NYC Chicken Run

This has become a tradition for me: the first run on my NYC trip leads to fried chicken. This time I ran from my midtown hotel, through Central Park, around the Jackie O reservoir, then down to Charles Pan Fried Chicken on 72nd.

The lady at Charles Pan was great and she was apparently training her sons in the business. But the chicken was... dry. This is my second dry fried chicken experience in NYC (Amy Ruth's was the first). I gotta stop asking for breast meat just to test restaurants.

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Strava Flyover 3D replay

Watch a 3D video replay of this epic activity on Strava.

strava.app.link

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

charlespanfriedchicken.com

Anub

Even the baristas in NYC and at #1 favorite NYC work coffee shop and coffee shop name pun Ground Central can't hear the P in my name. I will allow it though because the fly barista was sporting a "Let's Kiss all the Time and Disco Occasionally" shirt.

Fried Rice with Chorizo, Corn, and Shishitos

I for some reason had a chorizo sausage, a pack of shishito peppers, and a single corn. Just what I needed for a fried rice recipe which I saw on JKLA's Patreon feed.

Basic fried rice rules apply here -- get some of the flavorful fat out of the chorizo, quickly fry the corn, the shishito and the green onion, get the rice coated in smoking hot oil, mix everything together, add some optional soy sauce, salt, msg and sesame oil, enjoy! The super sweet corn is actually the best part!

Strawberry Short Chiffon Cake

I finally made a chiffon cake that didn't suck! Thanks Sheldo for showing me the way!

Nice and spongy and it rose up real nice in the 3 inch pan and stuck to the pan just enough to hang upside down for a few hours and come right out after I squeezed it from the sides a bit.

I changed up Sheldo's Strawberry Shortcake Cake idea a bit with a marscarpone chantilly (instead of his yogurt whipped cream) and I macerated my inside strawberries, and I dusted some freeze dried strawberries, and I took some hideous pics.

Next up: I need to work on a smoother chantilly (which is apparently just a douchey way of saying "whipped cream") and I need to learn how to take less sucky food pics.

Additional info

Perfect Chiffon Cake. Foolproof Method. Soft & Airy

YouTube · sheldo's kitchen

Sichuan Restaurant Mapo Doufu

W2 Kitchen's latest deep dive was this alternative method for making Mapo Doufu. The big difference from the Mapo Doufu's I've made in the past appears to be the complete lack of liquid and the inclusion of fermented black beans. But I took the opportunity to use my new doubanjiang from SXET, which is apparently way superior to the Lee Kum Kee version I've been using.

I didn't exactly follow the W2 recipe. I used pork instead of beef and a whole lot of it at that. Also I did put in about 1/4 cup of chicken broth at the end because it looked a little too dry (maybe I should have used more oil!). With all that this is my new favorite Mapo Doufu recipe! But there are a billion more I have to try, including JKLA's and Chinese Cooking Demystified's. Those will be next but I'll definitely stick with the SXET doubanjiang no matter what recipe I make.

Additional info

Mapo Tofu — 1986 Sichuan Restaurant Method

YouTube · W2 KITCHEN

Giants V Cubs

During the Will Clark and Rick Reuschel days I was such a Giants fan that I actually listened to games on the radio. Now I hadn't even heard of this Jung Hoo Lee dude when I attended my first game today at Oracle/AT&T/SBC/PacBell Park in three years.

Fond childhood memory #37: going with my (probably reluctant) dad to Candlestick to watch the Giants play the Reds. My first and only live baseball game when I was into the sport. We left a bit early because the Giants were ahead and I tuned in to KNBR 680 on the way home to hear the Reds rally but ultimately lose. That's how I remember it anyway.

Hanging Chiffon

I finally made a successful chiffon cake and it's hanging calmly upside down.

Tomorrow I'll try my best to cleanly dislodge it from the pan (I don't have one of those fancy removable bottom pans so I used the lightly floured base technique).

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Giants V Cubs

During the Will Clark and Rick Reuschel days I was such a Giants fan that I actually listened to games on the radio. Now I hadn't even heard of this Jung Hoo Le

anoopgantayat.com

Bowen Yang’s Mom Doesn’t Know He’s Sharing Her Recipe

Mr. Yang and his co-host Matt Rogers of “Las Culturistas” stopped by the New York Times kitchen studio to make her mapo tofu.

cooking.nytimes.com

Disclosure Day

Got my last minute dead center uncomfortably close for everyone except me seat for the Metreon IMAX showing of Disclosure Day, with no previews and some sort of pre show live QA with Senor Spielbergo himself. Thanks person who cancelled just before the show!

The Yellowest Carbonara

I picked up some guanciale from Eataly in order to continue my Roman pasta journey and couldn't help shopping the fresh pasta section for a new pasta: Spaghetti Alla Chitara. And also the cheese aisle for pecorino so I could force myself to get over my sheepy cheese aversion, as well as something new: grana padano.

In short I had everything to make a Carbonara based off a video I saw of some famous chef dude named Luciano Monosilio.

It's super yellow probably because it's yolk only and the pasta itself was already yellow. But quite creamy and delicious. I prefer the W2 Kitchen alternative I shared earlier, but as far as more "traditional" Carbonara goes this was a nice result.

Additional info

A guide to Carbonara with the King of Carbonara(Chef Luciano Monosilio)

YouTube · Lennardy

Selva

My friend and I were walking through downtown San Jose quite drunk out of our minds when we happened upon this bar/lounge in an alley. I didn't get any pics from the inside but it's really elegant and the kind of place you don't expect in an alley and certainly not in lame downtown San Jose.