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The reason I can no longer use WordPress’ free template is because I want to start expanding my blogging capabilities so I had to buy my own server. Hope you all will still read on and follow my food blog!

To give me energy for the workday, I decided to make something that most of you will scratch your head and say, huh? One over-easy egg over buttered Milton’s brand toast (my fav!)….wait for it….with Maggi sauce poured on top. Since the bread is already a tad sweeter than most bread, the maggi sauce gives this dish that sweet and salty combination that I always crave. For those of you who don’t know what Maggi is, and I actually didn’t really know what it was until I read the label just now (even though I’ve been seasoning my food with this stuff for YEARS), it’s like soy sauce but considered a seasoning.

I’m kinda weird about timing when I make this. I have to time it so that the toast finishes just after the egg is flipped so that the butter that goes on the toast doesn’t make the toast too soggy while it sits for the egg to be done.

I like my eggs runny.

I’m praying I don’t have to work much more before Monday. It’s exhausting sitting in front of a computer all day.

I dug through my recipe stash and books and we decided on Veal Saltimbocca from Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites and Mashed Cauliflower (only because I had a head in my fridge). And no, mashed cauliflower is not as bad as it sounds! In fact, it’s almost smoother than mashed potatoes, and of course healthier. But we added SO much garlic I was probably smelling like it ’til the morning.

Veal Saltimocca (Giada’s recipe):

Ingredients:

• 4 veal boneless loin chops (I got sirloin chops bone-in because the butcher recommended it and said it was really tender)
• sage, 4 whole leaves and 1/2 tsp chopped
• 4 thin slices of lemon
• 4 slices of prosciutto
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 14.5 oz. can of whole tomato, drained and diced (or pre-diced would work too, which is is what I used)
• salt & pepper
• 3 Tbsp olive oil

Steps:

• Prep veal chops by seasoning both sides with salt and pepper. Place one slice of lemon on top of each chop, followed by one sage leaf, then wrap chop with 1 slice of prosciutto and press and seal.
• Warm olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Place chops in, lemon side up and cook for approximately 6-8 minutes depending on thickness (with veal, you can still overcook the meat but it will still be more tender than if you cook a steak).
• Turn chops over and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat and cover with tent foil.
• Add wine to skillet and deglaze over high heat, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add chicken broth and reduce by half, about 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, cream, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and stir until combined and hot. (At this point, we added bak choy because we had it and wanted more veggies in our meal).
• Pour sauce over veal and top with chopped sage.  Spoon out veggies on the side (if you added any).

Mashed Cauliflower:

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• cream
• unsalted butter
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (we used 4 cloves, and I love garlic, but was definitely overkill!)
• salt & pepper

Steps (make it like you would for Mashed Potatoes):

• Boil a large pot of water. Salt and add chopped florets of cauliflower. Boil for 10 minutes or until tender enough to mash/blend.
• Strain cauliflower and add to large bowl.
• Mix in cream, butter,  garlic, salt and pepper (eyeball everything and taste occasionally to the consistency and taste you desire).
• For creamier and smoother consistency, place in blender.
• Grated Parmesan would be good and optional but we didn’t put any in ours.

I should cook meals with friends more often!

We headed to a place I found on the Top 100 Restaurant list on www.sfgate.com, called Adesso. And yes, theirs and Yelp’s reviews were on par. It was such a cute place with a full page of different house cured meats, a long list of pâté, paninis, cheeses and more. I’d love to go back and try more!

I started off with a glass of Prosecco. I love my bubbly!

BUT, the best part? They have FREE snacks/antipasti items from 5-6PM and 10-11PM. Last night they had a simple butter lettuce salad, bite size sandwiches with one of their house cured meats, cheese, and I think small samples of their piadina.

We ordered the chef’s selection salumi platter. I’d tell you what each one was but I sadly can’t remember.

Had a few oysters — St. Simone and Miyagi. Mmmmmm.

A bit of cheese the waitress recommended called Brescianella Stagionata (mild).

And also a pâté the waitress also recommended. It was good but I think I would’ve liked another one more. This is the duck pâté with cherries and pistachios. (Sorry, the picture is a bit fuzzy).

And lastly, we ordered 2 paninis. One was the Farm Egg En Carozza with Pancetta and the other was the Fried Soft Shell Crab with Watercress and Aioli. Both, YUM.

We didn’t realize how much we had ordered until we got the bill. Oops! But wait! We weren’t done! Considering we were only a few blocks from Fenton’s, we just HAD to go.

And this would be the Bananas Jr.

This morning, I went on a much needed run outside (for the first time in a long time)!

I had some ground pork lying around so I bought tofu the other day and decided to quickly make Ma Po Tofu before my workout tonight. If you haven’t made Ma Po Tofu before, it’s easy! It may not taste or look exactly like the dish you get at a Chinese restaurant but I feel like it’s comparable.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground pork (I use regular, not lean)
• 1 pack of firm tofu (you can use silken or soft as well)
• 2 sprigs of green onion
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce (or I use Maggi sauce because I like the taste better)
• corn starch
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp chili bean paste (same kind I used for my beef stew in the recipe below)
• 1 tsp oyster sauce

Steps:

• Marinate the ground pork with 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp corn starch, sugar, soy sauce (I honestly eye ball everything and made up these measurements so if you want more or less of things, feel free to adjust)
• Cut up tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and chop up green onion
• In a medium high pan, brown and cook the pork (if you don’t have lean pork, you don’t need oil in the pan)
• Once almost cooked, throw in the tofu along with the chili bean paste and oyster sauce and toss
• Cover pan for 5 minutes on medium low to low heat
• Meanwhile, mix 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water in a bowl (this creates a thicker Ma Po Tofu). Pour into pan and toss again along with the green onion.

