I Love Ramen

Oh yes I do.........

But this is actually the name of a restaurant.  I Love Ramen is located at 31254 Pacific Hwy. S. in Federal Way, WA.  It is a fairly new restaurant that I've been dying to check out.  Today I finally did.



As many of you know, I am always on the hunt for a decent Asian noodle place.  Considering how many there are in this area, you would think I could just step out the door and fall into one.  Not so.  I am ecstatic to report that I Love Ramen is more than decent.  It is phenomenal.  It blows my favorite place in Seattle (Samurai Noodle) out of the water... with a nuclear bomb.

I sing to the heavens that I can now get a fantastic bowl of ramen without having to go to the big city!!!  (yes... noodle soup IS that important to me)

To make a completely fair comparison, I had to order my usual test items... tonkotsu ramen and pork shumai.  Same thing... every restaurant.  Gotta do apples to apples.

At first I was slightly alarmed that the shumai came with no dipping sauce.  After schkoffing the first one, I understood why.  They are so wonderfully flavorful, any sauce would be a sin.



The order comes with five dumplings... I couldn't contain myself before I grabbed my camera.

Miko came with me, but she wasn't very hungry.  She ordered the chicken yakitori...



It was also as good as it gets.

Now... down to the nitty gritty... how is the RAMEN???

Since they say a picture is worth 1000 words, I'll just show you...



This is my favorite ramen.  Pork broth with noodles, roasted pork slices, scallions, and various other items depending on the shop.  This particular bowl had bean sprouts, fresh baby spinach, sesame seeds, hard boiled egg, slivered pickled ginger, and nori.

My first determining factors for any soup are "how hot is the broth and how good is it?"  The broth here was tongue-searingly hot and it was spectacular overall.  Next, we move on to the individual components.  The pork was roasted and sliced perfectly... not an over abundance of scallions (like they're trying to cover something up)... totally fresh, barely wilted baby spinach leaves (I think they bought them at HMart across the street... lol!!).  Then comes the noodles themselves...

The... best... ever.  Perfectly cooked.  Stayed that way until I reached the bottom of my bowl.  Tasty al dente morsels in every bite.  I can't say enough good things about what I ate.  You just have to come experience it for yourself.

I suppose I should mention the rest of the menu... which is quite extensive.  They have a large variety of appetizers (listed as 'side dishes'), about 30 variations of ramen, and another two menu pages of traditional Japanese noodle and fried dishes.  If you think Japanese food is sushi, don't bother with this place... they don't serve it.  However, if you want real Japanese comfort food, this place is legit.

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I LOVE RAMEN REVISITED (3/9/11)

Brian had a day of appointments, so we decided to meet for lunch at I Love Ramen to A- let him see how good it was, and B- see if it WAS still that good.

We still love I Love Ramen.

If anything, it was better than before.  Brian got a miso broth ramen and I got my usual tonkotsu ramen.  Mine was spectacular this time (although I'm not sure how it could have topped the previous bowl).  The roasted pork was, in a word (or two), nearly orgasmic.  I would smack my own mother if it were the last bowl and she tried to take it.

Apparently the shumai DOES come with a dipping sauce... our previous waitress just... erm... forgot to bring it (REALLY???).  This order came with the shumai, hot mustard, and a delicious soy-based dipping sauce.  I tried it in all possible combinations.  I still say the dumplings speak for themselves without any adornment.

We were also treated to a complimentary onion salad.  There was something yellow shredded in with the paper-thin onion slices, and I have no idea what it was, but it was mouth-wateringly good.  I should have asked, but I was too busy shoveling it into my face.  Maybe next time.

Our waitress this time was Aya (if I remember right), and she is wonderful.  Attentive without hovering... keeps things moving without being pushy... just perfect.  We were the only Caucasian people in the place, which is always a good indicator of quality when I dine at any ethnic restaurant.

If I had five thumbs, they would all be UP!!

How do I love thee? Let me count the calories...

...or maybe not.



For the first time in nearly 30 years, I am with a man who not only loves to celebrate Valentine's Day, but actually deserves all the affection I can possibly lavish upon him.  We are nauseatingly in love.  Our friends start passing around barf bags and industrial-sized bottles of Emetrol when we enter a room....

Oh.  Since this post will eventually lead to food, I should probably get off the subject of vomit.  Good thinking.

This was our first official Valentine's Day living together, so of course I had to go all-out.  I spent weeks planning.

I bought gifts...



For those of you who wonder, THIS is how you buy chocolate for your man on Valentine's Day-



I decorated...



(the roses were from him to me, of course... he also bought ME gifts that were so incredibly thoughtful... )



(smokehouse almonds and software... I ADORE THIS MAN!!!... and yes, red roses... )



We had briefly contemplated going out for dinner, but really... even getting a reservation at a decent place is problematic for that night.  He had to work that day, I'm a damn fine cook, and I figured I could make a restaurant quality meal at home for less than half the price.  More money to spend on gifts and wine!!  I'm down with that!

