Smoky Corn & Peas

This simple side dish combines healthy fresh veggies with the most scrumptious ingredient ever invented: bacon. (Served here with a lovely grilled NY steak with garlic-herb butter.) This will be my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week; head on over to her site to find more delicious recipes for healthy foods.


Smoky Corn & Peas
2 slices bacon (I used peppered bacon), cut into 1/2" bits
2 Tbsp butter
1 lb fresh peas, shelled
2 fresh ears corn (shucked, of course)
salt & pepper

Put a small bowl upside down inside a large bowl. Stand the corn up on end on the smaller bowl and, using a sharp knife, cut down the length of the cob, removing the kernels from the ear. Rotate the ear slightly and repeat until all the kernels are cut off the corn, then run the back edge of the knife against the cob to release any remaining corn "juice."

In a large saute pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp; remove bacon & drain on paper towels, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. Add the butter to the pan and let it melt, then throw in the fresh peas and corn. Season with salt & pepper to taste, and cook just until the veggies are heated through, but the peas still retain their texture - about 3-4 minutes. Add the bacon bits back in and serve immediately.

Review: Qin's

Qin's Bistro & Bar opened yesterday in Antioch - mere blocks from our house - and we were among the first people to try it out.

This place is GORGEOUS. We felt very underdressed (he was in a t-shirt and shorts and flipflops, I was in a tank and capris and flipflops). This place has a very nice lounge-y vibe and I could easily see it drawing crowds of twenty- and thirty-something singles if it were located in Walnut Creek. The water wall is the first thing you notice, followed by the large, open bar immediately behind it. The light fixture over the bar is stunning. The restrooms are beautiful, and there's wood and tile everywhere. The place is very large, with (I believe) private banquet rooms in the back.

They had lots of staff there last night and the service was very attentive. I ordered a cosmopolitan with Grey Goose Orange vodka; Mr Wonderful got a Guinness. The drinks took a little while to arrive but when they did, my cosmo was perfect. Delicious, not overbearing but not weak either. Our waitress was sweet, but seemed inexperienced (not just because it was a new restaurant; I believe she hasn't had much experience as a waitress at all). We ordered Salt & Pepper Calamari and a Thai Steak Salad to start. The appetizers were amazing -- the calamari was perfectly cooked, with a little bit of spicy kick and no rubbery texture (which would indicate overcooking). The salad was excellent, with a tasty lime-based dressing and tender slices of steak.

The first indication that something might be not-quite-right was when our entrees came out. We were only about halfway through our starters when they arrived. This is likely due to the inexperience of the waitress (putting the order in to the kitchen all at once, rather than waiting a few minutes to submit the entree order after the appetizer order). But the entrees themselves were disappointing. I ordered the Thai Lemon Grass Shrimp with Coconut Rice. The rice was tasty, but the shrimp were woefully underseasoned and didn't taste like much of anything. In fact, I ended up dipping the shrimp in the chili sauce that came with my calamari in order to salvage it. And for $23, I think they could have given me much more than four (admittedly huge) shrimp. If I remember correctly, the dish mentioned green curry, which I was looking forward to, and I didn't taste any curry at all. I could be mistaken; I read a blog post about green curry earlier in the day and maybe I was just projecting, but I thought it mentioned curry. Anyway...disappointing. Mr Wonderful's Peking Duck was not much better. Again, the meat was underseasoned. It tasted fatty and bland. The duck came with three taco-shaped buns (I say buns, because they were obviously made of the same white, puffy dough as dim sum pork buns) and two sauces - a plum sauce and something else. He said it was "decent" when all the elements were combined, but it certainly wasn't spectacular.

After we finished our meal, we spoke to the manager and gave him our assessment. Generally I'd shy away from being so blunt about a restaurant's failings (I'd usually just not go back if it was bad) but we really want to see this place succeed. It's a HUGE step up for Antioch nightlife, and I'm thrilled that we're getting more high-end options out here in the far east bay. I hope that Qin's can overcome their difficulties in the kitchen and develop a good base of customers, because this place is definitely a step in the right direction. If Antioch's image is going to improve, we need more restaurants like Qin's. So please, if you're looking for a night out on the town, considering dressing up and heading for Qin's instead of going over the hill to the 'Creek.

Summertime Pasta

Light, healthy, quick and delicious! The whole wheat pasta provides some protein to this easy vegetarian meal. This will be my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Summertime Pasta
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 lb. whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
2 zucchini, ends cut off and halved lengthwise
1 clove garlic, minced
2 seeded, chopped fresh tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
1/4 c crumbled feta
salt & pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions, being sure to salt the water well.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the zucchini, cut side down, and cook for a minute or two, until the cut side is nicely browned. Remove zucchini from pan and shut off the heat. Slice the zucchini halves into 1" half-rounds and return them to the hot pan (remember, the heat should be off!). Add the garlic and salt & pepper to taste, and toss everything around, then set aside. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and add it to the pan with the zucchini and garlic, then throw in the tomatoes, basil and feta. Toss everything together and let the feta melt slightly. Top with freshly ground pepper, and serve immediately.

