When I saw “All About Braising“, the new cookbook by Molly Stevens, at the library I had to check it out. I LOVE braised meats, but I haven’t had that much experience making them. I figure this would be an opportunity to learn.
There were so many wonderful choices in the book that I couldn’t make up my mind as to what to make so I had to let Mike decide. He decided on this recipe here and a leg of lamb recipe I’m currently cooking and that I’ll post soon.
I made the recipe pretty much according to the instructions, though I didn’t use bay leaves as I had misplaced them (ok, ok, they’d fallen behind the stove – sheesh!). I also wasn’t very dilligent about spooning off the fat, making the braising liquid fatter than it should have been. In any case, the results were very good and worth all the work. Mike loved it and would definitely like it again. I liked it too, but I think I like short ribs braised in wine better. Still, its certainly a dish you can serve to family and friends and make them happy. I would use about 1 lb of short ribs per person.
As usual, the recipe below is what I made.
Page 148 of 162
Last night was our first date night since Camila, our second baby, was born. We decided to go to the Piedmont Springs, a hot tub place on, wouldn’t you know it?, Piedmont Avenue. We didn’t have much time for dinner before hand (we didn’t want to take advantage of our babysitters’ graciousness) so we decided to go to China Garlic, which is conveniently located right next door to Piedmont Springs. It wasn’t a good choice.
China Garden serves typical Chinese-American food at reasonable prices (about $7 for entrees). The portions are not very large, but that was fine with us as we weren’t planning on taking any leftovers home. Unfortunately the food just wasn’t very good – even when compared to similar restaurants.
Mike got the sesame chicken. It had a thick coating and a syrupy sauce that wasn’t quite sweet. The sesame seemed to be there for just decoration. In all, I can’t say we enjoyed this dish.
I went for the lemon chicken, as I was in the mood for something sweet. Once again, the coating on the chicken was too thick – almost as thick as the chicken itself. More problematic was the sauce, which was yellow and somewhat sour but didn’t taste at all like lemon.
The restaurant itself is small and characterless, just another Chinese dive. Service was fine and we did manage to get in and out in half an hour, which was our goal.
Next time we’re in the same situation, however, we’ll probably try the pizza place a couple of doors down.
China Garlic Restaurant
3941 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA
(510) 654-5033
We got Patak’s Korma sauce along with its tika masala sauce a couple of months ago at Cost Plus ($3.50). We didn’t like the tika masala, but the korma was much better. It wasn’t as sweet or delicious as a restaurant korma, but it was creamy and tasty enough for a quick, weekday dinner. I browned and simmered some cubed beef on it for about an hour (with some extra water), and served it over cuscus. Next time I’m at Cost Plus, I’ll probably pick up a couple of more jars.
The Parkway theater in Oakland is the only place we know where you can catch a movie and have dinner at the same time. The theater shows second-run movies in two theaters. The big draw are the love seats (get early to get one) and the fact that on Monday evenings you can bring your baby with you. We were regulars at “Baby Brigade” when Michaela was a baby, and now that we have Camila we’ll probably be regulars again.
The Parkway offers a couple of pastas, sandwiches and other fare at premium prices. We weren’t big fans of the food when we used to frequent it two years ago, but it may have improved since. The menu has been shortened (gone is “The Soprano”, a chicken sandwich we actually liked) and the pepperoni pizza, at least, is tastier than it used to be. At $3.75 a slice is one of the most affordable options.
The nachos ($9.50) are another of the safer options. The chips are commercial, but still OK, and the chicken is quite good. However, the cheese had solidified by the time we got them and it didn’t reach the bottom chips.
They no longer seem to carry the delicious lemon bars, but the coconut bars ($3.50) were also great.
We will probably try other menu items in future visits and will report here.
Last Sunday it was Camila’s Welcome ceremony. I was going to make empanadas, but the store where I usually buy he shells was out of shells for baking, they only had the frying kind. My mom thought I should try them nonetheless but I figured it was easier to change the menu.
I decided to go with a Maghrebi theme and cook a couple of past favorites. The piece the resistance was a Chicken Tagine with honey and apricots. This was one of the first dishes I learned to cook, soon after I got married, and for many years was one of my staples at dinner parties. I’ve been on the cooking by the alphabet kick for several years now, so I hadn’t made it in a long time, and I knew it’d be a hit. It was, though I overcooked it a little and the chicken was a tad dry. But the sauce is to die for!
I doubled the recipe, but used only 1 1/2 times the butter it calls for.
I also made an Algerian soup, from which I ommitted the chicken so it’d be vegetarian. It was a much less popular choice.
I also served bread, pita bread & crackers with hummus, brie, pate and salame and for dessert we had ice cream cake from Baskin Robins.