Fortunately, the child was going out to dinner with her dad that night, so we could have a nice, quiet, romantic dinner all alone.




We started off with an appetizer of gambas al ajillo... Spanish shrimp in garlic... it was heavenly...



For the main course, I made filet mignon with a shitake, red wine, and shallot sauce, hassleback potatoes, and  balsamic roasted asparagus.  Oh-my-frikkin'-god YUMMMMM!!!!



Then, to top it all off, I made from-scratch chocolate molten lava cakes...







Since I made several changes to the original recipe for these, I will type out my version here.  For everything else I made, I followed the recipes almost exactly so I just linked them to give credit where it is due.  Take a few minutes to read the blog that has the steak recipe, Mouth From the South.  Kristina is a hoot!

Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes

1 C. (two cubes) butter (yes, salted butter)
1 HEAPING cup Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips (not quite ALL of the bag... leave some to munch on later)
5 large eggs
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. flour
powdered sugar for garnish

Place butter and chocolate chips in a medium glass bowl.  Microwave on high for one minute; stir well.  Continue to microwave and stir at 15 second intervals until chips are ALMOST completely melted (about another 30 seconds)... a few small lumps are okay.  Don't worry... they'll melt.  In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.  Beat chocolate mixture into egg mixture until smooth.  Add flour and beat until completely combined.  Refrigerate batter for 1-6 hours.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Grease four 10 ounce ramekins (or other oven-proof dishes that size) with cooking spray.  Divide batter equally.  Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake until side are just done and cracked, but center is still sunken and jiggly... about 18 minutes.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!  You'll still have an amazing chocolate cake, but you won't have the insane molten center, which is the whole point of this dessert.  Remove and cool on rack for about 15 minutes (or just until they're cool enough so you don't burn your mouth... however long you can wait).  Dust with powdered sugar just before serving and serve warm.  Die happy.

If you want to get really schmancy, a nice VERY lightly sweetened raspberry sauce would be good to drizzle over, but it really doesn't need it.  This recipe is entirely too easy.  You'll find yourself thinking about making it on a regular basis.  If you're concerned about your caloric intake, just remember one thing...

There is half a cube of butter in EACH cake.

I'm saving this one for special occasions only.

I now own a teenager... Part 1

At the beginning of January, thirteen years ago, I gave birth to The Princess...

I didn't name her that.  The in-laws did.  They didn't have to live with her.

ANYWAY, she really is a wonderful child, deserving of a homemade, from-scratch cake of her choice for this most auspicious occasion.  She said she wanted a red velvet cake, but since the color theme of the party was purple, she technically wanted a PURPLE velvet cake.  Wonderful!  I found a great recipe and off I went.

It started out easily enough.  Cake baking may be science to a certain extent, but it's certainly not rocket science, am I right?  Measure measure...

sift sift...

mix mix...

Not TOO much flour all over the place... I think I'm doing pretty well...

One of the more interesting things about this recipe is it uses a baking soda/vinegar mixture for leavening...

(LOOK!!  SCIENCE!!!)

You let it bubble for a few seconds, then fold it into the batter... oooooooo...

Into the cake pan it goes, and everything appears to be fine...

(after a bit of clean up)

TO THE OVEN WITH YOU!!

OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo lookie!!

Okay well it's not exactly PURPLE velvet cake, so we start calling it burgundy velvet cake...

It comes out of the pan perfectly... SUCCESSSSSSS!!!!!!

Now on to layers two and three.  Repeat the above procedure... forget what the hell you're doing... lift beater out of bowl and inexplicably turn the mixer back on...

Clean up the batter that has flown ALL over the kitchen and continue...

I overfilled the top layer pan a little, so it's taller than it should be.  No worries... that's what serrated knives are for...

It also slides effortlessly out of it's pan...

Then we have the middle layer...

Uh oh...

Houston, we have a problem...

Still, no worries at this point.  I'm doing this a couple days before the party, anticipating there will be some minor setbacks.  When doing a large cake project, I've learned to schedule in time for do-overs.  I set the fail out on the table and call it samples.  The children approve.

I finally get all three layers successfully baked, and even have a few cupcakes to boot.  JOY!!!

Time to wrap everything up, put it in the fridge, and make the frosting tomorrow.  I sit down and refuse to move for the next 12 hours.

To be continued...

DUHDUH DUHHHHHHHHH..........

I now own a teenager... Part 2

So now the big day has come.  Time to make the frosting and assemble the cake.  I have a couple ideas about how I want to artfully place the layers and decorate the whole thing, and Brian makes a few structural suggestions.  We devise a plan and get everything ready...



At this point we're still thinking standard cake dowels will be enough.  HA!!  We should have ordered construction scaffolding.  Oh well, on with the comedy of errors that became the rest of my day.

The frosting recipe that was included with the cake called for cream cheese, mascarpone, vanilla, powdered sugar, and whipping cream...



I decided that since the cake layers totaled a double recipe of the batter, I would need to make a double batch of the frosting... which meant two containers of mascarpone... at $5.00 a pop... ugh...

