Pizza Dinner at Patxi's Pizza in San Francisco For Halloween Dinner

My sister, nephew, his classmate and mom and I went to Patxi's Pizza in San Francisco for dinner tonight.  We ordered two 14" thin crust pizzas: Spinachini and Margarita pizzas.

The Spinachini is pictured above.  Very thin!  The garlic was whole clove garlic pieces!  I'm not used to eating garlic like this, so I picked it out.  Tomatoes, spinach and basil completed the toppings.  Very good pizza, but very thin!  Coming from Chicago, I would have preferred to try their deep dish pizza, but it would have taken too long to cook.  We were in a hurry to finish so that we could go out to do more Trick or Treating!  One other classmate and his parents came later to join us for Halloween Trick or Treating but did not join for dinner.

My nephew and his friend had the Margarita pizza.  I had a slice.  Also very good.  My nephew added a lot of crushed peppers and grated parmesan cheese to his slices.

Just before the pizzas came out, my nephew took out the candy he already collected before dinner.  It is shown below.  Earlier in the day, I took a picture of him as Spiderman with a Disability.  I rode my mobility scooter while the kids went up and down the street gathering candy from local stores.

Pastries at B Patisserie in San Francisco

My sister and I went to B Patisserie bakery in San Francisco for breakfast today.  It was a great bakery!  But like most things in San Francisco, it was a bit expensive to someone like me who isn't used to paying much for food.

We got the Cream Cheese and Blue Berry Amann.  Very buttery!  We also got a Chocolate / Banana Scone... also very good!  Cost for the two items was $9.22 including tax!

For lunch, I got two Cha-Siu Bows from a Chinese bakery, but don't know the price of these items.

Lamb Shawarma Plate at Sultan's Kebab in San Francisco

My sister, brother-in-law, nephew and I went to Sultan's Kebab in San Francisco for dinner last night.  We had the Lamb Shawarma Plate which had Lamb Shawarma, rice, humus and salad.  We also had some pita bread as well.

We came in around 7:30 PM and they were down to the last of the lamb so they originally did not want to serve us any more, but the chef said he would do it for us to finish off his supply of lamb on the spit.  While it tasted good, it was a bit dry, most likely because it was the end of the supply and had been sitting out there for a while.  Still, we all thought the flavor was good.

The humus and rice was very good.  The salad is well... a salad.  No big deal.

Overall the meal was good and not too expensive for a meal in San Francisco.

Burrito Bowl at Laguna Honda Hospital Cafeteria

Yesterday for lunch, I went once again the cafeteria at Laguna Honda Hospital like I did in the past when I went to visit my mom in San Francisco.  This time I had a "Burrito Bowl" even though it's not technically in a bowl.

Chicken breasts with black beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream (I scraped most of this off due to lactose intolerance), and shredded cheddar cheese.  Not bad, although it doesn't look all that good.

With a Diet Coke, it was $7.36 with tax.  Probably the best deal for a meal in San Francisco... go to the hospital!

Country Ribs in Cast Iron Skillets

I used my Blacklock #8 and Griswold #8 cast iron skillets to cook up six country ribs.  The rub was Kick Butt Rib Rub.

After searing it on the stove top, the skillets were put into the oven at 350 degrees until the internal temperatures reached at least 165 degrees.

The meat was nice and moist and easy to cut.  Not bad.  I'd do this again!  Served with rice and corn.

Engagement Lunch - Ming Hin Cuisine - Rolling Meadows, IL

My daughter got engaged this Friday so my wife and I had an engagement Dim Sum lunch with her and her fiancé at Ming Hin Cuisine in Rolling Meadows, IL.

We ordered Shrimp Rolls, Tofu Skins with pork, Haw Gao (Shrimp Dumpling), Gluttonous Rice (aka Sticky Rice), Pan-Fried Noodles with Bean Sprouts, Fried Taro, Shrimp Cheong Fun, Beef Chow Fun, Cha-Siu Cheong Fun, Gai Lan (aka Chinese Broccoli) and Pork Short Ribs.