Mike has sent me a bunch of edited restaurant reviews which I’ve put up on the website:
Daimo
An upscale Chinese restaurant in San Leandro where the food is not in par with the prices
Dona Tomas
People rave about this upscale Mexican restaurant in Oakland, but we weren’t nearly as impressed.
Truly Mediterranean
Neither Lola nor I liked this favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in Berkeley
The New Zealander
We liked the pies at this Alameda brewpub but we wished they’d been bigger!
P.F. Changs
I’d never been to this Chinese chain, but I was very impressed by the food at the Emeryville location.
Neumanali
A great meal at this upscale Hayward restaurant was almost ruined by bad service over dessert
Oriental Tea House – Update
Our favorite Chinese restaurant in San Leandro offers tasty chinese-american food at rock-bottom prices
Vo’s – Update
Had a very nice lunch at this great local Vietnamese restaurant
Battambang – Update
Had a delicious dinner at our favorite Cambodian restaurant in Oakland
Aloha Kitchen
Great Hawaiian BBQ for take out in San Leandro – yummm!
Chubby Seafood and Burritos
A new restaurant serving hoagies, burgers, fried fish & burritos. Good fried fish, OK other stuff.
Harry’s Hofbrau
Large portions of American favorites in a cafeteria-style restaurant. The food at the San Leandro location was just OK.
We went to Aziza last night and did the pre-fix 5 course deal ($39 pp).
Most of us had the lentil soup which was good but pedestrian. The soup of the day was Jerusalem artichoke cream and it was sooooo good that it convinced /me/ to try Jerusalem artichokes the next time I can.
The appetizers (Med. spreads, mushroom ravioli, goat cheese and lima beans) were also out of this world. The roasted pepper & pomegranate spread, in particular, was ambrosia. They were soooo good that we’re planning a return visit where all we order are appetizers 🙂
The bastilla was OK, it was a thick chicken pie but not as flavorful and tasty as other bastillas I’ve had or made. I wouldn’t order it again – though it inspired me to make bastilla this week for dinner 🙂
The main dishes in all were a disappointment. They were good, don’t get me wrong, but again we found them pedestrian and boring. I had the squab, which was well cooked and had a lovely sauce, but I’ve had similar dishes many times. It was also a pretty small portion so I was left hungry afterwards (this, however, may be the pregnancy talking).
My husband & friend both had the Aziza couscous and again they found it kind of bland and boring. Boris thought all the ingredients tasted the same, DH noticed different tastes but pronounced them all mild. The couscous was nice and fluffy – but no different from the couscous I make at home. Regina had the berber vegetable tagine and was also quite disappointed. She liked the couscous it came with a lot, but found the vegetable tagine boring, though she could appreciate the freshness of the veggies. Still, she felt she’s had many tastier tagines. All the couscous people couldn’t finish their entrees (which was good for me 🙂
Desserts also failed to awe. I had the ice cream, two /tiny/ ice cream sandwiches that were good and new but soooo tiny – other desserts were twice as big. I loved the hot chocolate pot, it was sooo flavorful and warm, though the accompanying cookie was somewaht salty and kind of weird. Boris thought the creme brulee was just OK – he’s a creme brulee afficionado – good, but there are better ones out there, and Regina was initially put off by her huckleberries sorbet but grew to really, really like it.
We loved the room, service was good and I would like to go back there – though only if I can just feast on the appetizers 🙂
As usual, I’ll write a full review and post it on my website at some point.
We went to the New Zealander in Alameda Thursday night. They have a short menu with a couple of sandwiches, burgers and meat entrees, but the main attraction – and what the waitress recommended – were the pies. I got a steak and cheese one and DH got the minted lamb one. They were both pretty good, the meats were tender and flavorful and the pastry was nice. Our main complaint was the size. They were too big as appetizers and too small for a main entree. You can get them with a soup or salad for $2 more, but we’re not really soup/salad people so it didn’t work well for us. Maybe next time we’ll just get 3 pies to share between the two of us.
We weren’t that impressed with the desserts. I liked the texture of the bread & butter pudding but it didn’t have much taste by itself and the sauce was too strong/bitter for my taste. I’d have liked both the pudding & sauce to be sweeter. DH had the French apple tart, which was an almost crustless bunch of cooked apples which he ruled as “interesting”. The desserts were large, so by the end of the meal we were full.
DH wants to go back and try other pies. Even though it’s a brew pub, it’s child friendly so we’ll probably go there again with the kids.
A full review will be posted on my website as soon as Mike edits it.
Last night we went to Battambang for dinner, it has been our favorite Cambodian restaurant since we discovered it about five years ago. The tiny restaurant is cute and with its dark yellow walls and framed paintings of Cambodian river scenes it could even be considered elegant if it wasn’t so crowded. But crowded it is – there is barely any room for patrons to walk, and unless you’re lucky you may have to share a long table with another party. Even then, expect a wait if you arrive for dinner after 7 PM.
