“Pork and Peppers” Cedar Park, 2019
“Kitties” Cedar Park, 2019
Wordless Wednesday
“Pork and Peppers” Cedar Park, 2019
“Kitties” Cedar Park, 2019
Tag: food
“Pork and Peppers” Cedar Park, 2019
“Kitties” Cedar Park, 2019
Early Ehōmaki 恵方巻 for Setsubun
“Ehoumaki” Cedar Park, 2019
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Setsubun is tomorrow but we ate our celebratory ehōmaki 恵方巻 this evening because of Super Bowl Sunday. We aren’t really doing anything special for the Super Bowl, so I’m not too sure why Mariko wanted to make ehōmaki early, but who am I to complain? (I also think she may have mentioned a reason but might have had a senior moment) Anyways, this year’s lucky direction is N/NE, so we each ate our ehōmaki roll in silence while facing the lucky direction, as dictated by tradition.
Actually eating without talking, and just thinking about the taste of the sushi, is really great. It’s a special experience, but one that we can have all the time if we choose to just be mindful. I wonder if it would be possible to institute a one-minute of silent eating to begin each dinner? Hmm….
“Sushi” Cedar Park, 2019
I hope you had a nice Saturday!
またね～
Trying a New Restaurant: BurgerIM
“Duo BurgerIM” Cedar Park, 2019
Tonight my family and I tried a new burger restaurant that opened near our house. It’s called BurgerIM, and the special thing about this chain is twofold. First, their burgers are sliders, which means they are smaller than normal, perhaps half the size of a normal burger. Secondly, you can choose from several different types of meats and topping combinations. This is really what I found interesting at BurgerIM. For instance, there’s Wagyu beef, Marguez beef, dry-aged beef, lamb, etc. The website also lists fish, but I don’t think they have added it to the local menu just yet because this location is so new.
“BurgerIM” Cedar Park, 2019
I got the Wagyu beef and the Marguez beef, and both were tasty, but the Wagyu was definitely better. I also tried the dry-aged which was yummy as well. Next time, I’ll go for the lamb and something else since there are so many choices to try!
Besides the patty, you can choose from several topping combinations, including a traditional American style, a “California” style with avocado, of course, a spicy style, etc. I thought the variety was pretty good and varied. We also tried the fries and onion rings. The fries were the coin-shaped style and yummy, while the onion rings were nothing special, but not disappointing.
“Trio BurgerIM” Cedar Park, 2019
While the food is good, the prices are a bit on the high side for burgers, but probably typical for gourmet burgers. It was $6.99 for the two slider option and $9.99 for three slider option. Add another $3 for fries and a drink (or $3 for a side of fries), and the bill adds up quickly. Also, for the Wagyu beef and a couple of the topping combos, an additional $0.79 is added. When the cashier rang it all up and I saw the total, I was honestly a little shocked. I suppose it was because the restaurant looks like a fast-food place so I was expecting fast-food prices.
Once I got past the sticker shock, I enjoyed the food (and they have beer on tap!) and spending time trying a new restaurant with the family. I also have to add that although these were sliders, two of them left me with a surprisingly full stomach.
“BurgerIM” Cedar Park, 2019
We have plenty of burger options near our house, ranging from the higher-end Hopdoddy to the wallet-friendly In N Out, and BurgerIM fits in right below Hopdoddy. It’s nice to have another option rather than a third McDonalds or Wendy’s.
“Wagyu BurgerIM” Cedar Park, 2019
I hope you had a nice day!
またね～
Chili-Gohan (Chili Over Rice)
“Chili Gohan” Cedar Park, 2019
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was a great day because I got to make a big batch of chili. 🌶 We’ve tried a few chili recipes over the years, but the ones we like always have dried Guajillo peppers in it. These give the chili a deep red color and a wonderful flavor. Just be careful because the red color will easily stain clothes!
“Peppers” Cedar Park, 2019
Anyways, I usually buy a dozen Guajillo peppers at our local market, then boil them for about 15 minutes to rehydrate them. Next, I put them in our Cuisinart food processor with maybe half a cup of the water, then process until almost smooth. Adding this chili paste to the pot makes it “real” to me. Chili just isn’t the same without it! And I love to make chili because it means I get to pull out our largest Le Creuset pot. Yay!
“Processed Peppers” Cedar Park, 2019
With each pot of chili I make, I will adjust with different ingredients, sometimes out of necessity. For instance, this time I didn’t have the can of tomato paste I normally add, so I used some pasta sauce we had in the fridge. And I didn’t have the usual dark beer that the recipe calls for, and I didn’t want to use the IPA we had), so I just used more of the water I boiled the chiles in. I also added a bit of white vinegar and shoyu (soy sauce) to the mix, which is new.
I have to say, it turned out really good! And we have enough to last us a few days. 😄
Bay and I had the chili over steamed rice, with cheese, raw jalapeño, raw habañero (for me), sour cream, and a bit of hot sauce. And a runny egg, of course! Because we put it over rice, we call it “Chili-Gohan”, with the word Gohan being Japanese for rice or meal. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
I hope you had a delicious day!
またね～
Japanese Curry Nite at Home
“Beef Curry” Cedar Park, 2019
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Yay, it’s curry nite at our house! This time it was beef curry with onion, carrots, and jalapeños. And of course, we had egg with it as is our custom. 😆 And tonight’s eggs had such a beautiful golden color to the yolk. Everything was yummy.
Koa is participating in the Austin Youth Orchestra this year, so he had rehearsal this evening. But before he left, he had to have his curry:
“Come N Get It” Cedar Park, 2019
I hope you had a great Monday!
またね～
Homemade Pizza for Dinner
“Portuguese Sausage Pizza” Cedar Park, 2019
Homemade pizza – hard to beat! Tonight’s selections were a Portuguese sausage (from Maui) and onion pizza, and a Japanese-style corn and tuna pizza. It might sound weird to Western ears, but it is so yummy.
Hope you had a nice day!
またね～
“Corn and Tuna Pizza” Cedar Park, 2019
Tacos or Burritos?
“Taco Duo” Austin, 2019
こんばんは。How’s it going?
I had tacos today for lunch since the taco trailer was outside the office. In the photo, you can see one taco al pastor on corn tortillas, and a sirloin steak taco with flour tortilla. Both with raw onion and cilantro, plus jalapeño and habañero salsa. It was muy delicioso!
Sometimes when I make a big batch of carnitas, I’ll take a poll from the family on whether they would prefer burritos or tacos for dinner. The vote usually swings 3-1 in burrito’s favor, which makes it a tiny bit more complicated because I have to find extra-large tortillas and that can sometimes be a challenge. It’s easy to find taco-sized tortillas, and 12-inch as well, but we want the larger (at least 16″) size which the supermarket might not stock.
Speaking of burritos, we love to visit Freebirds for our quick burrito fix. I usually will get a “monster” size for $9.60 which I can share with my wife, or save half for another meal. There’s one lady who works at our local Freebirds who really makes awesome burritos. She adds plenty of meat, a good amount of any other ingredients you ask for, and has great skill at mashing it all together nicely without the tortilla tearing. She treats us well! Actually, watching them compress all the burrito fillings while wrapping it in the tortilla is fascinating and something we try to emulate at home. Fun with food!
At any rate, I prefer burritos over tacos, but that’s such a tiny difference. It’s like I give a burrito 5 stars, and tacos 4.8.
I hope you had a delicious day!
またね～