Summertime Pasta

Light, healthy, quick and delicious! The whole wheat pasta provides some protein to this easy vegetarian meal. This will be my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Summertime Pasta
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 lb. whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
2 zucchini, ends cut off and halved lengthwise
1 clove garlic, minced
2 seeded, chopped fresh tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
1/4 c crumbled feta
salt & pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions, being sure to salt the water well.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the zucchini, cut side down, and cook for a minute or two, until the cut side is nicely browned. Remove zucchini from pan and shut off the heat. Slice the zucchini halves into 1" half-rounds and return them to the hot pan (remember, the heat should be off!). Add the garlic and salt & pepper to taste, and toss everything around, then set aside. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and add it to the pan with the zucchini and garlic, then throw in the tomatoes, basil and feta. Toss everything together and let the feta melt slightly. Top with freshly ground pepper, and serve immediately.

Mexican Chicken Chili

A hearty meal that comes together quickly (if you've got your chicken already roasted, that is*).

Mexican Chicken Chili
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 serrano pepper, seeded & minced
2 Tbsp chipotle paste (or one minced canned chipotle pepper with adobo sauce)
1 small can petite diced tomatoes (NOT drained)
1 can corn, drained
2 cans beans, drained (I used one can black beans and one can cannellini beans)
2 roasted chicken breasts, meat shredded
1-2 c chicken stock
salt & pepper

For serving:
Tortilla chips
Chopped green onions
Chopped fresh cilantro
Sour cream
Shredded cheese

Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Saute the onions for about 4-5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, serrano pepper, chipotle paste (or chipotle pepper) and season with salt & pepper. Add the can of diced tomatoes (this is a regular-size can, not the big cans of tomatoes, although you could use one of those if you wanted it more tomato-y), the corn, beans, and the shredded cooked chicken. Pour in just enough stock to barely cover everything - it shouldn't take too much as you've also used the liquid from the can of tomatoes. Heat everything through, and then serve with whatever toppings you like. I put chips in the bottom of the bowl and ladled the chili on top, then topped it with cheese, sour cream, cilantro and green onions. Yum!

This is even better the next day, after the flavors get a chance to blend together even more.

*Note: I generally get chicken breasts bone-in and skin-on (on sale at Safeway this week!) and roast them with olive oil, salt & pepper at 400 for about 45 minutes -- until the thermometer beeps & tells me they're done. The chicken is much more juicy when you cook it this way than if you roast a skinless, boneless chicken breast. Then I remove the meat and put it in a plastic container & stick it in the fridge for quick meals during the week. It really simplifies weeknight cooking.

Oooh, Vicodin

I'm sitting here in a lovely Vicodin fog today, because yesterday was my Mohs surgery for the skin cancer.

It went well; they got the cancer out in the first pass, but I was there all day. My appt was at 9:45, they called me back shortly after ten, hooked me up with a grounding pad (so I wouldn't get an electrical shock when they cauterized my wound with their electric cattle prod thing), gave me several novocaine shots in the nose (OUCH!) and sliced a good 1/2" diameter hole out of the side of my nose. The doctor told me it would be about an hour before they called me back in (as the lab needed to determine if the margins were clear, meaning that they got all the cancer out). Two hours later, they called me back in, the doc said that she'd gotten all the cancer out already, but that they couldn't close up the wound until after lunch because the whole office shuts down at 12:30 for an hour. So off I went for a burrito, after getting another couple of novocaine shots.

At 2:00 pm, they called me back in again, hooked me back up, and gave me more novocaine shots. The doctor took a chunk of skin from right in front of my ear for a skin graft, closed that up, and then attached the graft to the nose and sewed that up. Then she sewed a dressing on top of the graft and gave me strict instructions not to get it wet or mess with it at all for a week, at which time I'll go back into the office and she'll remove the dressing and the stitches near my ear. She gave me a bag full of polysporin ointment packets and bandaids, and sent me off to the pharmacy to pick up Keflex (hardcore antibiotics) and Vicodin.

The worst part was the drive home, because I'd been in the pharmacy for oh, about half an hour, and the anesthetic was starting to wear off. By the time I got home I was in some pretty good pain and really ready for those vicodin.

I'm glad it's all done now, and all I have to do is figure out a way to shower and wash my hair without getting my nose wet at all.