Fortunately, we got there a few minutes later so we were sat immediately. The menu hadn’t changed much since our last visit. It still includes a very long selection of appetizers, soups, curries and meat and vegetable dishes. Appetizers and soups average $6-10, while main dishes are $7-15 (most are $7-8). Portions are on the small side, plan on getting an appetizer at least to share or ordering rice ($1 per person).
We started with an order of lawt, “crispy Cambodian style srping rolls with ground pork, bean thread, onion and ground peanuts”, served with a pickle and vinegar sauce ($6). The bite-size spring rolls where crispy and flavorful and quite good with the sweet & vinegary sauce. I’d order them again.
We then had one of our favorites, the sach ko chomkak, a “char-broiled beef shish kebab marinated with lemon grass, spices and ground peanuts served with pickle and lime sauce” ($8). The three kebabs were tender and delicious, they have a clear char-broiled taste and their flavor is only enhanced by the sauce. My only gripe is that there wasn’t enough sauce to soak all the rice we ordered – next time I’ll order extra.
We also ordered the Battambang Noodles, “pan-fried soft rice noodles with chicken, egg, bean sprouts, green onion, ground chili and peanuts in tamarind sauce” ($7). This dish is reminiscent of Pad Thai, though I didn’t find it as flavorful or delicious. I did, however, appreciate how tender both the noodles and the bean sprouts are (I don’t like crunchy vegetables). It’s also one of those dishes that you start eating and can’t get enough of. I’d order it again.
Service was good, though rushed, by the two lone waitresses who had to take care of the whole restaurant. One of them apologized for it, but it was actually better than in other occasions.
You can read my old review of Battmbang here
Update October 2013
This site is now Four Seasons Cafe and Deli
Update December 2010.
Planet Coffee has been sold twice since our 2004 update, the last time a couple of months ago. I haven’t checked it out since but I’ll try to stop by sometime.
Update December 2004. We went back to Planet Coffee for Vietnamese Sandwiches a few weeks ago and this time we were not impressed by their Vietnamese Sandwiches. There was so little meat vis a vis the bread and veggies. The bread was also over-toasted. In all, I don’t think we’ll try it again.
Planet Coffee is a cafe in downtown San Leandro. Though we’ve lived in the city for 4 1/2 years, today was the first time we went in.
As a college student I *loved* cafes and used to hang out in them all the time. Mike, however, dislikes them so we’ve pretty much avoided them after we got married. It doesn’t help that most cafes around here close early – Planet Coffee is closed by 5 PM so it’s not as if we could go there and hang out in the evenings.
I became interested in trying it, however, when I saw and ad in the local paper that mentioned that it was under new management and that it was now serving Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch. I had heard that Vietnamese sandwiches were delicious and cheap, and I certainly wanted to try them.
The opportunity finally came today when Mike was over for lunch and there were no leftovers to share. We decided to stop by Planet Coffee after picking Mika up from school and we had a very nice lunch.
The cafe is actually larger than I’d imagined given its narrow facade. It’s nicely appointed, with a mural of a European open-air cafe by a lake and nice, bright paintings of Vietnamese scenes. At 1-1:30 PM there was nobody there but us and a couple of people who came to get pick-up. In other words, we could eat lunch without Mika bothering anyone.
As you would expect, Planet Coffee has a typical cafe menu with a wide variety of coffees (they also sell coffee beans by the pound) as well as hot and cold drinks (smoothies, frappes and fresh juices). They serve breakfast (mostly eggs & bread concoctions) and a wide variety of salads and sandwiches for lunch. In addition to the Vietnamese sandwiches they have traditional American sandwiches (all around $5).
But we were there for the Vietnamese sandwiches and that’s what we got. They have six different ones with different combinations of ham, head cheese, pork salame, grilled pork, grilled chicken and BBQ pork. They cost $2.75 for a small and $4.95 for a large, which includes a small side of potato salad. The sandwiches come with pate, pickled carrot & daikon, pepper, cucumber and cilantro. Mike decided on the large grilled pork and I had the small grilled chicken. They were both very good. We liked the contrast of textures and tastes between the meats and the crunchy veggies and the tastes all came together very nicely. We both liked the sweet grilled pork better than the chicken, and we both felt that the sandwiches needed morer meat. They were too bready as they were. Still, we very much enjoyed them. We felt that the small sandwich was a better value than the large sandwich, as there wasn’t such a big difference in size between them.
In all, we’ll likely go back to Planet Coffee for more Vietnamese sandwiches.
Planet Coffee
1423 East 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-351-5527
M-F 6am-5pm, Sa 6am-4pm
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