And it’s done! Serve and eat over rice.

This was one of my staples in college because it takes less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish.

Now on my way to my old high school to run and do drills til I hurt. Why do I do this to myself?

This past weekend, I ate and ate and ate. I ate so much that it wasn’t even worth taking photos of because it was all random stuff here and there. Japanese…twice, Va De Vi (beet salad, lamb kababs, tuna tartare), Shanghainese restaurant in San Mateo (definitely overkill!). And not once did I even work out. So I told myself last night that I’d for SURE go to the gym tonight…and I actually did!

But first…this was a rare morning because I was actually happy to go to work. Our office was finally able to move down to our newly remodeled floor after 5 months of working in a dump upstairs. It’s always fun to have a change of environment to get out of the comfort zone.

So here’s my new desk. Shared with 5 other people.

I’m sandwiched between two guys, and another two guys are directly across from me. We don’t have them yet, but there will be 1 foot dividers between the desks across from us for “privacy,” but we’ll still be up in each other’s business on our side. All walls are knocked down so at least most people have a view of the city. And the best part? The kitchen that was remodeled with modern appliances and cabinets…almost like restaurant style.

Anyhow, HR randomly gave us all a pedometer to wear for a month and whoever gets the most steps gets 6 months free gym membership. I better get on it! She said an average active person can get up to 10,000 steps a day. I thought I was active but I only tallied up less than 3,000 today!  Granted I didn’t put it on until noon but sadly, it fell off me a couple times which means I collected a few extra steps from that and I drove to work today. 10,000?? Is that even possible for me?

Workout motivation for the next month: 6 months free membership + Giants 5K run in June (finishing at home plate at AT&T Park)!

I had 2 extra packs of fresh thick noodles so what did I make?

Beef Noodle Soup, naturally!

I can’t not order this whenever I go to a Shanghainese restaurant so I figured I’d try to make it. I found a recipe in my new subscription of Bon Appetit and I’m hoping it’s good! As of now, it’s still simmering for another hour so I need to wait to taste!

But here’s the recipe:

• 5 pounds boneless beef shank (I think it’s called something else at the Asian market — I had to ask the butcher in Cantonese for Gnow Lam)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1  2.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds, and smashed with the flat side of a knife
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2.5 tablespoons chili bean paste (I got Lee Kum Kee Chili Bean Sauce)
• 3 whole green onions, trimmed
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (don’t use low sodium)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 6 whole star anise
• 2 1.5 inch cubes Chinese yellow rock sugar (or about 2.5 tablespoons sugar)
• 1/2 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (I didn’t want to buy such a huge bag so used regular peppercorns)
• 2 large plum tomatoes, each cut into 4 wedges

Steps:

1. Boil a large pot of water. Add beef and cook for 8 minutes or until it turns brown on outside
2. Drain water and run under cold water until meat is cooled. Chop beef into 1.5 inch cubes.
3. Wipe out pot and add oil over medium high heat. Add ginger and garlic and toss for 1 minute. Add onions and cook until transparent, about 3 minutes.
4. Add chili bean paste and stir for 30 seconds.
5. Add 16 cups of water, whole green onions, 1.5 cups soy sauce, 2 tablespoons salt, star anise, peppercorns (in cheesecloth) and sugar. Add beef to mix.
6. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 1 hour.
7. Add tomatoes and simmer for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until beef is tender.
8. Adjust seasoning accordingly by adding more soy sauce, salt, and/or white pepper.
9. Add vegetables if desired. I added Taiwan spinach.
10. Serve with boiled noodles.

Just tasted it after 1.5 hours of simmering and it’s delish! So easy to make too but still needs to cook down a bit more to get the beef more tender. Now my entire house smells like spicy/beefy goodness!

I was putting away dishes today and one of my favorite new glasses tipped over in the drying rack. I looked at it and thought to myself…it’ll be okay like that for a few seconds. I looked away and one second later…SMASH! Somehow the dishwashing soap bottle toppled over onto the rack and knocked the glass over in the sink and broke into a million little pieces. ;(

On Saturday, woke up at the butt crack of dawn (not really but it felt like it) to head out to Crissy Fields to participate in the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk and again, couldn’t ask for better weather and scenery — right by the beach and next to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Excuse the butt white legs, but I got more color in them after today!

3.2 miles is all we had to do so instead of walking, I brisk walked to burn a few extra calories. Because I barely ate anything for breakfast, I was starving by the end of it so a bunch of us went to Squat & Gobble to get brunch.

I got a much needed cup of coffee and the Huevos Rancheros. It was good but I still like Chow’s better. (Sorry for the blurry pic — my hands must have been shaking from starvation).

This afternoon, headed to another Giants game against the Colorado Rockies and sadly lost their last game of the series (is that the proper term? ;P) BUT of course, the sun made up for it all. Good thing I remembered sunblock because I got a nice even tan instead of a nice even burn. Ahhhh, love it!

This time was the Sheboygan with LOTS of sauerkraut and onions. This is probably the ugliest picture ever and doesn’t give it justice.

And now I’m drained just in time for Monday.

Took the ferry for the first time, other than to AT&T park, to the ferry building. It’s is such an awesome alternative to the city on a day like this.

Had brunch at the Market Bar in front of the ferry building where there’s great people watching. There isn’t a huge selection for brunch but it’s more for the ambiance, right? It is here where I got a little toasty in the face but SO worth it. Gosh, I miss the sun.

Brunch was Spinach, Black Trumpet Mushrooms & Monterey Jack Cheese Omelette with a mimosa.

After was a long stroll around the ferry building and their huge farmers market. If you’ve never spent a Saturday morning like this, it’s a must!