Unos @ washington DC

I ate at this place called unos in Washington DC and it was pretty good! the website is: http://www.unos.com/

I had the Rosemary crusted chicken breast on a bed of roasted broccoli, with redskin mashed potatoes. They also served it with this bread stick that tasted like Sicilian pizza crust.

Afterwards for dessert I had, this rum bananas with caramel and vanilla ice cream. also hella good!

Mama's Pickled Papaya

Mama's Pickled Papaya:

Ingredients:

Green Papaya

Red Donne Pepper

Heinz White Vinegar

Morton's Salt

Tabasco

Ajino-moto Betchin (MSG)

Directions:

Peel, de-seed and chop up the papaya in fine strips. Its important you make the strips thin so it can absorb the pickling base easily.

When the papaya is all sliced, put it in a strainer and wash it with salt. then let it sit while you prepare the pickling base.

To make the base.. you will need to mix the ingredients together. For 1 jar, the ratio is two big spoons of Tabasco MSG and salt. what you can do is mix it all together in some vinegar and boil it until it dissolves. then mix it all together.

Don't forget to add chopped peppers and two whole peppers. Make sure you poke holes in the whole pepper so the spiciness can be evenly distributed while pickling. Mix base and papaya in jar, and fill to the top with white vinegar.

It should be good after 1 week. the longer it pickles the better it will taste over time.

Spinach Kale Adobo W/ Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 16oz package of Center cut bacon
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 7 large garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 5 bay leaves
• 4 bunches of kale, stems and ribs removed, chopped fine
• 2 to 3 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 to 3 tbsp. coconut vinegar or white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 package bag of salad spinach
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Thai or serrano chile, crushed (optional)

Preparation

In a 4- to 5-qt. pan over medium heat, cook bacon, stirring, until extra crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Strain fat and reserve 1 tbsp of bacon grease for later, discard the rest of the bacon fat. allow bacon to drain all fat then crush to bits and set aside.

In the same pan mix olive oil and bacon grease and heat up. Add onion, garlic, and bay leaves and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onion is pale golden, 5 minutes. Toss in kale; cook, stirring, until wilted. Add 1 cup water, half the bacon, 2 tbsp. each soy sauce and coconut vinegar, the pepper, and chile. Simmer, covered, adding water if pan gets dry, until kale is very tender, 35-45 minutes. In the last 10-15 minuets add the whole bag of spinach then cover and mix. Add soy and vinegar to taste. Serve sprinkled with remaining bacon.

My Review:

This is an AMAZING side dish to have for dinner. It's a real good spin on my usual Adobo Kangkong (water spinach). The Kale has a very nice texture, and mixed with all the flavor its really just a good creative dish. Its also very easy to make. I kinda added too much bacon the first time, but after it cooked down it actually turned out really good. Another tip is to microwave the bacon in increments and drain the fat that way, it also leaves the bacon very crispy. Also at the end I used 1 tablespoon of regular soy sauce to give it more flavor.

Cali Bagel Brunch Sandwich

Blueberry Bagel + Fresh Avocado + Monterey Jack Cheese & Cheddar Cheese + Smoked Turkey Breast meat + Mayo & Mustard = Full Proof

"Pho-bulous" time for Pho!

I ate "Pho Cuong 2" in the Berryessa center (BX! Holla!). I've ate there a few times and the prices are reasonable and the service is.. sufficient. By sufficient that means it meets the bare minimum "most of the time", and by bare minimum I mean like following through with simple request like water refills. For those who eat at typical pho places, you know what i mean!

Anyway the pho here is good..! i like the taste of the broth, and i usually get brisket only or well done roundeye steak meat. Another dish i would reccomend is the Lemon grass chicken.




"Pho-bulous"! LMAO! =)

Beef Caldareta Tacos!

I get late night cravings all the time before bed and it never fails! So last night, I went to the fridge and put together this mouth watering "QUICK FIX".

Toasted some corn tortillas, then chopped and heated some left over beef caldareta. Then I chopped up some onions, avocado, and smoked Gouda cheese, then put it all together! Yes it was delicious, and full-proof!!!

High Protein mayonnaise free TUNA SALAD

Ingredients:

2 cans Tuna (Drained)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Sweet Relish
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Japanese Pepa
6 eggs hard boiled and peeled
1/2 yellow onion diced!
mustard (honey or hot)




Smash peeled hard boiled eggs through a mesh strainer. the eggs should be a fine mushy consistency. Mix the strained tuna, with the eggs, onions, relish, lemon juice, salt & pepa. when its all mixed together add the mustard or your choice to make the consistency of the tuna salad more cohesive. For this recipe I used Beaver brand honey mustard. Mix it all well together and serve with bread or crackas!

FYI: the Japanese pepa is "shichimi togarashi" found in Asian markets.



(my attempt at presentation! Tuna salad on crackas and toasted bread circles! W/ white wine)


My Review:
While trying to find a mayonnaise free tuna salad online i came across this recipe but changed everything, and really made my own recipe. The only thing i kept was the hard boiled egg mush to make it mayonnaise free. This recipe is healthy, tasty, and high in protein! The tuna salad actually has the consistency of pate' or liverwurst, and its not bad at all. You can totally pass this off as some fancy "hors d'oeuvres" at your next party! LOL



Last shot of my creation garnished with chopped salad greens and pimento pieces! =)