Overall, the meal was very good.  The shrimp rolls were very small.  The Tofu Skins with pork was very good and typical of other restaurants.  The Haw Gao had very large shrimps, a nice surprise.  Very good.  The sticky rice was a bit dry and not very flavorful.  The pan-fried noodles had good "wok hei" flavor to it.

The fried taro was typical like many other restaurants.  Very flaky.  The shrimp cheong fun had very large shrimps like the haw gao.  The beef chow fun was typical of many restaurants and had a good amount of wok hei to it as well.  The cha-siu cheong fun was very good.  Good texture to the rice noodle.  The gai lan came out late as did the pork short ribs.  The gai lan was cut whole and had good snap to it, but like many restaurants, just a bit bland.  The pork short ribs were good, but fatty.  Not much meat on these things anyway.

Overall, it was a good dim sum lunch.  We sat in an area that was a bit separate from the other diners as it was in a small cove.  Not as private as a separate room, but nice to be away from any other diners.

Congrats to the happy couple!

Mother Cluckers - Palatine, IL

My wife, nephew and niece and I went to Mother Cluckers restaurant in Palatine, IL for dinner tonight.

We had to order the chicken because it makes no sense to me to go to a chicken place and not order chicken!  But the restaurant does offer other items besides chicken if you want... catfish, shrimp, sandwiches, etc.

We ordered the 16 piece chicken with biscuits and four sides.  We got corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and broasted potatoes.  We also ordered a side of fried zucchinis.

After ordering our food at the counter, we were given our cups for drinks and we got a number tent that we placed on our table.  We decided to get just water and not soft drinks.  After settling in at our table, our food was brought to us really fast (like within a couple of minutes), which tells me that our food was pre-cooked before we even ordered it.  We also noticed that more people who came in to order were getting their chicken to go rather than eating at the restaurant.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was fine, but it was rather small.  The building is located in an oddly shaped peninsula and so the building can't really hold lots of people and also have a kitchen and an ordering counter.  Still, it was comfortable and nicely decorated.  I will say that I like their company's name and logo!  Very creative if you are smart enough to figure out the play on words.

How was the food?  To me, the chicken was just a typical fried chicken that was fried in lard.  I did not find it anything special, other than it was rather expensive.  It was not greasy though, but it had a really heavy lard taste to it.  The biscuits were typical like Popeye's Fried Chicken biscuits.  The broasted potatoes had the same heavy lard taste to it like the chicken, but again, it really wasn't greasy.  The mashed potatoes were a bit thick (it needed something to water it down really) but it did taste ok.  The corn was frozen corn that was boiled in water too long, like many restaurants do.  The fried zucchini was cut thick, but didn't seem fully cooked, but again, it was ok.  The Mac and Cheese was very creamy and good.

Overall, I felt that while the meal was decent, it wasn't anything really that different than at any other place.  It was rather expensive at just under $50 with tax for 16 pieces of chicken, biscuits, four medium sides and a side order of fried zucchinis.  Would I go again?  Probably not, but overall, the food was decent... just not anything really that special that would make me want to go again.

Seven Small Blue Crabs On The Wok

Blue Crabs were on sale at our local H-Mart supermarket for only $1.99 / lb, so I had to get some!

Since it was only me eating crabs today, I decided to just get seven of them.  I cleaned them up first before cooking them removing the deadman's fingers (basically, their gills) and also the innards (some call it the tamale).  I don't eat the tamale like some people do.

Six of the seven crabs were females and they all had eggs.  I tried to keep as much of the eggs, but cleaning out the insides, you lose a lot of it.

I stir-fried them in the large outdoor wok with scallions, ginger, soy sauce, salt and pepper.  Stir-frying the crabs is the easiest way to cook them.

