To that end, I decided that I should go get some dim sum at the newly reopened Hollywood East Cafe. Normally I’d go with the foodies of DonRockwell.com (who introduced me to their dim sum back when it was on University Blvd), and they are going tomorrow afternoon, but Sunday didn’t quite work out for me this weekend (other plans). So, I thought, go this morning, you deserve it! And here are the dishes I got. (Sorry for the photo quality. iPhone + restaurant lighting…)

First up is one of my favorites from visits past, Assorted Meat with Sweet Rice in Lotus Leaves:

Yummy glutinous rice filled with Chinese sausage, pork, some other meat, nuts(?), all wrapped up in lotus leaves and steamed. Mmm.

Next, Pork and Shrimp Steamed Bean Curd Skin Rolls:

Not sure I ever had these, but they were much better than I was expecting.

Next up the char siu bao, roasted pork buns, in their two classic varieties, steamed and baked:

I got both types because while I’ve always been a baked bun fan, some I know love the steamed and I thought I’d see if I’d changed. I haven’t, those baked buns are as good as they look, but I’ll eat either.

Next up was a revelation for me, Vegetables in Fried Bean Curd Skin:

These were great, a dish I’m pretty sure I’ve never had there. Stuffed with black mushroom for sure and maybe bamboo shoot? Not sure, but all yummy!

Finally, the dish that I have been anticipating the return of most of all, the Carrot Dessert:

These are fried, sweet desserts in the shape and color of carrots. They don’t contain carrot and they don’t taste like carrots…they are just yummy.

And I’d like to say I appreciate the patience and understanding of the nice man at Hollywood East who, I have no doubt, helped spur the kitchen on to get the Carrots made a bit faster than usual (I was at the place when they opened, not exactly the lunch rush yet).

Good start to a less-stress weekend.

I apologize that there aren’t any pictures, but, well, FOOOOOOD. However, I hope to below list the order of food with my impressions of it. The “names” of the dishes are what I can either glean from the menu or remember from my head. There is also a chance I’ve missed a dish, but I think I got them all. Now, the food:

1. Three BBQ Meats/Marinated Delight/Platter: A platter of mystery meats. Our guesses were roast pork, roast chicken, and intestine/stomach/something. All quite good and yummy.
2. Watercress with Clam Soup: A soup chock full of clams and watercress. The broth was very good as was the watercress. The clams? Well, I’m not the biggest fan, but I was told these were good.
3. ByBa Duck (aka Pipa Duck): Perhaps the best roasted duck I’ve ever had. So good.
4. Fried Sliced Fish, Salt and Pepper Style: Slices of a white fish, coated with a crispy breading and fried. The breading itself had salty, spicy kick to it. In fact, it was probably the hottest dish of the day, spice-wise. Served with some preserved anchovies and jalapenos.
5. Oyster with Ginger & Scallion Roast Pig in Casserole: The first casserole of the day. Again, not the biggest shellfish fan, but the oysters I tried were yummy. The best part of this dish were the onions at the bottom. They had absorbed all the sauce and flavor…mmm.
6. Sauteed Abalone with Chinese Vegetables and Chinese Mushrooms: I really liked the veggies (mustard greens?) and mushrooms. The abalone? Eh. Still not a fan of its weird texture.
7. Braised Eel with Roast Pig Garlic Sauce: This too was very good. One issue I had was that the eel was not boneless or bone-cut, but rather just chopped. The eel had great flavor, but the picking the meat from the bones (the many, many bones) was annoying. However, see that “garlic” up there? In this dish were the most flavorful garlic cloves ever. I kept picking them out, perhaps to the consternation of my tablemates.
8. Salted Fish, Diced Chicken, and Eggplant Casserole: A classic of Cantonese casseroles. I’m a big fan of all the ingredients, add them together and you get a happy Matt.
9. Sauteed Kingdom Mushroom, Braised Tofu, and Snow Pea Shoots: The final dish of the day was a “on the board” special. It’s about what it sounds like, except the mushrooms were…odd. I have *no* idea what species they are, but the whole mushroom must be enormous. The slices of mushrooms were bigger than an Ike dollar. Still, a very good dish.

All in all, an amazing feast. The cost, while not cheap, was still a great bargain for the variety of dishes. In fact, the whole meal per person was probably about the same cost as one order of that abalone dish. And the kids held their own, let me tell you. They had their own table with, while not all this food, not exactly just a few dishes.

Now? Now I’m going to sit like a bump on a log and try and digest the feast.

