Category Archives: Nom Nom Nom

Nom Nom Nom

Rich and tasty pasta sauce

October 28, 2012 – 6:02 am

No photo, because it pretty much just looks like every other ragu-like sauce out there. But I will write down the method of the pasta sauce I improvised the other day for a dinner party down.

First, start with cutting up five rashers of bacon and frying in a dry pan with 1 chopped onion. Once the onions are cooked down a little, add a pound and a half of 80/20 ground beef and brown. Add 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and about 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes. After the beef is well-cooked, add a cup of strong red wine (I used PKNT Carminere which was perfect). Throw a jar of store-bought pasta sauce on top. The brand matters not. Simmer with a stick of butter and three tablespoons of capers. Coats two pounds of pasta thinly, which is OK as it is a very strongly flavored sauce.

I don’t really know what’s going on here…butter? Capers? Bacon? Wine? All are good pasta sauce friends, but in the same concoction? It seemed like they would fight. But it was just intensely delicious and well-rounded in flavors, actually. Would make again. It fed seven people quite heartily and cheaply.

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Bay area Nom Nom Nom Reviews Yelp

Auntie April’s Fried Chickens and Waffles

October 25, 2012 – 7:01 pm

Dear People of Yelp:

Are you crazy? 277 reviews giving Auntie April’s Fried Chicken and Waffles an average of 4 stars? I just got back from this dubious establishment and my mouth still feels greasily redolent of stale crisco, my tongue numb from chewing on lumps of MSG-laden chicken. This place is no bueno. The service was lackadaisical at best. We were kept waiting even for our coffee. The chicken and waffles themselves took an eternity (or about half an hour). My brunch companion opted for breast strips, I for the leg and thighs. He said his chicken tasted like something you pop out of a CostCo bag. My chicken leg looked promising, with a thin coating and moist-looking meat. Alas, it was horrendously over-seasoned and over-fried. But it was the waffles that were the true abomination. They were dense, wan and rubbery. The puddles of butter-flavored something sat in the indentations of the waffle, refusing to sink in. I was so hungry I scarfed half the waffles down anyhow, plus all the chicken. I was left feeling clogged with grease and somewhat unwell. Not worth the calories. Not even close.

Maybe they had an off day. Maybe our expectations were set too high (my previous bay area chicken and waffle experience, at Brown Sugar in West Oakland, was superlative). Maybe. But I don’t think so. This is not a four-star restaurant. This is a two-star restaurant, at best. I am going to give it one-star, however, to balance out all those unearned 4 and 5 star ratings, and hopefully warn future diners to stay away.

How could you, people of Yelp? How could you?

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Nom Nom Nom Reviews So superficial

Lean Cuisine reviews

September 28, 2011 – 9:55 pm

I’m too proud to say it…when I’m trying to lose weight and don’t have a lot of time/energy to dedicate to cooking, I reach for the Lean Cuisine in the freezer. None of them are really all that tasty. This is a feature, not a bug. I actually marked down the tastiest meal (the panini) because it was too much like a regular panini…just a very very small one. It left me hankering for more, which is not a good thing when you’re trying not to think about food. The ideal Lean Cuisine meal is inoffensive in flavor and substantial enough to pass for a meal while being low in calories. Choose carefully and try not to rely on them too much.

Sesame Chicken (330 calories)
Quite filling and comforting in its gloopy, sweet-and-sour way. Noodles are a bit on the soggy side of soft. Chicken a little soft and woolly, but quite tasty.
****

Shrimp Alfredo (210)
Not so good. The noodles are just limp. Plus the sauce is weird and watery.
**

Spinach, artichoke and chicken panini (320)
This is one of those where you tear up the box to make a little platform,
then microwave the panini sitting on the platform. Delicious, but the
portions are tiny. Do not feel very full after eating.
***1/2

Apple Cranberry Chicken (320)
Just vile. The only one I had to throw away. I don’t even know what kind of flavors they were trying to go for here.
*

Thai style noodles with Chicken (310)
The chicken tasted much more normal than in the Sesame chicken. Noodle sauce is creamy with a nice coconut/peanut taste. Shame the string beans are kind of watery. Will eat again.
****

Santa Fe Rice and Beans (290)
Smells absolutely delicious. The taste is a little bit watery. But for a Lean Cuisine meal it’s still quite palatable. A relatively hearty meal.
***

Salmon with basil (210)
Not a fan. First of all, the basil tastes manky after being frozen and microwaved. The fish had good texture but little taste. There is something gritty about the sauce. Filled out with quite a bit of matchstick veggies.The only good thing is it is quite filling for the number of calories.
**1/2

Roasted garlic chicken (170)
I was astonished to find just a few chunks of chicken swimming in a vat of gravy. As the side dish (creamed spinach) is also kind of liquidy, I felt like lunch was just a ladle full of glop.
**

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