Thanks to my wife for giving me a nice plate to use to take a final photo of the crabs!

All images taken with a Canon 70D and Canon 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 lens.  Custom White Balanced with a Balanced Exposure CWB reflector.

To see a video of the crabs cooking, click here.

12.5 lbs Pork Butt on the 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker

It's been a while since I smoked anything, so here we go again! 12.5 lbs of pork butt on the 18.5" WSM smoker! There are two butts in the smoker... one on the middle grate and one on the top grate (totals 12.5 lbs). Both butts have been cut in half for more bark and to speed up the cook time. Neither have bone in them (Costco removes the bone, so you don't pay for the weight of the bone!)

Pit temp is around 259 degrees and will run until the meat stalls. I'll put each in an aluminum foil pan and cover it tight with aluminum foil. The meat will go until it hits around 203 degrees internal temperature. I am monitoring the temps with a ThermoWorks Smoke thermometer.

It's cold outside today, but that's never an issue. Very little wind, so that's good!  I am smoking with pecan wood chunks today.  The rub is Pork Barrel BBQ's rub along with Costco's Flavor Connections Rub and some cayenne pepper mixed in with it.  
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I decided to wrap after 4 hours at 154 degrees internal. The meat had stalled way earlier than that but I decided to give it better bark so I left it unwrapped longer. It is now in the pans waiting to rise in temp to the final 203 degrees.  The pit temp remained at around 243 degrees.
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The top grate meat finished up about 10 minutes before the middle grate.  I took it out at 203 degrees.  Total cook time was 6 hours.  It is interesting that the shape of both top and bottom grate meats look very similar (check out the photos below).

I would have to say that this cook was the easiest cook I've ever had.  Setup was fast, cleanup was fast, cook time was fast, I didn't have to go back and forth adjusting the vents (other than during the first 1/2 hour, perhaps)... couldn't have asked for a better cook!  Pulled very easily.

IHOP - No IHOP Senior Discount Like Last Time - But AARP Discounts Apply

My wife and I went to IHOP in Buffalo Grove for dinner expecting to get a senior discount like we did the last time, but unfortunately, this particular IHOP didn't offer that discount!  We were able however to apply a 10% AARP discount though.  Still, the "Buy One, Get the Second Free" would have been better.

I ordered a Spinach and Mushroom Omelette (without onions) with Hash Browns and my wife ordered a Turkey on Marbled Rye sandwich.  Sorry the photo isn't as sharp, but it was the best I could do with an iPhone in there.  The syrup photo isn't too sharp either, but I decided to include it anyway.

Overall, I think I'm done with IHOP.  Nothing really that special in their menu although if you want breakfast foods or burgers or a sandwich, it's fine.  Nothing stands out to mention, but my wife said that the bread was really good on her sandwich.  Eh...

My omelette plate had "dirty" edges, but the plate wasn't really dirty.  It's just old and has been rubbing against other plates too long.  I think when the plate starts looking like this, the restaurant needs to start retiring those plates.  Presentation-wise, it's a smarter move.

Green Tomatoes

So sad... I had to pick a bunch of green tomatoes today from our garden because the vine died during the frost the last couple of days.

We had a grand total of 45 lbs of tomatoes this year that were either red or green (but not bad). The total of Red and Green tomatoes were 163 tomatoes (90 Red, 73 Green).

16 tomatoes picked were bad tomatoes that had to be tossed and that totaled 2.9 lbs.

A total of 73 green tomatoes were picked today totaling 15.13 lbs

All these tomatoes were from one plant purchased at Costco on a whim!

Salmon

I fried up some of the King Salmon that I caught earlier this year.  It was frozen in sections and stored in ziplock bags.  I just preheated the vintage Blacklock #8 cast iron skillet, but in some oil and placed in the seasoned Salmon.  I used Old Bay Seasoning on the fish.  Easy!

I always use a splatter guard when frying!