I know, I know, not that exciting, but, man, is it fascinating! The object of my focus this afternoon is the LA Public Library’s online Menu Collection. Just give it a whirl and I dare you not to be sucked in.  Marvel at what ten bucks would buy you 30 years ago compared to today.

I’m not the first to find this site, but I’m damn sure not going to be the last!

But the main event: cookie making! Specifically, a recipe my grandma used to make back in the day for Christmas. There is a Don Rockwell picnic tomorrow and this is my contribution. Now, to the picto-recipe after the cut!

First things first, this is a messy recipe, so have an apron standing by. I imagine it’s also a great recipe for kids. Up until the end, it’s just mixing messy, gooey ingredients and forming messy, gooey balls. I imagine some kids would just love that.

First, 16 oz of Marshmallow Fluff (or other marshmallow cream):

Then, 16 oz (2 cups) of chunky peanut butter:

Finally, 4 cups of Rice Krispies (or equivalent puffed rice cereal):

Yep. Those are the three main ingredients before coating. Now you mix them…and don’t even think about using a spoon. Use your hand(s) and go to town. It’s gooey and all that, but it’s by far the best way:

After you’ve mixed it all thoroughly, it’s time to roll them into balls, say the size of small walnuts.  You’ll be rolling a lot of balls, around 70-80 depending on the size. Here you see two of three sheet pans with the balls.

Also note the wax paper.  It just makes life easier because we are now going to coat the cookies with a confectionery coating.  The type I use, because my grandma used it, is the semi-ubiquitous Candiquik which is also known as Almond Bark and many other things. In NoVA, Walmart’s about the only place I’ve seen it and at mine it’s called “Almond Bark, Vanilla Flavor“. It’s essentially Candiquik (bad-for-you shelf-stable fat with sugar and flavor), both are made by Log House Foods and they have the same directions.

Now I know, I know, I should be using real white chocolate or some such. Screw that. Candiquik is easy to use and, dammit, it’s what my grandma used. The artificial vanilla taste is part of the memory. (It also means you don’t use the “chocolate” Candiquik either).

Following the directions, melt the coating and then coat the balls.  Yes, melt which means small kids really shouldn’t be around for this. If you follow the directions, the coating really won’t be that hot, but if you overheat it, well, molten sugar and kids DO NOT MIX.

Back to the recipe, I melted my coating the microwave and then used two forks to help coat it. You could use your fingers if you have asbestos fingers, but it’s also less messy to use the forks:

I suppose you could use chopsticks if you are agile enough with them. I am not.

Finally, when all is said and done, you end up with 70-80 coated balls of peanut butter-marshmallowy-krispie goodness:

Let them rest until hard, then refrigerate them. You don’t really have to cool them in the fridge, but I find they can still start to melt by finger-heat if you leave them in a 75-80 degree room.

Of course, there is all the cleaning involved as well. Boo! In all, it takes about 1-1.5 hours of not-very-difficult work. But the end result is well worth it!

Yours in cookies,

Matt

…but I also have some low-fat cream cheese in the fridge which is keening for a cheesecake.  Maybe a Key Lime Cheesecake? Marble Chocolate? Hmm…

Any ideas from internetland?

Still, classes!  As a resident of Fairfax County, I’m looking over the Fairfax County ACE courses.  I’ve looked at them all, and most of  them sound cool, but FC is a big county and I’m not really looking to have to drive 1 hour in rush-hour traffic after work to get to a class.  So, I’m focusing on ones near me (Annandale-ish area, the Plum Center is ideal).

To that end, I’ve identified two courses that I might do.  First is Lebanese Cuisine: Vegetarian and the other is Indian Cuisine: Vegetarian. Very veggie of me, eh?

I’m also looking at Thai Cuisine as well, but it conflicts with the Lebanese course. I suppose right now I’m trying to decide, do I do Lebanese or Thai?

So, my two or so readers and my 5603242237 Russian spammers, which one should I choose?  (I thought about doing a poll, but polls on WordPress aren’t as easy as I thought so I said screw that. It’s relaxing weekend time!)

Yours in student,

Matt

In the titles of the dishes, the bold indicated the title on the menu with its subtitle/descriptors in italics.  Also, forgive the photography.  A novice picture-taker combined with a point-and-shoot in low light equals overexposed and how!

First Course: Beef Tartare (Horseradish, Apples, Yucca, Beets)

A small roundel of beef tartare in a cucumber quick pickle. All but the yucca in the above “official” description were in the tartare. The yucca (aka cassava) was the tasty chip.