Today's political giggle

The Empire Strikes Barack

Requiem for a Funyun

I am horribly disappointed in the Frito-Lay company. Of all the products they make, they had to discontinue the Wasabi Funyuns? WHYYYYYY??? The Wasabi Funyuns were the epitome of snackage. They were the perfect delivery system for wasabi powder -- no overwhelming flavor of anything else (I'm looking at you, crappy wasabi potato chips), just crunchy fried wasabi goodness.

I first discovered the Wasabi Funyuns last July. I was visiting my sister up in Portland with Mr Wonderful and attending the drunktastic Oregon Brewers Festival ("Drink it, bitch!"). Mr Wonderful and I took a drive one day, crossing the Columbia river into Washington state. We stopped at a 7-Eleven and Mr Wonderful spied the acid green bag and thought he'd give it a try. Well, we couldn't shovel them down our throats fast enough.

Try though we might, we very rarely came across them again. At every convenience store, we'd check for the little bags of joy. Every grocery store, every drugstore, every place that might conceivably have them. Nothing. No love. Until last November, when Mr Wonderful and I were again on vacation, this time in SoCal. Down the street from my Mom's house, the local 7-Eleven had them. I grabbed half a dozen bags and would have cleaned them out totally, but Mr Wonderful convinced me that now they'd be showing up all over the place.

Back home in the bay area, we still couldn't find them. I found a stray bag once on while a trip up to the mountains to visit Mr Wonderful's sister, but nothing where we lived. (Why could we only get them while on vacation??) In desperation, I checked the Frito-Lay website, thinking that maybe I could email them to ask when they'd be in mass circulation. Turns out, Frito-Lay has a "snack finder" that will tell you the closest retail outlet that sells your preferred FL snack. The website claimed that Wasabi Funyuns were available in several convenience stores near Mr Wonderful's job, but he visited each one and could never find a bag. There were no listings in our town or closely neighboring towns.

And now...well, they're nowhere to be found. A phone call to the company confirms that Frito-Lay has stopped producing Wasabi Funyuns. And all I have to say to that is: OMGWTF??? Seriously? Wasabi Funyuns were the greatest snack evah! Y'all are evil and I am boycotting your crappy company until you bring them back.

BRING BACK THE WASABI FUNYUUUUUUNNNNNSS!!

DirecTV vs U-Verse

I'm a DirecTV user. Have been for about six years...ever since I ordered my DirecTivo from Amazon. It has served me faithfully but I think it's finally time to retire the old Tivo. It's kind of gut-wrenching; I've had it for so long now that it's like an old friend. It still has movies and shows on there that were recorded four or five years ago! But the other night, it failed to record American Idol for some reason. Just...didn't do it. And I can't have that, sorry. It was the performance night. I can miss the results show without minding too much (I'd just read it online at TWOP), but missing the performances sucked.

Also, I've got an HDTV now. I got it over a year ago, at Christmas, but am still watching standard-def TV because I don't have the high-def feed. And I don't have the high-def feed because the high-def receiver/Tivo combo that DirecTV has was pretty expensive. Now they're down to $200 -- still a good chunk of change, but I'm thinking I might do it once I get my tax rebate check.

And then I started hearing about this AT&T U-Verse. Apparently it's TV over IP -- basically your television is served via a fiber-optic cable that runs to a hub in your neighborhood, and from the hub to your house via copper wire. They also offer Internet service over this same delivery system. The price is comparable to what I'm paying now for DSL + DirecTV, plus the DirecTV HD add-on fee, and the convenience of having it all on one bill sounds nice. They don't even charge you for the receiver/DVR! Plus the potential for television/Internet integration in the future (interactive TV, YouTube through your television, etc) is amazing.

BUT.

I did my research online, and I've seen some reviews that are not very encouraging. I've read that the DVR they use is awful, especially if you're currently a Tivo user. I've also read that the U-Verse HD signal is not nearly as clear and sharp as DirecTV's HD signal. They currently allow only one HD signal in at a time, which means you can either record an HD program or watch a live HD program, but you can't record one and watch another at the same time. They're working on expanding that, so you can get two HD feeds at once, but the way they plan to do it is by improving their HD compression...which doesn't sound like it bodes well for picture quality, considering their current compression is not bringing through the ultra-sharp video you'd expect. And the "On-Demand" movies they offer...well, I've heard that the streaming video quality is so bad (artifacts, hanging, pixellation) that you might as well just not bother at all. On-Demand is one of the things that I was excited about, actually, so hearing that this was terrible is a real let-down.

So I'm interested in hearing from y'all -- if you've switched from DirecTV and/or Tivo to the new U-Verse service, what do you think?