The red bean puff is a flakey round pastry filled with the sweet red bean paste (or azuki beans in Japanese). While they were warm, the puffs just seemed especially dry. The bean paste was OK, but it didn't really thrill either one of us.

The xiao lung bao, or steamed soup dumplings, is one of my favorite Shanghai dish. Ground pork and some other ingredients are wrapped into a dumpling with just a bit of gelatin-like soup that melts into liquid during the steaming process. So when you bite into them, you get a burst of soup.

Bund Shanghai's version was great. The skin (which is a big factor in the eating process) was a nice thin layer, which is a big plus for me. I've had some that were thick and dumpy. Vera says she would have preferred the skin even thinner, which we both agree we've only seen done well, ironically, at Cantonese dim sum places. Still, I totally enjoyed the steamer of xiao lung bao.

Vera convinced me to try one of her childhood favorites called Steamed Mantou ($3.50). I'd never heard of this delicacy but basically it's a steamed bun served with condensed milk for dipping. But Vera says kids would just eat the bun. And what's the enjoyment in that, you ask? (I know, I had the same reaction.) She says an expertly done mantou would have intricate layers in the bread so that when you bite into it, it would feel light but dense at the same time.

To me, this was like eating white bread without peanut butter or jelly. I didn't get it. Sure, Bund Shanghai's mantou was perfectly steamed and when I looked closely I could see intricate air pockets within the bread. But unless you dipped it in the condensed milk, it was pretty bland. Then Vera had the audacity to compare it to Hawaii sweet bread, which is one of MY childhood favorites.

Now all my Hawaii folks back me up here, Hawaiian sweet bread (especially from the former King's Bakery) is amazingly light and airy but had an incredible subtle sweetness. I could totally eat a slice by itself without anything spread on it.

Moving on, we then tried a bowl of Dan Dan Noodles ($6.95), another commonly ordered Northern Chinese dish that's known for its spicy meat topping. The bowl was quite big and tasted spicy but not overly so. I enjoyed the full-flavored broth and the noodles had a nice firm texture with some give.

Quite full by this time, we still decided to try something sweet (as if the red bean puffs and condensed-milk laden mantou weren't enough). So Vera ordered the Sesame Seed Mochi Balls in Soup ($4.50).

Mochi is the sticky rice mixture made from glutinous rice, and then often steamed or boiled. Bund Shanghai served it in a simple bowl of water, which surprisingly wasn't sweetened. It was just plain water. The mochi balls are filled with black sesame seed that's been grounded into a liquid form. I used to love drinking these black sesame drinks that my dad would make fresh.

When you bit into the mochi balls, the black sesame liquid oozed out and totally created unusual scenes in your bowl that just a few minutes ago was a blank white canvas. I liked the black sesame filling, but I have to admit I'm not a fan of steamed mochi. Only because they can be bland and a definite choking hazard for young kids and older adults. (In Japan, you always hear about old people choking to death around the new year because sweetened mochi soup is one of the popular traditional new year dishes.)

As we finished off our mochi balls, the room started to finally fill up a bit (so odd since it was almost 2 p.m.). I guess Bund Shanghai must do brisk lunch business during the weekdays, but that's a shame because the quality of the food is so good that it should be packed all the time. I can't wait to return to explore the other Northern Chinese dishes on the menu.

Single guy rating: 3.75 stars (Sweet and Savory)

Explanation of the single guy’s rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy’s dream dinner

Baked Potato with Caramelized Mushrooms and Onions

Years ago my girlfriends and I would go to our favorite restaurant in my hometown called The Pioneer. They are known for excellent steaks and huge Idaho potatoes. My friends and I couldn’t afford getting the steaks and prime rib so we would order a salad, baked potato and artichoke. It was One of my very favorite meals and still is. It’s simple food with great textures and flavors. Sometimes,

Bread Baking Babes - Italian Knot Bread

May is Ilva’s month in Bread Baking Babe land. The recipe she chose for us is an Italian roll called Pane di Pasta Tenera Condita, or Italian Knot Bread. This is a pretty straightforward bread, and though the list of ingredients is a little long, it’s easy to make. The twist (heh) on this dough is that the buns are formed into knots. A technique I had a tough time wrapping my head around.

The dough starts with a biga - a preferment made the day before. I was a little nervous because the recipe didn’t specify if the biga should be soft or firm. Mine was very firm and I worried that it wasn’t right. Saturday afternoon I finished the dough and left it to rise. If it didn’t rise I’d have to bow out this month.

It rose.

I cut and weighed the dough into 125g-ish pieces then attempted to knot them following Ilva’s instructions. It didn’t go that well, but they turned out pretty ok.

I left some plain and sprinkled some with salt before baking. They are just lovely little knots, so tender on the inside. We’ve dunked them in soup, made them into sandwiches, warmed them and slathered them with butter. So, so wonderful.

Head over to Ilva’s for the recipe, then head over to the blogs of the rest of the Babes to check out their knotty breads.