Second Course: Lobster Roll

This was an “off-menu” course, so I don’t have an official description.  What I can say is that on the left is some frisee that was dressed with a very nice, spicy vinagrette.  Yum!  On the other side of the balsamic (?) solidus is a “lobster roll”.  It was a lobster salad in some sort of skin.  I want to say yuba, but I’m not sure.

Third Course: Foie Gras (Spaetzle, Cider, Parsnip)

Okay, I’m not a big foie gras fan, so I wasn’t swooning over this as much as everyone else. Still, it was good. On the left is a foie gras “steak” over some very very good spaetzle. On the right is a foie gras and parsnip cappuccino. I know, I know, but it was actually not bad. Sort of a very creamy cappuccino. If I wasn’t told there was foie gras in it, I’d have never guessed.

Fourth Course: Crispy Rockfish (Fantasy Potatoes, Carrot Emulsion)

Ohh…the crispy skin.  Really, it was amazing.  The fish was great, the potatoes were great, but the skin…mmmmmmm…  It was…ohh.  As for the potatoes, they were sort of a fancy home fries.  They had some shrimp mixed in, and a whole lot of stuff I’m forgetting right now.

Fifth Course: Braised Shortribs (Pomme Puree, Marrow, Green Peppercorns)

This was the main meat course. The ravioli on top was a marrow ravioli, but the star were the shortribs. They were marinated in Dr Pepper (yeah), and were amazingly tender and good. Beneath that is the pomme puree (= yummy mashed taters), some spinach(?), and a sauce that I want to say had horshradish, but that could have been the green peppercorns.

Sixth Course: Will’s Candy Bar (Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Hazelnut Praline)

This was the dessert course. Yes, it was a good as it looks, overexposed and all. Rich rich rich.

Again, a great meal, a great dinner with great people.

Jealous?

This all started with a post on DonRockwell.com about someone wanting to try this place’s signature dish: Eight Treasure Duck.  As you can imagine, this is a duck stuffed with eight treasures rice.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, this one you have to order 24 hours in advance.  It comes out wrapped in lotus leaves and…mmm…

But, now, the carte d’food.  In the order I sort of think things came out.  And realize that there were 10 people, so I didn’t order this all myself.

Oh, and I should state that other than the Eight Treasure Duck, we just asked the owner of the place to recommend food.  No American-Chinese or anything, but food he would like.  So, here it is, the board of fare, served with rose tea:

1. Wontons in spicy peanut sauce. This was good.  Really good.  The wontons, yeah, yummy, but that sauce…  It had just the right amount of spiciness. Not overwhelming, but not bland.
2. Eight Treasure Duck. A whole roast duck, deboned, then stuffed with glutinous rice, 2 kinds of Chinese sausage, 3 kinds of nuts, mushrooms, goodness, &c.  Really, really good.  And big.  And DENSE.  But good.
3. Seaweed Infused Fish. Slices of fresh flounder breaded with a seaweed-infused batter and deep fried. So good.  Really.  Amazing.
4. Salty Egg Shrimp. Shrimp battered with a salty egg sauce and fried golden. Folks, I don’t like shrimp.  Really.  It’s not bad, but I don’t seek it out.  This dish?  This dish I would order again and just eat up.  It was that good.
5. Yellow Bird. Bean curd skin stuffed with mushrooms and assorted vegetables, steamed, with a sauce. Very good.  Light, savory, filling.  Good.
6. Lemongrass Chicken.  Another hit.  And not what you might imagine. When it came out I–and others–thought it was pork or something. It was that dark, deep, red color you associate with char siu or the like. But, nope, it was chicken with a very good lemongrass flavor.  Mmm…
7. Spinach with Fried Tofu. Just what you’d think. And good.  Again, I know everything sounds superlative…and it was.
8. Giant Hot Pot. At this point, we were full…and then came this.  Giant is indeed right.  Imagine a, oh, gallon-and-a-half size hotpot filled with cabbage, mushrooms, shrimp, chicken, mini lions head meatballs, tofu all in an amazing broth.  We were all stuffed and yet this ending dish was consumed just as quickly. A very good ending to the meal.

So, there you go. Eight courses of what might be some of the best Chinese I’ve ever had.  What style of Chinese was it? I don’t know.  I think it’s “Owner of Pacifica Cafe’s Favorite Dishes” style.

And the kicker?  All this food, all this… $18 a person.  Yeah, we were all just as surprised by this.  Yum.