Life In Da Burbs

My wife is a big fan of Mapo Tofu and Mapo Nasu. It's a simple chili tofu and eggplant dish that goes nicely over a hot steaming bowl of rice. Perfect for the chilly weather we are facing here in NJ/NY. So when I stopped at the local Asian Grocery last night to pick up some produce, I was pleasantly surprised to see some great asian eggplant, and very good soft tofu. The butcher had just ground up some nice pork belly so that was also a plus. Amendment to an earlier recipe - Mapo Tofu April 5, 2007 ***before adding the ground pork, add the doban jan, chili, and hoisin sauce and cook it for 1 minute on high heat. this will help bring all the flavors together and your ground pork will cook in it and absorb the flavors better. "Koto-Koto" The Japanese word "koto-koto" describes this video image. It's an onomatopoeia for something simmering in a thick sauce. The thick sauce is a result of corn starch being added in the final step of the dish.

Twelfth Annual Grand Tasting Thursday, November 15, 2007 at The Hyatt Regency Hotel 2 Exchange Place, Jersey City 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm tax deductible donation: $65 Our 12th Year is Bigger and Better! Our largest tasting yet in the largest location ever! This year the event takes place in The Hudson Ballroom and will feature over 400 wines, saké, beer and spirits from all over the world and food provided by a dozen of the area’s finest restaurants. Light Rail, Path, NY Waterways at the door. Sparrow wine ambassadors floating the event to answer any questions and assist in any way we can to make this a memorable event . Purchase tickets at Sparrow Wine & Liquor Company ...

Made some dinner tonight for the wife. She wanted lamb chops so I headed over to the nearest supermarket to pick up some goods. 2 hours later... Voila! Tonight's menu was Cauliflower Soup, a Mesculin Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette, and Lamb Chops with Mushrooms and Roasted Vegetables. Cauliflower Soup : Made with Cauliflower, Chicken Stock, Milk and Seasoning. And making good use with my Braun 200w Immersion Blender. Simmer cauliflower in chicken stock for 20 minutes. Hit it with the stick blender and add milk or cream. Season and ladle in bowl. Serve hot or cold. Mesculin Salad : Greens, Tomatoes and Mizkan Salad Dressing It is what it is. Easy breezy... Lamb Chops : Roasted Lamb Chops, Portabello Mushroom stuffed with Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms French rack of lamb, score the fat cap, season and sear in high heat to seal in the juices. Coat with a layer of mustard and place in oven at 400 for 10 minutes. Remove for 5 minutes and throw it back in the oven for another 10 mintues. Thi...

Courtesy of the NY Times By ALEX WITCHEL Published: October 31, 2007 I KNOW that denial is not just a river in Egypt, because I'm drowning in it right here in New York. Even though one stepson left for college nine years ago, the other five years ago, I am still cooking for four. Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Recipe: Mistral's Chicken With Garlic (October 31, 2007) Truth be told, I'm usually cooking for six, because as masters of the last-minute bait and switch, these boys trained me well. An hour before dinner, a pair of pleading eyes would invariably appear beside me at the stove. I would hear a woeful tale of a starving friend, home alone, bereft. It was never mentioned that, say, the friend's parents took off for the weekend house in Connecticut without him because he was late again. I found out stuff like that later, after eve...

Sushi of Gari - Highly Recommended Japanese, Sushi 402 E 78th St, New York 10021 Btwn 1st & York Ave Phone: 212-517-5340 Fax: 212-288-9235 I've been obsessing to go to Sushi of Gari for a while and today was the day my dreams came true. My wife and I got a call from a friend from Japan and he invited us to have dinner in the city. Good sushi was due and we made the call to visit Gari. My first, my wife's third time. When it comes to sushi, I'm a purist.. and I gotta say, I didn't want to "love it", but it was just that good. Gari himself wasn't there, but this place definitely gives Sushi Yasuda a run for his money... Polar-opposites when it comes to the execution of sushi... but like anything good, when you are the best at what you do, you're doing something right. Sushi of Gari is Extremely PRICEY but well worth the experience. So unless you print money in you...

I don't really keep up with Japanese fashion and or celebrity gossip... But this "Ebi chan" seems to be in the spotlight a lot these days. She was just spotted by an acquaintance in Soho today doing a photo shoot for a magazine. Naturally, I looked her up and Yes... she is quite attractive. This is just tooooooo good. Ever see "What Women Want"? Mel Gibson's character is talking about the 'good old days'. When models wore bikinis and posed under water falls... Seems like those good old days are back in the advertisement world? Well at least in Japan!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20153804,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines Heidi Klum's Risqué Story of Falling for Seal WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24, 2007 08:05 AM EDT By Mike Fleeman Seal, Heidi Klum and Oprah Winfrey Photo by: George Burns / Harpo Productions INC. If Seal and Heidi Klum 's children ever ask about how their parents fell in love, the couple may have to make something up. "I met him in a hotel lobby in New York City and he came in just from the gym and I was sitting there and I was, like, wow," Klum tells Oprah Winfrey on her show's Superstar Couples episode set to air Thursday. Wow, as in Seal was wearing bicycle shorts. "And I pretty much saw everything," says Klum. "The whole package." From that moment on, the passion never died. The couple, in a rare joint television interview, say on The Oprah Winfrey Show that they've worked to keep those early feelings alive. "The most common hiccup,...