Oh well, the little devil... I mean darling... is worth it, so I grab my checkbook and carry on.  It is at about this point where things start to go horribly wrong.  I cream together the mascarpone, cream cheese, and vanilla (after spilling nearly all of it on the counter... fortunately I grabbed the bottle just in time to save enough for the recipe).



Then, the recipe says to switch to the whip attachment and slowly add the heavy cream.  Whip attachment... OHHHH WHIP ATTACHMENT????  Where ARRRRRRREEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUU??????  askhdfjhasldfkh... it's still over at the ex's house.  Don't have enough time to go get it... don't want to deal with him... I decide that if I use the beater attachment on super high warp-drive speed, it'll still work...



Ummm... not so much...

I try adding more powered sugar...



I really need to get a bowl shield.  Just sayin'...



Add this point I'm completely desperate.  I have now used all the powdered sugar, I'm on Facebook screaming for help from my friends, and there's no way this stuff is even CLOSE to spreadable.  I concede defeat and call the child in to let her at least taste what would have been...

(and take a video, of course)

One of these days I'll learn how to pronounce "MAScarpone"...

It is now four hours until the party.  Again, thinking I have scheduled in enough time for do-overs, I find a standard cream cheese frosting recipe and make a mad dash for the grocery store.  I get home... I start mixing it up... it's too soft... I add more powdered sugar... I reread the recipe... it says "for best results, refrigerate overnight".  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  My hair is now falling out in spectacular clumps.  I take my trusty Black and Decker hand mixer and beat the crap out of it, to no avail...



*le sigh*  It is now less than two hours until the guests arrive, so I have to make do with what I have.

Due to the ensuing frenzy, there are no photos of the next hour.  The cake looks NOTHING like I had intended.  I was almost afraid to post pictures of it for public viewing, for fear it would somehow turn up on Cake Wrecks.  Fantastic blog, by the way.  You really need to check it out.

The cake is... done.  Done-ish.  It's CLOSE ENOUGH, DAMMIT!!!  I call the guest of honor out to the kitchen for the big reveal.

She looks at it.

She says "It's weird...

...I LOVE IT!!!"



Un-frikkin-believable...

The most hideous cake I've ever made, and she loves it...



Apparently everyone else did too...



So, my dear friends, thus ends the epic tale of Miko's thirteenth birthday party cake.

Next year I'm ordering from Costco.

Eating Right(er) for the New Year

I came up with this recipe a few months ago simply because I had purchased some wonderful fireweed honey and had a pile of fresh limes.  When I made it again last night, I realized not only is it quick, easy, and delicious, but it's also low-fat and pretty darn good for you!  Sorry I don't have a photo to go with the post... I'll try to remember to take one and add it the next time I make it.

HONEY LIME CHICKEN

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 t. cumin
3 T. olive oil
1/2 C honey
zest of 1 large lime
juice of 2 large limes
2-3 cloves garlic, mashed
pinch of salt
pepper to taste

Combine honey, lime zest and juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Combine flour, salt, pepper, and cumin in a plastic bag.  Heat oil in large frying pan.  Shake chicken in flour mixture to coat.  Fry in oil until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side.  Remove from pan; keep warm.  Pour off all but one tablespoon of oil.  Add honey/lime mixture to pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Return chicken to pan, turning and coating with sauce until heated through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Serve breasts with sauce spooned over.

The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers

As I was rummaging through the fridge today, I noticed a storage container.  Joy!!  Mystery substance!!  I dig it out and discover it was about four cups of roasted mashed sweet potatoes left from Thanksgiving dinner.  Yes, I realize it's been more than five days... so what... they were still good and I wasn't going to throw out that much potential ingredient for SOMETHING.  Off to teh interwebs for inspiration I go.  I wanted to do a sweet something, so all the recipes for shepherds pie, croquettes, etc. were immediately disregarded.  I wasn't about to make a pie crust, so sweet potato pie was out... along with biscuits, scones, rolls, blah blah blah.  It's Sunday, football was on, and I wasn't feeling like putting much effort into it.

Then it hit me.  Muffins, of course!  I didn't even bother looking for a specific sweet potato muffin recipe.  I just started muffining...



Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins

streusel topping-
1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. cold butter
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
pinch of kosher salt
1/4 C. quick cooking oats

muffins-

4 C. baking mix (Bisquick)
1 C. raisins
2/3 C. quick cooking oats
2/3 C. granulated sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. kosher salt
3 3/4 C. mashed roasted sweet potatoes
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin pan with paper cups.

Prepare streusel topping- in a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Using a pastry blender or forks, cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add oats and combine well.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine baking mix, raisins, oats, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Combine well.  In another bowl, beat eggs.  Add sweet potatoes and mix thoroughly.  Add sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened (mixture will be thick).  Fill muffin cups almost to the top.  Most recipes will tell you to only fill them to 2/3 or 3/4 full.  I like big muffins.  Top each muffin with about 1 t. of streusel topping.  Bake for 20 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from oven, let stand in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.  Makes 24 muffins full of muffiny goodness.